10 Things about Vending Machines
Our Competitors Do Not Want You to Know!

In this article, you will learn...

1. All snack & soda vending machines are Not the same
2. Not just any snack & soda vending machines will NOT work for every vending location
3. A higher priced vending machine, often does not mean quality in this business
4. What vending machine options are valuable vs. those that waste your money & when to avoid a snack / soda combo vending machine!
5. Who will help you if your vending machine needs repair?
6. Why some vending machines require frequent repair & others do not
7. Is the cost set in stone or do added cost show up later when buying vending machines?
8. Are they shifting the vending machine cost on you?
9. What does & does not happen for you at delivery of your vending machines!
10. Employee incentive programs your company can use!

Vending Machines Points Detailed....

1. All snack & soda vending machines are Not the same
There are many factors to consider in buying the right snack or soda vending machines for your location. One of the most important is that you know the differences in the types of vending machines on the market such as quality, options, capacity - especially when buying snack and soda vending machines . Many vending companies have not been in the industry long enough to have become dealers for the better lines of equipment on the market. Since they have very limited, or no access, to most vending machine manufacturers, they will do their best to sell you an inferior or problematic vending machine while claiming that it is the best on the market. This does not mean you have to buy expensive snack and drink vending machines to get quality, but be sure you have several lines to choose from.

2. Many vending machines will NOT work for every vending location
Be sure the vending machines you choose are a proper fit for the type of location you have as well as the number and type of employees or customers that will be using them. Of course you have to have a vending machine with the adequate number of snack and soda selections, but also make sure that you purchase based on the amount of service time that is acceptable to you. There are a few factors to help determine based on the number of employees & customers, whether they are blue collar or white collar, and the environment as to how much product will go through the snack or drink vending machine daily or weekly. Locations often buy a vending machine that is an overkill for a small account, or they buy an undersized vending machine that requires filling every other day. Even though it is fun pulling the cash out of the machine, you will prefer to do it weekly rather than daily! Also, some snack / soda combo vending machines look really neat and appear to have a large selection, but they often are not practical because they have severely cut the number of cans or bottles the combo vending machine can hold just to make it appear nice. You do not know until its too late that the top two favorite selections run out within hours each day!
NOTE: Ask about our free evaluation to determine exactly what size and type snack or soda machine would be the perfect fit for your company. We look at all the critical factors including, the size of your doorways, number of employees, employee type, customer volume, work hours & shifts, desired products, available budget or financing, timeframe, delivery options, etc. It will help give you the best options based on your situation and your needs.

3. A higher priced vending machine, often does not mean quality in this business
As everyone knows, there is great money made from vending machines.  Consequently, with so much opportunity, this industry attracts many who are anxious to start a snack or soda vending route of their own.  However, it also attracts those looking to take advantage of anxious vending machine buyers who do not know what they are doing but can not wait to get started!  This causes some salespeople to say or promise anything it takes to get the sale and often results in vending machines being sold for two or three times their actual worth.  A seasoned vending operator knows what each machine is worth and which vending machines are just poor quality, but to a person or company that does not deal with this daily, they have no idea if the salesperson is leading them with their best interest in mind or his own!

4. What vending machine options are valuable vs. those that waste your money & when to avoid a snack / soda combo vending machine!
Snack and soda vending machines today can be much more advanced that those even just 3 or 4 years ago.  Some of the technology advancements are really just bells and whistles kind of like all those buttons on your camcorder that you never use!  You can get everything from talking vending machines to ones that use your fingerprint as confirmation to add a vended item to your running tab.  For most companies that are just buying snack or drink vending machines to use for their employees and customers, there are only a few of these bells that you should consider.  One of the best features to come along is the laser beam product delivery assurance systems.  This is a grid of laser beams that detects when the snack or candy falls to the bottom of the snack vending machine; if the product gets hung or the coil is empty, it automatically tries to turn the coil again.  If it still does not fall, it tells the customer to make a different selection or they can get a refund from the vending machine.  This has eliminated approx 95% of this type of service call and has eliminated any reason for employees to rock the vending machines trying to get a hung item to fall.  There is no reason they should rock the snack vending machines and in turn damage the brand new tile floor in your breakroom!  By the way, this is NOT an expensive option, and it is definitely worth it.

5.  Who will help you if your vending machine needs repair?
If you are buying new snack or soda vending equipment, machine repair and service should not be a frequent need for the first few years at least.  Many machines are still in service after 15 or 20 years and seldom require repair.  Yet, when repair or troubleshooting is needed, do you know how to handle this?  Well, if you are a smaller company and can use a mechanical vending combo (snack & drink), repair can be handled by anyone that is mechanically inclined.  For electrical vending machines, it can be a challenge by yourself.  On many of our snack & soda vending machines, we have a tech support department that you can reach via an 800 number and get immediate assistance with any programming or technical issue that may arise.  Rather than paying a service technician $70 per hour including driving time to work on your vending machine for a simple adjustment or many hours for an involved problem, our techs can walk you through the process, troubleshoot the problem on the phone while you are standing in front of the vending machine, determine the problem and ship you the part with instructions on how to swap it out yourself.  If that does not do the trick, we have approx 400 vending machine service centers all over the US that can drive to your location and take care of everything!

6. Why some vending machines require frequent repair & others do not.
Poor Quality. Just as in buying a stereo system where you have models in every price range from low end, no-name brands to premium quality, snack & soda vending machines come in varying qualities as well. Some lines are lower quality and are primarily sold to people buying their first vending machines because they don not know any better. Once they learn the vending business, they never consider these brands again! Other lines are very high quality and are made for extremely high volume accounts and are mainly sold to large vending companies with hundreds or thousands of machines on their routes. Then, you have those in the middle that are reasonable priced and are made with better than average quality standards. These specifically, are normally used by vending route operators that have been in the vending business for 2 to 7 years or to businesses for their own employees' use. You can get quality snack and drink vending machines for reasonable prices, but make sure you are getting honest forthright info on what machines are what level of quality. Remember Point #3?

7. Is the cost set in stone or do added cost show up later when buying vending machines?
We often hear reports of less than forthright sales reps with some vending machine companies that do not explain all the costs for you up front. All companies should be able to provide you a guaranteed cost of everything before you make your purchase. These costs should include the machine costs, processing fees, shipping costs, fuel surcharges, as well as these options if they are needed for delivery of your vending machines: residential charge, liftgate fees, inside delivery fees, notification fees, etc. If you are paying the shipping up front, make sure it is listed as an item with the cost on your order form so that they can't come back later and say that you did not pay shipping and force you to pay it again to the freight company COD

8. Are they shifting the vending machine cost on you?
Every now and then we have a customer who comes to us thinking they found a better price on the same machine elsewhere. When we get into the details with them, they usually are not comparing the entire cost of the vending machine, delivery, & everything. Once we get a grand total from the competitor, they often learn that the other company was giving what appeared to be a lower price on the vending machine, but all they did was mark the shipping way up to make up the difference. This made them look good and the freight company look high. Rather than playing games with the numbers, when buying vending machines, the company should just give you their best price and the shipping cost without adding $200 or $300 to the shipping cost. In order to trust a company, they should be trustworthy in ALL areas.

9. What does & does not happen for you at delivery of your vending machines!
Make sure you are prepared when the vending machines arrive on the 18 wheeler.  Make sure you have made any arrangements and most importantly, make sure that your sales rep asked what services you need and has scheduled those services through the freight company.  They include, lift gates, residential deliveries, inside delivery, unpacking the equipment, early notification of delivery, etc.   If not, this will either delay your shipment or create added cost when they deliver the vending machines.  A good vending machine sales rep will handle all of this for you!

10. Employee incentive programs your company can use!
Did you know that most snack and soda vending machines can be set to run on tokens or paper coupons that are inserted through the bill acceptor like cash?  Giving these to employees as incentives for work safety or cost saving ideas can be a great value to the employee and since you own the snack or drink vending machines, the actual cost to you is less than the employees' perception since you are making money on the vending products.  It is also rewarding for customer relations while customers are waiting for an appointment or sitting in a waiting area.  We have letters from companies that have revealed how happy customers were after being treated so well even though the car problems they went to have resolved are still continuing!  This contributes to their whole experience!

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