Skip to main content

Search

Family Club Guide

  • Updated

Introduction

This document explains how to configure and use the Family Club Plan feature in WashConnect which can provide discounted clubs when several members are grouped together. This will be used as an incentive for friends and families to create membership groups to receive price discounts, which can be either an amount or a percentage discount. This document explains how to create the rules and group memberships so the site
understands the various functionality that exists in this feature.

Family Club Feature

The Family Club feature allows sites to create discounted club groups that are billed via Autobilling under one Recurring ID, which can lower processing fees since each customer will not be billed separately. The Family Club Plan offers the ability to create as many Family Club Options as desired at the Corporate location. These Family Club Options replicate to the site level where they are available when creating the Family Club Groups. Family Club Groups can be created at the Corporate or Site level.

Release

This is a feature that is only available in WashConnect using Database V1.9.2.7 and higher, and this version of WashConnect will be using the Windows Edge browser and is designed to use WebView2 with a Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating system.

Sections in this guide:

Family Club Configuration

This section will discuss the necessary setup requirements to allow permissions to view and configure the Family Club related tabs within WashConnect. There will be two Family Club tabs named Family Club Options and Family Club Groups. The required configurations will be discussed as follows:

Enabling Family Club Tabs

The Family Club Menu tabs will not be enabled by default. To enable the Family Club Menu tabs, follow the steps below:

  1. Login to the Corporate location using the ICSSUPPORT user.
  2. Open the Support Tools WashConnect menu.
  3. Click on the Enable Disable Menu Items menu.
  4. Expand the Customer menu section.
  5. Locate the entry named Family Club Options and click to check the checkbox.
  6. Locate the entry named Family Club Groups and click to check the checkbox.
  7. Click the Save button to save the new selections.

Family Club Security Roles

The Family Club Menu tabs, as well as the ability to edit the Family Club Group Expiration Date, can only be accessed after a User is provided the correct privileges. The privileges must be assigned to Security Roles at the Corporate level. There are three privileges in total that are related to the Family Club Feature, which will be explained below.

Family Club Options – This privilege, when granted to a User, will provide the ability to open the Family Club Options tab in WashConnect. This menu is ONLY available at the Corporate level. This tab enables the User to create Family Club Options, which will be explained in detail later in this guide. 

Family Club Groups – This privilege, when granted to a User, will provide the ability to open the Family Club Groups tab in WashConnect. This menu is available to the User at both the local level and Corporate. This tab enables the User to create the Family Club Groups, which will be explained in detail later in this guide. 

Family Club Groups Edit Expiration – This privilege, when granted to a User, will provide the User with the ability to edit the Expiration/Billing Date for the Family Club Group. This expiration can follow the expiration date of a Family Club Group member, or it can be specifically assigned so the group is billed on a specific date of the month.

Assign Security Role Privileges for Family Club

These privileges can grant permission to access to the Family Club Menu tabs and/or the ability to assign a
specific expiration/billing date, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Users tab in WashConnect.
  2. Select the Security Roles menu.
  3. Either select an existing Security Role or create a new role by selecting the Add button.
    The list of Privileges will be displayed.
  4. Expand the Customers privilege list, and then check the checkbox for either the Family Club Groups &/or the Family Club Options entry, depending on what access is needed for the selected role.
  5. Determine if this Security Role should have the ability to edit the expiration/billing date. If the Security Role requires this Privilege, click to check the checkbox for the Family Club Groups Edit Expiration box and then select Save.

Creating Family Club Options

The creation of Family Club Options is a prerequisite for making and using Family Club Groups. The site owner/manager must determine which of their clubs they would like to discount as part of a Family Club Group. The Options may represent a single club or collection of clubs that will be available under a single Option and with specified discounted pricing that will be tied to each individual club. They can create one Option or many Options, fully depending on what they want to offer their customer base.

Depending on the Discount Type, discounts can be applied as a flat dollar amount or a percentage discount. Family Club Options using the Discount discount type can discount multiple clubs in a single Option while granting separate discounts per club. Allowing you to grant a flat amount discount for one club service, while the other clubs get a percentage discount, if that is what is desired.

Various Options may be built that include the same club services assigned to each, but with different discounts if needed. There is a lot of flexibility that may be tied to the creation of the select Family Club Options.

The tools section contains buttons to Add Options, Edit Options, Activate/Deactivate an Option, or Delete a Family Club Option.

Adding a Family Club Option

Adding a Family Club Option is done via the Family Club Options tab at Corporate and provides the user the ability to create Options that can offer discounts for a single, or multiple clubs.

There are two main Discount Types to consider when creating a new Option, Discount or Fixed Price discount type, each of which are described below.

  • The Fixed Price discount type will only allow the selection of a single club service, meaning every member must be in the same club. There is also a setting that determines the maximum number of vehicles for this option while displaying what the actual total price would normally be for that number of club members in the selected club service. This allows the user to set what the new discount price would be for that group. For example, if a $30 club is selected and the maximum vehicles is set to 6, it calculates the typical price would be $180. When you set a Discount Price, it determines the actual price that will be charged. For example, if the Discount Price is set to $120, it reduces the club price to $24 each. 

     

  • The Discount discount type allows multiple different club services to be defined within a single Option. It can be one or as many club services as the user wants to define. There is also a Single Vehicle Discount Override configuration to offer flexibility on how to charge one of the designated members differently than the rest of the Group members assigned with this a Family Club Option that is using this Discount Type. Keep in mind that the discount can be a flat amount, a percentage amount, or no discount at all. When the Follow Plan Details selection is chosen, whatever is defined within the attached clubs will be applied to all clubs of that type, with no special assignments.

We will show both types, please work with the Car Wash Operator to determine which Family Club Option Discount Type will work best for their Family Club Group.

Fixed Price Type - Family Club Option

To create a new Family Club Option using the Fixed Price Discount Type follow the steps below:

  1. From the WashConnect menu, select Family Club Options.


     
  2. Select the Add button. The Family Club Options form will open for the User to configure the Option.


     
  3. From the Discount Type box, select Fixed Price to start configuring the option.


     
  4. Enter the Family Club Option Name to define the unique name of the Option that is being configured. This will be how we identify this discount configuration when creating a Family Club Group. This is a mandatory field.
  5. Decide whether or not to check the Active checkbox which that provides the option to make the Option Active or Inactive. Newly created Family Club Options will always default as Active.
  6. Select the Discount Type as either a Fixed Price or Discount Option. This is a mandatory field that cannot be changed after saving the Family Club Option.
  7. Upon selecting the Fixed Price Discount Type the Plan Detail section will open for the User to configure the specific Plan Details. 
  8. Define a Club service by using the "Search for clubs" field to search for a specific club, or by clicking the search button with this field blank in order to load a list of all of the Monthly Club Services for this Corporation.  Only Monthly Autobilling Clubs will be displayed in the list.
  9. Set the Max Vehicles as the maximum number of vehicles that the Car wash would like to be allowed in the Family Club Option. This number can be 1 or 500 but cannot be unlimited. Users can manually enter the number, or they can use the Up/Down arrows in the text box to configure the number. This is a mandatory field.
  10. Use the Price field to display the standard price for each vehicle based on the undiscounted price of the club, as well as the total for the max number of vehicles set for this Family Club Option.
  11. Set the Discount Price to the total price that will be charged to the Family Club Groups that are using this Fixed Price Option. The amount entered here will be the total price that will be charged during Autobilling.

Note: If the total club price for the number of Vehicles in a Family Club Group goes below the Discount Price the Family Club Group will be charged the standard price instead of the discounted price. Please see the below example which shows a Fixed Price Option that is intended to charge a discounted price of $120 to a group with 6 members. However, due to it being attached to a Family Club Group with 3 Family Club Vehicles it is charging $90 which is the undiscounted price for the club multiplied by 3. 

  1. After making all selections for the Fixed Price Option, select the Save button to create the Fixed Price Option or select the Cancel button to delete all information and start over at the beginning.

Discount Type - Family Club Option

To create a new Family Club Option using the Discount Type follow the steps below:

  1. From the Family Club Options tab select the Add button.


     
  2. In the Family Club Option Name box, type a unique name for this Option, which will also be displayed in the Family Club Option box when creating a Family Club Group. 
  3. Click to select the Active box, click to make the Option Active, or click again to make it Inactive. Default is Active.
  4. From the Discount Type box, select Discount. The Single Vehicle Discount Override section will be displayed for the User.
  5. Set the Single Vehicle Discount Override section to configure a discount that can be provided to a Single Vehicle assigned to the Family Club Group. While the default selection is Highest Price, there are multiple Single Vehicle options:
    • Highest Price – This First Vehicle selection will give an Amount or Percentage discount to the customer that is in the highest priced Club in the Family Club Group. 
    • Lowest Price – This First Vehicle selection will give an Amount or Percentage discount to the customer that is in the lowest priced Club in the Family Club Group. 
    • Group Owner - This First Vehicle selection will give an Amount or Percentage discount to the customer that is assigned as the Group Owner in the Family Club Group. 
    • Follow Plan Details - This First Vehicle selection will follow what is configured in the Plan Details section of the Family Club Option.
  6. After selecting either the Group Owner, Highest or Lowest Price Single Vehicle Discount option, the Discount By field will become available for the User to configure the criteria to help determine which family club member will receive the Single Vehicle discount. The User can choose to define an Amount or Percentage discount for the Single Vehicle, or if they choose to not offer a discount, they can leave the discount amount as zero. The Follow Plan Details option will follow what is configured in the Plan Details section.

Plan Details – This section will be populated once one or more Clubs have been added. Clubs can be selected by highlighting the club and using the Add button on the form, or they can be added by double-clicking the club. Only Monthly autobilling Clubs will be displayed in the list.  Each club attached to the Discount Option will be listed within the Plan Details grid. 

Upon adding one or more clubs to the Discount option, the User will be able to select a type of discount, as well as the discount amount for each of the Clubs assigned to the option.

Discount By – Provides the User with the ability to set the Club’s discount option as either an Amount discount or a Percentage discount.
Discount – Used to enter in the amount or percentage discount for the specific club.

After configuring everything for the Discount Option, select the Save button to create the Discount Option or select the Cancel button to delete all information and start over from the beginning. 
 

Edit Existing Family Club Options

If changes are needed, you may use the Edit button to make changes to any of the currently defined Family Club Options. To make changes to an existing Family Club Option follow the steps below:

  1. From the Family Club Options tab, click to select a Family Club Option Name to edit, and then click the Edit button.
     

  2. At this time, you may edit the Family Club Option. Depending on the Family Club Option Discount Type, the following items can be edited.

    Fixed Price – When editing a Fixed Price Option, the following can be edited:

    Family Club Option Name – Value can be updated
    Active – Status can be changed between Active and Inactive.
    Club – The club associated with the Option can be changed if the Option is not assigned to a Family Club Group
    Max Vehicles – Value can be updated
    Discount Price – Value can be updated

    Discount – When editing a Discount Option, the following can be edited:

    Family Club Option Name – Value can be updated.
    Active – Status can be changed between Active and Inactive.
    First Vehicle Type – First Vehicle Type can be changed to anything in the list.
    First Vehicle Discount By and Discount Amount – Discount By can be toggled between Amount and Percentage and the Discount Amount can be updated.

    Plan Details - When editing either Discount Type Option, the following can be edited:

    Clubs – Club(s) assigned to the Option can be added &/or removed
    Discount By – Can be changed between Amount or Percentage
    Discount – Value can be updated

    NOTE:  If a Club listed in a Family Club Option is assigned to a current member of a Family Club Group, it will not be able to be removed. 

    1. When the changes are completed, select the Save button to save your changes to the Discount Option or select the Cancel button to delete all the changes and return to the original values that were defined when the Option was initially created.

    Change an Existing Family Club Option to Active/Inactive 

    If an existing Family Club Option status needs to be changed, you may use the Activate/Deactivate button to make changes to the status of an Option. To make changes to an existing status of an Option follow the steps below:

    1. From the Family Club Option tab select the club for which you want to change its status from the Option grid and then select the Activate/Deactivate button.

       
    2. The selected Option will toggle the status and then display a message stating that the status changed successfully.
    3. Select the OK button to close the message. 

    The Option grid will now display the updated status of the previously selected Option. The Status column will display Active or Inactive.

    Delete an Existing Family Club Option

    If the owner/manager wants to delete an existing Family Club Option, they can do it by using the Delete button.

    1. From the Family Club Option tab, select the Option you wish to delete from the Option grid, and then select the Delete button.


      The selected Option will be deleted and then display a message stating that the option was deleted successfully.

    2. Select the OK button to close the message.
      The Option grid will no longer display the Option that was deleted.

    Creating Family Club Groups

    After creating Family Club Options, which define the Discount Types and Discount, the next step is to create Family Club Groups. Upon creating a Family Club Group, existing Club members in WashConnect can be added to a Family Club Group, which is then assigned a Family Club Option that provides the group with the discounts set in the Family Club Option. One member of the Family Club Group will be set as the Primary member and have a Card on File assigned which will be used by Autobilling to charge all members of the group under one transaction.





    Adding a Family Club Group

    Family Club Groups are created via the Family Club Groups tab at either the site level or Corporate and are limited to personnel that have the privilege to access that menu option.

    When creating Family Club Groups, the members that can be added to the Group will dependent on the Family Club Option that is assigned to the group. Family Club Groups assigned with a Fixed Price Option can only have club members that are in the assigned Family Club Option. Family Club Groups assigned with a Discount option may have more than one club, however, only club customers that are members of the clubs included in the assigned Family Club Option option can be added to the group.

    To add a new Family Club Group, follow the steps below:

    1. From the Family Club Groups tab select the Add button.



       
    2. The Family Club Group form opens for the User to create the new Group. See below for information regarding the configurations for the Family Club Group.



       
    3. Required: In the Family Club Group Name box, type a unique name for the Group that is being configured, which will also be displayed in Family Club Group main list page. 

    4. Required: In the Family Club Option box, select the Family Club Option that will be tied to the Family Club Group. Upon selecting the Family Club Option, a new Family Club Option Details section will be displayed that shows the club(s) that are part of the Option, as well as a section that enables the User to add customers to the Family Club Group. 

      The below examples are the result based on selecting a Family Club Option with a Fixed Price Discount Type and one with a variable Discount:
       

       

    1. In the Expiration Date (Billing) box, this is the date that the entire Family Club Group will expire and will need to be billed. This field will initially be grayed out until one or more customers have been added to the group, at which time the expiration date can be changed. The ability to change this Expiration Date is tied to a privilege in WashConnect and Users must have the privilege assigned to their Role in order to change the Expiration Date. This privilege currently only applies when editing a Family Club Group and will not apply during the initial creation of the Family Club Group. The Expiration Date will update as members are added to the Group, however, Users can elect to set the Expiration Date as needed, as long as they have the privilege to do so.
    2. In the Remarks box, the User may add a note to the Family Club Group. This field is only required when adjusting the expiration date of a previously created Family Club Group.
    3. In the Card On File box, this is initially grayed out until after a vehicle has been added to the Group that is tied to a customer that has a Card on File. After a customer has been added to the Group that has a Card on File, and the customer is set as the Group Owner, the User can then use the Set Card On File button to select the card that will be used for billing the entire Family Club Group. This section can also be used to change the card on file to a different card, if multiple cards exist for a customer.

    4. After configuring the Family Club Group options above, the next step is to add customers to the Family Club Group. There is a search bar located above the vehicle list which allows the user to search by the Plate number, RFID tag, or Customer name. If the User chooses to select the Search button without entering any information the full list of available vehicles will be displayed. This includes all vehicles with a status of Active, Declined, Bill, and Renewed.

       

    5. After searching for a member, the results should be displayed. Users can add a member by clicking the checkbox on the same line where the member(s) appear, and then select the Add button to add the member(s) to the Group.


       

    6. After adding the member(s) to the Group, a Group Owner Vehicle must be assigned to the Group. This vehicle should be tied to a customer with a Card on File that the group wants to use to bill this Family Club Group. To designate a Group Owner Vehicle, click to check the Group Owner check box for the vehicle that will be the Group Owner Vehicle.

       

    7. After a Group Owner has been assigned, set the card on file for the Group by clicking the Set Card on File button.

      The Update Card on File dialog box will open and display any cards that are available for the customer.
       

    8. Select a card by highlighting the card, and then select the Add button to set the card as the Card On File for the Group.

    After selecting the Card on File, the card information should be listed as the Card On File for the Group.

    Card on File - assigned.png

    1. After configuring the Family Club Group, select the Save button. Upon selecting the Save button, validation of the form will take place. This validation will include items such as Family Club Group Name, Expiration Date (Billing), Card On File, Group Owner assignment, and verification that all members assigned to the Group are from the same Site ID. Any validation notifications on the page will be displayed to the User.

      Example validation notifications:

      Site ID Notification

      To ensure that Autobilling runs correctly for all members that are included in the Family Club Group, all members of the Group must be assigned to the same Site ID. If any member(s) of the Group are tied to a different Site ID, the User will be prompted with a message to update all members to the same Site ID. If the User selects to not update the Site ID for the member(s) that are not the same as the Group Owner, the User will need to remove the member from the Group before saving the Group.

      All Family Club Groups can have their expiration date extended 2 months from the date of the Family Club Groups creation. The above notification will appear anytime the expiration date is set beyond this limit.

      When initially setting the Expiration Date (Billing) entry, if any of the Family Club Group Vehicles has an expiration date that does not match the Group Expiration Date, selecting Save will trigger a pop-up window titled Expiration Date (Billing) which will offer three selection buttons to determine how the new expiration date will be applied to the club memberships:

      • No - Selecting No will only update the Group Expiration Date (Billing) and leaves the current Expiration Dates for all members in the Group. Member Expiration Dates will attempt to align with the Group Expiration Date (Billing) the next time Autobilling runs.
      • Yes - Selecting Yes to update the Group Expiration Date (Billing) and also update the Expiration Dates for all members in the Group. 
    2. CAUTION: By selecting Yes, NO BILLING will occur and only the expiration dates will be moved.
      • Cancel – Selecting Cancel aborts the changes and restores the expiration date to its previous selection.

    Edit a Family Club Group

    If changes are needed to existing Family Club Groups, you may use the Edit button to make changes to any of the currently defined Groups. To make changes to an existing Group follow the steps below:

    1. From the Family Club Groups tab, select the Group you want to edit from the Group list and then select the Edit button.

      The Selected Group will be displayed.

       

    2. At this time, you may edit the Family Club Group. The items that can be edited for the Family Club Group are as follows:
      • In the Family Club Group Name box, type the value to update.
      • In the Expiration Date (Billing) box, the User may change the date if necessary if the User has the Privilege to do so.
      • In the Card On File box, the Card on File can be updated to a different card as long as there are multiple cards on file for the Group Owner, or in the instance where the Group Owner is changed to a new member and the new member has a Card on File.
      • In the Group Owner box, the Group Owner can be changed to another member, provided the new member has a Card on File, or a new Group Owner member can be added to the Group that has a Card on File.
      • In the Memberships box, member vehicle(s) can be removed from the Group or added to the Group. 
    3. When the changes are completed, select the Save button to save your changes to the Group or select the Cancel button to revert all the changes to the last saved configuration.
    4. When saving a group that has been edited, Validation takes place including items such as Family Club Group Name, Expiration Date (Billing), Card On File, Group Owner assignment, and verification that all members assigned to the Group are from the same Site ID. Any validation errors on the page will be displayed to the User.

When a change has been made to the Expiration Date (Billing) entry, selecting Save will trigger a pop-up window titled Expiration Date (Billing) which will offer three selection buttons No, Yes, Cancel to determine how the new expiration date will be applied to the club memberships:

  • No - Selecting No will only update the Group Expiration Date (Billing) and leaves the current Expiration Dates for all members in the Group. Member Expiration Dates will attempt to align with the Group Expiration Date (Billing) the next time Autobilling runs.
  • Yes - Selecting Yes to update the Group Expiration Date (Billing) and also update the Expiration Dates for all members in the Group. 
    CAUTION: By selecting Yes, NO BILLING will occur and only the expiration dates will be moved.
  • Cancel – Selecting Cancel aborts the changes and restores the expiration date to its previous selection.

Delete an Existing Family Club Group

If the owner/manager wants to delete an existing Family Club Group, they can do it by using the Delete button. To delete an existing Group, follow the steps below:

  1. From the Family Club Group tab, select the Group to delete from the Group list and then select the Delete button.


     
  2. A confirmation message will be displayed asking the User if they are sure they want to delete the selected Group. Select Yes to delete Group, or No to keep the Group.


     
  3. When Yes is selected the Group will be deleted and then display a message stating that the option was deleted successfully.


     
  4. Select the OK button to close the message.
    The Group grid will no longer display the Group that was deleted.

Manage Customers tab 

The Manage Customers tab has been changed to identify individual members who have become part of a Family Plan Group. The Manage Customers list displays the individual customers and now include the name of their Family Club Group within the Club/Fleet Rule column along with the Club Name and Price.


If you select an individual customer that displays a Family Club Group within the Manage Customers Tab and choose to edit the record, you will also see the name of the Family Club Group within the Vehicle Information Tab, within the ‘Club’ column.



If you choose to edit the vehicle by either highlighting the vehicle on the Main List page of the Manage Customers tab and clicking the Edit Vehicle button, or by double clicking a vehicle from the Main List page of the Manage Customers tab, opening the Vehicle Information tab, and selecting the Edit Vehicle button, you will receive a message that editing information of a Family Club Group member has set restrictions.

Also, there are additional restrictions if the selected member is also the Group Owner within that Family Club Group.

For example, if you choose to edit the vehicle of a Family Club Group member that is not the Group Owner of the group, you will get a message stating, *Club and Expiration Date fields are disabled because vehicle is tied to the “XXXXXX” Family Club Group. In this case, “XXXXXX” represents the actual Family Club Group name.

If the selected vehicle to be edited is the Group Owner of the Family Club Group, a different warning message is presented because if you choose to terminate or blacklist the vehicle, you can affect the entire Family Club Group, possibly terminating the entire group. In this case, the Club and Expiration Date are also disabled to prevent changes to either. 

As the Group Owner, if you choose to edit the associated Family Club Group member that is the Group Owner of the group, you will get a message stating, Club and Expiration Date fields are disabled because vehicle is tied to the “XXXXXX” Family Club Group. *This is the Group Owner of the Family Club Group. If you terminate this membership or blacklist this plate, it will terminate the entire Family Club Group. In this case, “XXXXXX” represents the actual Family Club Group name.

As the Group Owner, if you choose to edit the associated Family Club Group member that is the Group Owner of the group, you will get a message stating, *Club and Expiration Date fields are disabled because vehicle is tied to the “XXXXXX” Family Club Group. *This is the Primary Vehicle of the Family Club Group. If you terminate this membership or blacklist this plate, it will terminate the entire Family Club Group. In this case, “XXXXXX” represents the actual Family Club Group name.
 

 

Initial Autobilling to sync All Group Vehicles

Initial creation of Family Club Groups in WashConnect may result in misaligned expiration dates among associated members. For the system to process a single Autobilling transaction for the entire group, a synchronized expiration date is required for all members as soon as we can possibly sync them up.

If member expiration dates are out of sync, individual billing will be necessary to ultimately establish a uniform expiration date. This process may include a combination of full and prorated charges to bring all memberships into alignment.

When Autobilling is attempting to get all members in sync it considers the Expiration date tied to the Family Club Group. When billing the Group Owner’s Card on File when attempting to align all the individual expiration dates, each member will be charged when expired and updated at that time. As long as the Group Membership is less than 1 month in the future, the members will be charged a prorated price for their membership and the Card on File will be initially charged as each card expires. The billing will take place from the date of Autobilling to the target expiration date. When that date is more than a month in the future, the charge will be from today’s billing date to one month in advance. Then when it expires again, and the target date is less than one month ahead, that membership will be prorated to meet the target date.

Below are a few examples of how various members of a Family Club Group will be billed when attempting to align their Expiration Dates, along with an explanation of how the billing is determined.

Scenario 1: In this scenario the Group expiration date is older than the current date. Because of this, all members will need to be charged to update them with a current Group Expiration Date. The only member that is not expired is Member 3. When Autobilling runs, it will bill all members, except Member 3 that is not expired so that all other members will be properly aligned with the same Group Expiration Date. Because the old Group Expiration Date is older than the current date, the current date will be used as the new Group Expiration Date.

Members 1 & 2 will be charged full price, and their Expiration Dates will be moved to 10/30/2025. Member 3, when expired, will be charged a prorated price as their Expiration Date is greater than the current date. They will be prorated for their club for the date range of 10/06/2025 – 10/30/2025. Once billing is complete, all members will have the same Expiration Date of 10/30/2025, which now aligns with the Group Expiration Date.
 



Scenario 2: In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is 10/04/2025 and is the date that we are using to align all the member Expiration Dates. All three members have the same Expiration Date which is older than the current date. Because of this, when Autobilling runs, it is going to charge all three members a prorated price for the date range of 09/30/2025 – 10/04/2025. Once billing is complete, all members will have the same Expiration Date of 10/04/2025, which now aligns with the Group Expiration Date.
 

 

Scenario 3: In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is in the future compared with the current date. Only one of the members is expired and needs to be billed. To align the expired member, that member will be billed a prorated price for the date range of 09/30/2025 – 10/26/2025, which will make their Expiration Date the same as the other two members, who already have Expiration Dates that align with the Group Expiration Date. Since the other two members already have the same Expiration Dates as the Group Expiration Date the billing will be ignored for both members.

Scenario 4: In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is older than the current date and none of the members are currently in an expired state. To align all members and to ensure that the Group Expiration Date is current, no members will be billed until the billing date reaches 10/06/2025 which is when some of them will be expired. Members 1 & 2 will be billed full price when they expire on 10/06/2025 for the date range of 10/06/2025 – 11/06/2025 and their new Expiration Date will be changed to 11/06/2025. Member 3 will be billed a prorated price when they expire on 10/26/2025 for the date range of 10/26/2025 – 11/06/2025. The Expiration Date is now aligned with all the members and the new Group Expiration Date will be set to 11/26/2025.
 


Scenario 5: In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is in the future by more than 30 days beyond today’s date. One of the members is expired and the other two have expirations dates that are beyond the current date. Member 1 is expired so it will bill full price because the Group Expiration Date is more than 30 days in the future. This will move Member 1 to 10/30/2025. To align all members and to ensure that the Group Expiration Date is current, no members will be billed until the billing date reaches their expiration date. This means Member 2 will be billed Full Price on 10/05/2025 and the expiration date will be moved to 11/05/2025. Member 3 will be billed Full Price when it expires on 10/07/2025 and the expiration date will be moved to 11/07/2025. At this point all three memberships have been advanced but none have reached the Group Expiration Date of 11/15/2025. This means each one will again bill on its expiration date, but with the Group Expiration Date within 30 days, each one will be prorated to reach the 11/15/2025 Group Expiration Date. Member 1 will be billed on 10/30/2025 and be prorated for the date range of 10/30/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025.

Member 2 will be billed on 11/05/2025 and be prorated for the date range of 11/05/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025. Member 3 will be billed on 11/07/2025 and be prorated for the date range of 11/07/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025. The Expiration Date s now aligned with all the members and the new Group Expiration Date will be set to 11/15/2025.



Subsequent Autobilling when Group Vehicles are in Sync
When the Group Vehicle expiration dates have been synced up, autobilling will not need to prorate the clubs. This allows the Autobilling to be calculated easily and means that each subsequent billing will be the same as the last one. The only scenario where the billing would be different is if a member is added to the Group and the expiration date for that member does not align with the expiration date of the Group. When Autobilling runs for the Group, the new member would be charged accordingly and on their existing expiration date to bring their expiration date in alignment with the Group.

In the example below, all members in the Group for the Fixed Price club have the same Expiration Date and their Expiration Dates are aligned with the Group Expiration Date (Billing). In this instance, the total price that will be charged for the Group is $250, which is the price of $300 discounted by $50. The $250 amount will be divided between the members of the group and will be averaged out to make the total of $250.

image (8).png

If members are removed from the Group, such as in the example below, the overall price of the Family Club Group remains $250, however, the average price for each of the members is updated to reflect that the required 6 members for the Group is no longer valid.
 

 

Adding Promotional Clubs to a Family Club Group

We have designed the Family Club Feature to allow clubs that are tied to a club promotion to be included in a group, if the site wants to allow them. The software can to not allow a promotional club to double dip as part of a Group. This means that the promotional club will be configured to get the club promotion price or to get the designated discount associated to that club as defined per the Family Club Option attached to the Family Club Group. It can never receive both discounts.

Please contact the ICS Support Department for assistance with changing this setting.
 

Selection Indication When Adding Club Promotion Vehicles to a Family Club Group 

When choosing to add a new unique Family Club Group, there are messages that appear on the configuration screen to indicate how a Club Promotion will be handled if its vehicle is added into the group. These messages are based on the previous Client Configuration HonorGroupPromotion setting and will indicate if the club promotion will be honored, if it will be ignored, or if it will only be recognized when it is the Group Owner of the group and ignored if it is not.

Examples of Messages Dependent Upon Honor Group Promotion Selection:


 

 

 

Notification when attempting to Add Club Promotion Vehicles to a Family Club Group


When selecting club members and vehicles to add to the Family Club Group, you can use the Search box to enter Plate, RFID, or Customer Name, and then if a match is found, it will pop up to show the results of the search. In the following example, all possible results are shown, and this allows you to check the boxes of those you want to add to the group.


 

When you select the checkbox of a vehicle you want to add, a check is immediately done to determine if that selection is currently linked to a club promotion. If so, a message will be displayed stating that this vehicle is linked to a club promotion and it will explain the details of the promotion and how the site has elected to honor the promotion or ignore the promotion, based on the HonorGroupPromotion setting. Below are examples of messages based on the configuration.

 

The person setting up the group will need to determine if they want to continue to add the promotional club to the group based on whether they will forfeit the promotion and instead receive the defined group discount or if they will receive the promotion until all promotional cycles have been applied, then switch to receiving the defined group discount.

In each case they would need to select Yes to add the promotional club vehicle to the group or No to exclude the promotional club vehicle from the group.

 

How Autobilling Applies to Active Promotional Clubs within a Group

As discussed earlier, initial creation of Family Club Groups in WashConnect may result in misaligned expiration dates among associated members. For the system to process a single Autobilling transaction for the entire group, a synchronized expiration date is required for all members.
If member expiration dates are out of sync, individual billing will be necessary to establish a uniform expiration date. This process may include a combination of full and prorated charges to bring all memberships into alignment.

The exception to the previous statements is that when active club promotions are included within a Family Club Group, and the system is configured to honor the promotion, there is no attempt to synchronize the promotional club expiration date with the rest of the club group member expiration dates while the club promotion remains active.

This means the process of attempting to align all the group member expiration dates by charging each of them as they become expired and moving them to the target expiration date applies to non-promotional club members but excludes the promotional club members. When autobilling runs, each non-promotional club member will be charged when expired at a prorated or full price for their membership to attempt to sync up their expiration dates, and the Card on File will be billed each time for their transaction. If two or more happen to have the same initial expiration date they will be billed as a single transaction.

The promotional club(s) will continue to bill on their current expiration date until all cycles given with the promotional club purchase have been exhausted. Each of the club promotional renewals will end up being a separate charge to the Card on File for that transaction. Once the full promotion has been completed, the member will no longer bill based on its previous club promotion but will now attempt to prorate as part of the group while trying to sync up with the expiration date for the rest of the members.

Below are a few examples of how various members of a Family Club Group that include promotional club(s) will be billed when attempting to align their Expiration Dates, along with an explanation of how the billing is determined.

Scenario 1: (HonorGroupPromotion set to All) In this scenario, the Group expiration date is older than the current date and one member is tied to an active club promotion that is being honored. Because of this, all members will need to be updated to the new Group Expiration Date. The members that are not expired are Member 3 and Member 4. When Autobilling runs, on 9/30 it will bill Members 1 & 2, but will wait for Member 3 & 4 to expire. Because the old Group Expiration Date is older than the current date, the current date will be used as the new Group Expiration Date.

Members 1 & 2 will be charged full price, and their Expiration Dates will be moved to 10/30/2025. Member3 will be charged a prorated price when they expire as their Expiration Date is greater than the current date. They will be prorated for their club for the date range of 10/06/2025 –10/30/2025. After billing is completed on 10/06, Members 1, 2, and 3 will have the same Expiration Date of 10/30/2025, which now aligns with the Group Expiration Date. Member 4 will not be included in this autobilling and instead will wait until it reaches its current expiration date. At that time, if there are additional billing cycles available, Member 4 will be charged full price on its own transaction, and its expiration date will be pushed out 1 month to 11/09/2025.


 

NOTE –  On the subsequent billing, the Group, except the Promotional Club, will all be billed at Full Price and their 10/30/2025 expiration date will be advanced to 11/30/2025. When 11/09/2025 is reached and the club promotion has been exhausted, the membership will be billed at a prorated price (11/9 to 11/30) to advance the expiration date to 11/30/2025 to sync up to the rest of the member’s expiration date.

If the promotional membership still had available cycles, the promotional club would have billed Full Price and advance the expiration date to 12/09/2025.


Scenario 2: (HonorGroupPromotion set to All) In this scenario the Group Expiration Dates is 10/04/2025 and is the date that we are using to align all the member Expiration Dates. There are three non-promotional members that have the same Expiration Date which is older than the current date.

There is also an active promotional club (Member 4) with the same expiration date. Because of this, when Autobilling runs, it is going to charge all three non-promotional members a prorated price for the date range of 09/30/2025 – 10/04/2025. Once billing is complete for the three non-promotional clubs, those members will have the same Expiration Date of 10/04/2025, which now aligns with the Group Expiration Date. Member 4 will be charged their full promotional price, and their expiration date will be advanced a full month to 10/26/2025.
 

NOTE –  When the club promotion has been exhausted, the membership will be billed at a prorated price to advance the expiration date to sync up to the rest of the member’s expiration date.

Scenario 3: (HonorGroupPromotion set to All) In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is in the future compared with the current date. Only one of the non-promotional members is expired and needs to be billed. Member 4 is tied to an active promotional club with expiration date of 10/10/2025. To align the expired non-promotional member, that member will be billed a prorated price for the date range of 09/30/2025 – 10/26/2025, which will make their Expiration Date the same as the other two members, who already have Expiration Dates that align with the Group Expiration Date. Since the other two non-promotional members already have the same Expiration Dates as the Group Expiration Date the billing will be ignored for both members.

In this case, the promotional club expiration is in the future, and it is not billed until it expires on 10/10/2025. At that time, the club promotion is billed the full promotional price, and the date is advanced to 11/10/2025.


NOTE – When the club promotion has been exhausted, the membership will be billed at a prorated price to advance the expiration date to sync up to the rest of the member’s expiration date.

Scenario 4: (HonorGroupPromotion set to All) In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is older than the current date and none of the non-promotional members are currently in an expired state. Member 4 is tied to an active promotional club with expiration date of 10/10/2025. Member 5 is tied to an active promotional club with expiration date of 10/15/2025.To align all members and to ensure that the Group Expiration Date is current, all members will be billed a prorated price depending on their date range.

Members 1 & 2 will be billed a prorated price for the date range of 10/06/2025 – 10/30/2025 and their new Expiration Date will be changed to 10/30/2025. Member 3 will be billed a prorated price for the date range of 10/26/2025 – 10/30/2025 and their Expiration Date will be changed to 10/30/2025. Since the Group Expiration Date is older than the current date, the current day will be the new Group Expiration Date but will be moved out a month to make the new Group Expiration Date 10/30/2025.

In this case, there are two promotional club expirations that are both in the future and the first is not billed until it expires on 10/10/2025. At that time, the club promotion is billed the full promotional price, and the date is advanced to 11/10/2025. The second is not billed until it expires on 10/15/2025. At that time, the club promotion is billed the full promotional price, and the date is advanced to 11/15/2025.

 

NOTE – When the club promotion has been exhausted, the membership will be billed at a prorated price to advance the expiration date to sync up to the rest of the member’s expiration date.

Scenario 5: (HonorGroupPromotion = PrimaryOnly) In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is in the future compared with the current date. Only one of the non-promotional members is expired and needs to be billed. Member 4 is tied to an active promotional club with expiration date of 10/10/2025. Member 5 is tied to an active promotional club with expiration date of 10/15/2025, however, since this member is not the Group Owner, we will not honor this promotion and Member 5 will receive the discounts applied through the Family Club Group. To align the expired non-promotional member, that member (1) will be billed a prorated price for the date range of 09/30/2025 – 10/26/2025, which will make their Expiration Date the same as the other two members, who already have Expiration Dates that align with the Group Expiration Date. Since the other two members already have the same Expiration Dates as the Group Expiration Date the billing will be ignored for both members.
 

In this case, the promotional club expiration for Member 4 (the Group Owner) is in the future and it is not billed until it expires on 10/10/2025. At that time, the club promotion is billed the full promotional price, and the date is advanced to 11/10/2025.
 

The promotional club expiration for Member 5 is also in the future, however in this case, the site is configured to only honor the promotional club for the Group Owner, which is Member 4. This means that Member 5 will be treated as a non-promotional club and billed a prorated price for the date range of 10/15/2025 – 10/26/2025, which will make its Expiration Date the same as the other three non-promotional members.


NOTE – When the club promotion has been exhausted, the membership will be billed at a prorated price to advance the expiration date to sync up to the rest of the member’s expiration date.

Scenario 6:  (HonorGroupPromotion = PrimaryOnly) In this scenario the Group Expiration Date is in the future by more than 30 days beyond the current date. One of the members is expired and the other four have expirations dates that are beyond the current date. Member 1 is expired so it will bill full price because the Group Expiration Date is more than 30 days in the future. This will move Member 1 to 10/30/2025. To align all members and to ensure that the Group Expiration Date is current, no members will be billed until each expiration date reaches their billing date. This means Member 2 will be billed Full Price on 10/05/2025 and the expiration date will be moved to 11/05/2025. Member 3 will be billed Full Price when it expires on 10/07/2025 and the expiration date will be moved to 11/07/2025. Member 4 has a Promotional Club that is being honored because they are the Group Owner so it will be billed Full Price when it expires on 10/10/2025 and the expiration date will be moved to 11/10/2025. 

Member 5 has a promotional club, however, since it is not the Group Owner the promotion will not be honored and instead it will be billed Full Price when it expires on 10/15/2025 and the expiration date will be moved to 11/15/2025. At this point all five memberships have been advanced but only one has reached the Group Expiration Date of 11/15/2025. This means the other four one will again bill on their expiration date, but with the Group Expiration Date within 30 days, each one will be prorated to reach the 11/15/2025 Group Expiration Date. Member 1 will be billed on 10/30/2025 and be prorated for the date range of 10/30/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025. Member 2 will be billed on 11/05/2025 and be prorated for the date range of 11/05/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025. Member 3 will be billed on 11/07/2025 and be prorated for the date range of 11/07/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025. The Expiration Date is now aligned with all the members except Member 4 and the new Group Expiration Date will be set to 11/15/2025. Member 4 will be billed on 11/10/2025 and if the club still has additional cycles to honor, it will be billed full promotional price for the date range of 11/10/2025 – 12/10/2025, with their new expiration date being 12/10/2025. If it does not have any additional cycles, the membership would be prorated on 11/10/2025 for the date range of 11/10/2025 – 11/15/2025, with their new expiration date being 11/15/2025. Member 5 will be billed on 11/15/2025 and be billed full price, with their new expiration date being 12/15/2025.

 

Autobilling Group Receipt Examples

When a Family Plan Group is autobilled, it is charged to the Primary member’s credit card which is on file, and then the Autobilling Group receipt is sent to the Primary member’s email address. Below are some examples of Family Club Group autobilling transactions.

  • The Subject line will include the name of the Group Owner owner.
  • Receipt will be listed as a Group Billing Receipt.
  • Receipt will display the CTN number and the date of the transaction.
  • Receipt will display the Site name.
  • Receipt will display the Summary Group Bill to display total including tax, as well as the number of members in the Group.
  • Receipt will provide an Itemized Breakdown of individual members, their Plate or RFID tag, their club and Discount, their Subtotal of the bill.
  • Receipt will display the summation of the Subtotal, Tax, and Total combined from each individual.
  • Receipt will show the card type and last four digits of the card and when the next Billing date will occur.
     

Receipt Examples

Group Receipt with four members

In the following example, the email is sent to the Group Owner member, Hilary Banks, but within the email, it properly displays each member that was billed.
 



 

Group Receipt with two members


In the following example, the email is sent to the Group Owner member, Joe Bruce, but within the email it properly displays each member that was billed.



 

 

Group Receipt with only one member being charged separately


In the following example, the email is sent to the Group Owner member, Summer Smith, but within the email, it properly displays the member (B P) that was billed. This may occur when the single member is being billed prorated to align the expiration date with the other members of the group, or billed member is still receiving a club promotion, so it continues to be billed on its current expiration date before getting prorated to sync up with the rest of the group.

image (1).png

Please contact ICS Technical Support if any assistance is needed:

800-246-3469

Related to

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 0 found this helpful

Related articles

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.