Service With a Smile was originally written as a 14 page short story called, Backache. It was written by the lead actor, Bill Runyan, for a writing class he was taking. He told the director, Ken Axmaker, Jr., how Backache pissed everyone off in his writing class. Intrigued, Axmaker wanted to read the story, and decided to make the film with the new title, Service With a Smile. He created the new title after he read a print off of the short story that didn't include the original title.
Helga, the psycho carpet cleaner, was originally suppose to be a preppy, goody-goody type of character. After she was cast as Helga, Ashley Fowler showed up to the set with an idea for her character. She was dressed in goth and sported a horrible Russian accent. Axmaker and the rest of the cast and crew quickly came to the conclusion, this was Helga.
The director, Ken Axmaker, Jr. played a bit part as the Bicyclist.
The car Bill crashed into with the tractor was actually an old car of Ashley Fowlers, "Helga". It was sitting in a field at her father's home in Arkansas rotting away when it was rescued for a short life in film history.