Have you ever given up on a location because of greedy or picky owners?

[Billnuts]

I have a situation brewing at one of my stops I have had for less than a year

 

 

And i have to say goodbye this week 

 

i have to tell them its not working out and its time for me to go 

 

how many have you walked away from due to owners rules or greed?

 

 

 

[redmms250713]

i havent, but curious what they are trying to do? mind telling the while story?

[mainor5251]

I start with sarcasm. Like when they ask for unreasonable commissons or have crazy machine request. If they don't get the hint I can be very blunt, I've only had to tell a couple owners the way it was gonna be and expected to lose account but owners backed off. If I'm making money I can tolerate a lot though.

[Billnuts]

I installed a cocktail multi-cade

a 24 inch  candy crane

and a side box   (prize locker)

I was supposed to install a 31 plush crane 

 

after putting this in they said no to the 31 crane just yet...  AND just yet turned into 10 months later..

 

The candy crane holds 500 2 inch capsules

I would hide the 5 keys to the side box and

refill as needed every 2 weeks. 

 

worked out well, and was making money

 

 

then the owner changed to I cant fill it till all 5 keys for the locker were found or the crane was empty.

his employees who play it thought it was UNFAIR and cheating that I would refill and bury the keys again..

And can only do it when he is there... on a Tuesday..  and he wants to have all 5 keys in the same color capsule so his employees know what capsules to get..

 

so 500 capsules    $.50 cents per play..     $250.00 max per month then..

add their commission  35%.. 

minus 500 capsule cost...

minus 5 prizes  for the locker...

 

 

not worth my time

 

so I swapped them for a 24 plush crane     used small plush   set the odds 10/1

 

not play till you win..

used the plush to hold the keys.

did good for 2 months

 

now the employees are not playing and want the candy crane back.

and said my prizes in the locker were crap and wanted higher end prizes..

 

no money to be made and they have too many demands

 

so its time to go ..

[PowerVendor]

From the numbers you have given, it does not sound that the location is worth the B.S. I would dump them too.

[mjacks]

I had to dump a chain of Mexican restaurants when they wanted a $3k per location per year kick back on top of the commission.  I was close to pulling out anyways and that was the last straw.  Don't miss them one bit.

[mainor5251]

I would be past sarcasm at this point. These owners kill me. If I heard my employees complaining I would let them know I don't pay them to play the games now go clean something you lazy golpher. Of course this is probably why I can never have employees.

[PerformaVending]

I have only walked on locations that turned a blind eye to any damage my equipment would get on their premises. More than just the usual wear-and-tear, like broken units in plain sight of checkouts and service desks. I had a 5-way that the owners were always mad that the globes were always scratched up or outright cracked, and when I asked how the machines were getting damaged so regularly they just sort of shrugged and said "fix it!" After replacing all the globes and front panels on the 2" machines twice (put metal panels in the sides, they were NW 80's), I finally removed the gear and never came back. The place wasn't making much money, and with the cost of the globes (tacked on to all the jams and breakdowns) I was actually losing money in the long run!

 

In my mind, a location is a partnership. If it goes sour, I'm more than happy to move my gear (and comissions) to another spot. There will always be more locations, so there's no need to suffer unecessarilly.

[hanihotdog]

Recently, I was on the phone with my brother when he was in an account, and my brother was very rude and very sarcastic with the owner. I asked him what the crap he was doing talking to an account like that! He laughed and said wait till you hear this, then he went into the account to pay the guy, and said $40 is all you get this month, but that's not bad for a hole in the wall like this. Then he told the guy to take the 40 bucks and go buy himself a bottle of booze and it would make everything better.

He explained to me that the best way to deal with those people is sarcasm, because it takes whatever they say and turns it into a joke. I don't think I would ever try that, but it works for him.

[PerformaVending]

Recently, I was on the phone with my brother when he was in an account, and my brother was very rude and very sarcastic with the owner. I asked him what the crap he was doing talking to an account like that! He laughed and said wait till you hear this, then he went into the account to pay the guy, and said $40 is all you get this month, but that's not bad for a hole in the wall like this. Then he told the guy to take the 40 bucks and go buy himself a bottle of booze and it would make everything better.

He explained to me that the best way to deal with those people is sarcasm, because it takes whatever they say and turns it into a joke. I don't think I would ever try that, but it works for him.

 

Wow. That's a strange way to deal with businesses. Glad you got lucky with it, as I think most locations would have told your brother to pack up your gear and beat it.

[hanihotdog]

I forgot to mention, that the guy my brother was talking to sounded exactly like the owner bill is dealing with. He only wanted #4 size licensed plush, twice a week service, he would take stuff,and would always complain about how little the machine made... he would always fly off the handle at our service people, and later say.. are we still friends... it was a lousy account, and he ended up going bankrupt.

We have learned that most owners that are very concerned about the vending don't last very long. Almost 100% of the hot head jerks that tell us how to run our businesses have gone bankrupt. The worst part is, they never call before they lock their doors.

[BouncyBalls]

Hani, is your brother ronsidney??? Sounds just like some stuff he would say

[ronsidney]

I do feel most owners like that u have to put in there place . Meaning they have thought in there head they are a "real business" and I am just some hack taking little kids lunch money ..

Most of the time I'm super humble, really incognito and play " oh I'm the poor vendor" but occasionally you get a butthead like this that wants to talk down to you and be disrespectful. I just make smart remarks like " yeah I used to run a few restaurants just like this but I got tired of being broke all the time so i started a vending business" or something similar .. Usually get more respect from them when I get like that and they chill out on hassling me..

They really just wanna bully somebody because their business is failing,

I usually try and help them and give them ideas when I get those remarks . Like " you know there was a restaurant just like this in a town in the next state and he wasn't making any money either, but instead of contiplating suicide like you probably are he changed his business model and cleaned up the place" lol...

[ussb1]

We have learned that most owners that are very concerned about the vending don't last very long. Almost 100% of the hot head jerks that tell us how to run our businesses have gone bankrupt. The worst part is, they never call before they lock their doors.

You nailed it!!!

.

Never have I had a problem with a location because i was paying them to much.

 

90% of headaches come from the lowest earning locations.

 

Another thing i get sometimes is a person tells me they are paying for the power. I don't waste much time with them I just ask if they would like machines removed? Have never been told yes.

[Jax Snacks]

Billnuts, The short answer is "Yes".  I had to self-evict myself a few times due to a jerk owner or manager.

 

Some owners think that we are making a "killing" off of these machines.  And how dare us make all that money off of THEIR customers AND employees.

 

Per ronsidney comments, some owners think of bulk vendors as "Bottom Feeders" and have little or no respect for us.

 

Also per ronsidney comments, some owners are simply not making ends meet and thus criticize their paltry commission.  I had one owner once call their commission "Peanuts" and another call it "Chump Change".

 

Of course, if your business' rent is $5,000 to $10,000 per month in a prime location, I guess even a $100 commission is "Chump Change".  But it was NOT ME who signed a stupid lease deal in the first place - so don't blame me for your troubles.  A bad lease deal can kill a small business.  I was once sitting next to a self-proclaimed restaurant "expert" in a bar.  Didn't really know him that well, but I listened to his story.  He told me that the lease was the key to having a profitable AND sell-able restaurant business.  His strategy was to open a new restaurant, then negotiate a "really good"  long term lease deal, then "flip" the business after a few years while the lease deal was still good.  He would be long gone (with his money) before the landlord would inevitably raise the rent after the lease expires - leaving the other guy stuck with a crappy lease deal.  Maybe it was all BS - not sure, but made interesting conversation.  Sorry to get off topic a bit.  Anyhow...

 

ronsideny, your restaurant comments are spot on.  Many of my "Chump Change" problems were in a chain called Beef O'Bradys.  I had 6 of them at one point and every single one of them is out of business.  Looks like a bad business model problem to me, rather then a vending problem.  Heck, I even had one Beef O'Bradys owner boot me and then tell me that a change of vendors may help her bottom line (probably a percent-of-net-er told her that!) - what a clown - she closed down in 6 months!

[musser]

Everything will happen in this biz. The best you can do is let it roll off your back. Hard to do at first but after you get seasoned you find entertainment in idiots. I had a guy call me once wanting 50%, I had been paying him 35% for several months, his cut averaged $250 a month so it was a good stop. He started screaming at me over the phone calling me s crook. So I figured I would just pull the stop because if he's yellong like an idiot at me he would treat my employees worse and they deserve better.

When I went to pull it the guy literally started screaming in the restaurant " you no good b- tard, you no good thief , you dirty sob, followed us out the door into parking lot screaming. I finally told him " the two of us just hand loaded a 500 pound crane into a trailer, you golpher is next, and we're going past a really deep lake on the way home." He did take the hint.

[ronsidney]

Like musser's comment I have a story too.

I had a crane in a crap stop, a Indian bought out a redneck grocery store, moved his family in and put his idols he worshipped all over the store with incense burning etc.

Needless to say God still rules over redneck-Landia and this crap didn't fly with the locals . So his million dollar a year biz tanked really fast when his customers disappeared.

I would show up to service with my absolute first words that are always spoke by me or my route people( company rule) "how is business?"

And he goes off on me saying he wants me to count every single cent in front of him and he wants to see inside crane etc. I obliged and started and when he seen he was getting 30% he goes off again saying his electric etc that he should get 70% and me 30% etc..

I once again humbled myself and explained biz to him and eventually got his understanding and left..

I show up next time to service and. He has line of guys buying cigs as it was bout quitting time so there was a little rush of customers. I made my introduction and he seen me and said wait . So I waited for a few but other people kept coming so I just said " I'll get money out of machine and be stuffing animals in" and he nodded like that was ok.

I opened machine door and he flips out , starts yelling at me and runs around corner towards me. I turn around and he grabs my keys out of my hands and says he said not to open machine until he could watch me.

Needless to say I go for him and he starts to flee and I grab my keys and in the commotion he trips and falls into snack aisle. I apologize and tell him to not f-ing put his hands on me or my keys or I would beat his ace right here in this store. He looked terrified and went to go behind counter. Me thinking he might have a gun or something just leave. I waited outside and sure enough cops come and I explained to them he grabbed my keys from me and I had witnesses.

Evidently they knew he was weirdo and let me get my machine.

I didn't have truck with me so I pulled crane and wheeled it a block down street to another location I had and they let me put there until I could come back with truck. He even had nerve to call me cussing a few days later wanting his commission!!!!!

[PerformaVending]

ronsideny, your restaurant comments are spot on.  Many of my "Chump Change" problems were in a chain called Beef O'Bradys.  I had 6 of them at one point and every single one of them is out of business.  Looks like a bad business model problem to me, rather then a vending problem.  Heck, I even had one Beef O'Bradys owner boot me and then tell me that a change of vendors may help her bottom line (probably a percent-of-net-er told her that!) - what a clown - she closed down in 6 months!

 

I can't imagine how anyone could be so delusional to think the success/failure of your business lies in the vending machines inside your store. That's some powerful desperation right there.

 

Everything will happen in this biz. The best you can do is let it roll off your back. Hard to do at first but after you get seasoned you find entertainment in idiots. I had a guy call me once wanting 50%, I had been paying him 35% for several months, his cut averaged $250 a month so it was a good stop. He started screaming at me over the phone calling me s crook. So I figured I would just pull the stop because if he's yellong like an idiot at me he would treat my employees worse and they deserve better.

When I went to pull it the guy literally started screaming in the restaurant " you no good b- tard, you no good thief , you dirty sob, followed us out the door into parking lot screaming. I finally told him " the two of us just hand loaded a 500 pound crane into a trailer, you golpher is next, and we're going past a really deep lake on the way home." He did take the hint.

 

I never understood those sorts of people. Do they really think that by running around cursing people out in their business things will just magically "go their way?" Did they expect you to just bend over and say, "Welp, here's more money since you're clearly insane!". I don't know what those sort of people get out of making a spectacle like that.

 

[orsd]

Sometimes stress causes people to do crazy golpher.

Others are just entitled as fu ck and usually don't last in buisiness.