Big Waves Laundromat — Local services in Santa Monica

I contemplated whether I would go ahead with this review. I been coming to this location over the years. I came before the remolded and after they remolded I tried different days and times. To see when it would not be as busy but it's always busy which is a good thing. I used to come Saturday mornings once this location started to open at 5 am. Expecting it not to be as busy like it is through out the day. I have switched to Friday night maybe in November. Since then I have constantly had an issue with the employee that works Friday nights. I always keep an open mind and tried to make Fridays work but with this guy it is impossible. Every Friday I seem to encounter an issue with the way I am treated by him. I have noticed a pattern with him and know that he treats certain people a certain way. I am not sure if it is due to my race which I do think it is one of the reason I am not treat the same. There has been a few incidents one been the weekend of the Super Bowl that Friday it was really busy and not enough dryers working. I noticed how some people went to him to ask him to remove clothes that had been there for awhile. Which he did and when I went to asked him 360 different attitude with me. He was very upset I had asked and complained that he was very busy and already had way to much clothes in the back. I explained that I still had two more loads to dry since it was close to 10 pm already. He was already rushing me to make sure I would finish by 11am. Which he never rushes his friends that he gives the wash and dryers for free. There is a particular client that goes in that you can tell he is high and he gets his wash or dryer free or both because most likely there is some kind of good exchanged. That same day unfortunately one of the big washers I use was leaking and when I told him he practically started drilling that it was my fault. I came week and make sure that the clothes does not get stuck between the door so this will not happen. It is also not the first time I hear him talk bad about me and my mother to his friends. This past Friday 03-01-24 was the last straw for me. The incident that happened was with one of his friends an older lady and younger lady. Instead of hearing both sides of the story he could care less and went to to his friends and spout nonsense about us to them.I did not engage with them because it would be worse to engage with entitled people. Instead of working he kept gossiping like he did not work there and had the poor young man he was training do all the work. I spend more $50 a weekly maybe it is not as much as other people or a frequent. I will no longer be going back which it was tough to make that decision since it very close to me. Not sure if the owner know exactly what is going in his business or what kind of employee he hired. Unlike Natalia and ladies in the morning that are extremely kind and fair. I could go on with more incident but I will not. Other than the poor treatment form this employee Friday nights the...

I give Big Waves an "A" in friendly customer service but an "F" in crisis management, safety, and diversity training. I do not feel safe returning to Big Waves Laundromat! Further, I have deleted them from my database and will no longer refer my clients until the Owners train their management, staff, and security guard properly! I just moved to the area this year after living several years in an upscale part of the SF valley and not once have I experienced a laundromat staff that does not de-escalate unhinged customers to protect their other customers.

I was at Big Waves laundromat a couple of weeks ago Tuesday, 12/6 around 5:30pm washing comforters and spent a total of $50.00. The staff were friendly. Then things took a turn for the worst! I needed one of the three big washing machines for a load that had just completed a wash. I waited a couple of minutes and then I calmly inquired to the staff member Joe if the person who's load finished was in the laundromat to collect?

A black woman who clearly had some anger management or mental health issues started yelling at me and cursing me out from across the laundromat. She stormed over to me and cursed me out in my face as she began removing her clothes from the machine then stormed around the laundromat yelling and cursing. Several customers including myself watched her in complete shock and horror. I felt unsafe and so did other customers judging by the looks on their faces.

I expected the manager Juan or the on-site security guard to step in and calm the woman down before she attacked me or another customer. I even told employee Joe her behavior was unwarranted and not okay and expected that he or the manager would step in to protect their customers. NOTHING HAPPENED!

Fortunately for Big Waves, I followed my intuition and used my graduate Psychology degree training and management skills in attempts to de-escalate the situation. Eventually, the young black woman calmed herself down and self-regulated. Multiple customers asked me if I was "okay." Yet the manager Juan, the employee Joe, nor the security guard asked if I was okay.

Instead, the employee Joe approached me and asked me to refrain from saying anything to the unhinged woman rather than having the security guard calm her down! It was only after I luckily managed to de-escalate the situation and other customers approached me and asked me if I was okay that he approached me and attempted a compliment which was actually an insult. Employee Joe walked over to me and stated, "Thank you for your civility." I found this to be a very strange comment because his assumption was that I would not react civilly because I am a black woman also? Or was this uncivil behavior a norm for Big Waves customers? Also, I wondered if the staff and security would have stepped in to protect a customer had I been white? I doubt I will ever know for sure and I choose to take my business elsewhere where...

I like this laundromat. However, its small 3k sq. footage space is limited. It feels there are twice as many washer units than the 34 dryer units. What is challenging especially if you decide to wash/dry at 5 am in the morning is that a third of the Speed King dryers are utilized by its delivery laundry service . There seems to be a change in serving the community to "we can do your laundry" business model at the expense of those self-service customers. The lady in charge with limited english language skills becomes very argumentative when it is pointed out that her and the Big Wave crew are leaving clothes sitting in the dryers for unlimited time when its in-service users are inconvenience and customer's schedules disrupted. She refuses to take out dry clothes that have been sitting inside the dryer when its in-service users are inconvenience and customer's schedules disrupted--this obviously authorized by her management which is counter productive because the dryers are not being used when clothes are left for more than fifteen minutes and/or when two items are placed in a large dryer by its crew to reserve the dryer for their operation. Overall, the space is clean and the machines are in good condition. The owner is hands-on and willing to handle issues , however it seems capitalism has put an emphasis on paying for the store to do your laundry. My pet peeve as a monthly self-service user, I have encountered a lack of "out of service" placards not placed on a machine in disrepair in a timely manner which is frustrating when you have to remove your clothes to another machine. Also, due to the limited space ,there are very few laundry baskets to carry large loads to the very small parking lot (10 slots) which shares with a cleaners. The few available street parking spaces mostly require residential permits and the elementary school bus zones create no parking available during busy hours. What I like about this operation is its Speed King app that allows you to pay by credit and eliminates the need to use casino-like sticky quarters-the app alerts you remotely when your load is ready, so no need to stick around. Just wish management would create a better policy to remove clothes that have been sitting for sometime while others are in need of a unit. Have an alternative laundromat to visit when your self-service requirement...