Nine months in the making, it was finally here, wrap day! 

My car was scheduled to be wrapped at a graphics shop (independent business; not owned by Wrapify) in Schaumburg when it opened at 8 AM. Given my hatred of sitting in traffic, I awoke at my normal time of 5:30 A.M. and got to the shop about an 45 minutes later. 

At 8 AM, the shop owner and an employee came out to greet me. Together, the employee and I did a “walk around” of my vehicle to identify any imperfections which could prevent my vehicle from being wrapped. Thankfully none were identified and after signing a Wrapify document provided by the graphics shop, I was on my way.  The employee indicated that the wrap would most likely be done prior to the promised time of 5 PM but he would call when it was completed. 

It total, my time at the shop (after they were open) was less than 15 minutes. I then took an Uber to work (sat in traffic :() and got to work by 9:00. 

Around 3:30 P.M., when I hadn’t heard from the graphics shop I called and was informed that I could pickup my newly wraped car anytime. I hailed an Uber from the office in Rosemont out to the graphics shop and got the first glimpse of the beauty I would be driving around for the next three months. 

Hey Chicago, what do you say? Get sh*t Done today! 

The company that contracted with Wrapify to place advertisements on the side of my car was Make Offices, a shared workspace geared toward entrepreneurs and startups. 

Upon leaving the graphics shop I turned on the Wrapify app, as I had done so many times in late 2015, this time “for real”... or so I thought… 

As I drove the first 300 yards away from the graphics shop, the app was not tracking my movement... 

I stopped. Closed the app.  Restarted the app, drove a little bit. Nothing. Stopped, did some reading on the company's website, drove a little bit, Nothing. Restarted my phone, restarted the app, drove a little bit… nothing!  I was so disheartened... I gave up, noted the mileage on my odometer with the thought that I will submit a support ticket when I got home. Like magic.... as I got closer to the city the app started tracking my miles just west of Deerfield. That day I ended up with nearly 22 miles by the time I got home! Nearly $4 dollars, nothing too exciting but I had achieved my goal of turning my car into a revenue producing asset. 

In hindsight, I now understand that despite being within the Chicago Suburbs, I was outside the defined range of the campaign which I was enrolled. Putting myself in Wrapify's shoes, this could have been prevented. A new driver FAQ video explaining some of these things: 

• intricacies of turning on wifi/Bluetooth to help better track your miles,
• reminders to turn the app on/off every time you get in/out of the car. 

The video’s name: “What to expect, when you are expecting (to make money for every mile)”

In several conversations leading up to getting the wrap, I was warned of scams. The absolutely crazy part was the professionalism and the familiarity the Wapify app provided. Throughout the entire process I never once felt uncomfortable. 

I had arranged for someone to slap an ad on the side of my car; I had no doubt that I would get paid, everything was on the ‘up and up”. The whole process felt very similar to ordering a ride from Uber, groceries from instacart, or dinner from Postmates. 

If you think about it, there was a lot of trust from both sides in this transaction. The technology, the app makes this possible, makes it feel familiar, makes it feel natural. 

Next up "The view from the drivers seat"....