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"Abandoned" competitor machines


OU8SUMCANDY

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What's your policy/belief about taking over machines your customer says have been abandoned by a competitor?  I've got a couple locations so far where there are other machines that look as if they haven't been touched in a long time.  The owner/manager of both locations said they haven't seen anyone service them in over a year and told me to take them if I want them.  I can't find any contact info on them.  Since I'm new to vending, I'm not sure if there are Rules of Etiquette to follow or whatever.  One is a 3-head Vendstar and the other is an old 2-head machine that I can't remember the name of.  If y'all could share your personal policy/belief about taking over machines I'd appreciate it.

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Etiquette ? So your decision to take or not take what does not belong to you is based on being polite? Oh, the old guy next door just died, would it be impolite to go over and take his furniture? Why how can he be offended he's dead. And I want it and and and

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I would check abandon property laws in your state. In mine abandon property classifies at being abandon for 5 years. Then the owner of business has to fill out two forms that give owner a heads up at last known address....long story short its a lot of paperwork and isn't worth it after a six year wait. If I can't find a number on machine... I leave my card taped on the machine with a note saying I would like to buy it in case owner comes back.

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What's your policy/belief about taking over machines your customer says have been abandoned by a competitor?  I've got a couple locations so far where there are other machines that look as if they haven't been touched in a long time.  The owner/manager of both locations said they haven't seen anyone service them in over a year and told me to take them if I want them.  I can't find any contact info on them.  Since I'm new to vending, I'm not sure if there are Rules of Etiquette to follow or whatever.  One is a 3-head Vendstar and the other is an old 2-head machine that I can't remember the name of.  If y'all could share your personal policy/belief about taking over machines I'd appreciate it.

Find a good corner in your garage and store them for the guy if he ever shows up.  Put your own machines in there if you like but you can't just claim somebodies' equipment.  If you don't have the space to store them then just let it go.

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I have three bulk machines in my shed right now, don't belong to me because of them being abandon, I left my cards with the business just in case owner did come back for their machines. 

 

Will give the machines back to them just like I picked them up, empty canisters with money still inside them.

 

Business owners asked if I had room for them, I just didn't take them.

 

cajun

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where are you located? i know of some locations that had machines abandoned in back room for a couple years and then owner showed up to claim them, I placed them in back room as they wanted me to remove them and i wouldn't.. Craiglist is full of machines like "It doesn't have lock" that are actually stolen or abandoned machines..

 

all these guys on here crying foul over "its stealing" and "unethical" probably have bought machines on craigslist with out lock or its drilled out and its really a stolen machine as that is just nature of business.. When you place a machine at the mercy of the business owner in his business then you are giving your rights away really to that machine if you don't have contract or form filled out saying its your equipment. Any location can just grab it and sell it if they want and the vendor really has no rights. 

 

In this business its handshake deals and those deal don't hold up too good in court of law.

 

i'm not gonna preach on "unethical" or "wrong" as thats not my job on a vending forum as this is business, you get that on sunday morning and thats your personal business. 

 

Do what you want and as far as legality goes there isn't much that could ever be done to you if location gave you permission to take it. Just know if its my machine ill come and kick your arse if you take it even if i did abandon it for  a couple years cause i was too busy making real money with pushers and didn't have time to fool with some candy machine!  haha for real i have machines out there i need to service that have been way too long but i keep neglecting them.

 

"Karma" aka "what goes around comes around!" aka "Do unto others as you would have done to you."

we all have heard it and even if its a flat tire going to work a couple weeks later, or losing your cell phone and someone finding it and keeping it, my foot in your arse if it was mine ,or any other form of bad luck just know thats the way to keep balance so all of our paths are equal.. Talking about the path not the destination as i can preach thats there is only one way to get there..but like I said this is a vending forum and this is business and you ask a business question.

 

and yes this is coming from someone that  sees "slamming" and "creative locating" as not near as bad of a sin as selling someone a gumball with them thinking they are donating that quarter to a charity because the operator and machine's signage deceive people into thinking that.  oh I'm off subject and that is old topic! lol

 

ron

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If I'm moving into a location, and the owner wants the old abandoned equipment out, I'll remove it. I have a double-set of a form that I bring in- the location signs, and I sign, and we each get a copy stating that they wanted the old gear out, and that I took the old gear with me by their order. My info is on the page should the original owner ever come looking for me. After that, I put the old gear in the shop and take a few weeks to make a good, diligent search for the original owners- with whatever means or leads are available. I have found some through serial numbers if you can believe it, for the name brands that keep that stuff on record- so that's a good place to start if the tags come up empty, or there's no tags. After that, if I haven't found any trace of the owners I'll drill locks and either add it to the lineup or sell it. In the event the original owner ever does re-materialize, the form states the owners will either get their gear or replacement gear- and I'd be more than happy to buy a fellow op new gear if they ever contacted me looking for something I've picked up. It's never happened yet, but that's only the right thing to do when it eventually happens.

 

Some select cases I've held onto longer- usually hoping that the operator would pull through on a really extended service cycle or something, but I usually give up hope on those after a year or so has gone by.

 

In the end, you'll want to check your state laws and make sure you are operating within them. Ethically speaking, this is a gray area, and a hot-button issue as you can see, but a part of the business nonetheless. I've picked up machines, and I've lost machines- it's the nature of the beast I'm afraid. In the end, like any other facet of this business, what you want to do, and how you want to operate your business is up to you.

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In my opinion the only time I think it's "ethical" to take/steal abandoned equipment is when the location owner is going to throw in dumpster. In this case you are keeping it out of a landfill and doing your part in keeping America beautiful.

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Etiquette ? So your decision to take or not take what does not belong to you is based on being polite? Oh, the old guy next door just died, would it be impolite to go over and take his furniture? Why how can he be offended he's dead. And I want it and and and

 

This was my way of asking if there were unwritten rules in the vending business...  i.e. if a machine has not been touched in xx months it is abandoned.

I don't know if so many of y'all have a hard time reading posts on your phones while driving or what (lol), but if you reread my original post, I stated that the owner/manager at each location told me to take them if I want them.  I am not out on the street looking to steal machines.  Since I'm new, I figured it would be a good idea to ask in this forum.  Thank you to those who actually offered some valuable information.

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This was my way of asking if there were unwritten rules in the vending business...  i.e. if a machine has not been touched in xx months it is abandoned.

I don't know if so many of y'all have a hard time reading posts on your phones while driving or what (lol), but if you reread my original post, I stated that the owner/manager at each location told me to take them if I want them.  I am not out on the street looking to steal machines.  Since I'm new, I figured it would be a good idea to ask in this forum.  Thank you to those who actually offered some valuable information.

It's always best to avoid glomming onto equipment that not yours, regardless of the circumstance.  Bulk machines don't cost that much and you should be more interested in securing the location if it's any good.  Abandoned equipment is often a tell tale sign of a poor location/

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OU8SUMCANDY,

 

There are certain topics that can strike a nerve that really riles up some vendors.  Abandoned machines is one of them!  Your question is simple enough, but it can be very controversial and can get some vendor's blood boiling.  Abandoned machines is definitely in the top 5 of controversial bulk vending topics.  Other heated topics include charity vending, rack vendors kicking out other charity machines, candy versus toys, biz-op equipment versus "traditional" equipment, percent of net versus percent of gross commissions, Electronic bulk vending (EBV) Chicken machines.  I will stop there!

 

Other questions like Runts versus Skittles will get a calmer response.

 

IMHO, each vendor will need to formulate a policy on abandoned equipment at some point.  Personally, I deal with it on a case-by-case basis, although it really doesn't happen that much to me any more.  However, my starting point is to never take other equipment.  Another factor to consider is the type of equipment.  If the machine is a biz-op (Vendstar, Uturn, 1-800, other plastic double/triple junk), then there is a much higher probability that the machine was abandoned.  As I said many times before, bulk multi-candy selection vending is a failed business model.  On the other side, I rarely see NW, Oak, A&A or Beaver machines abandoned.

 

Any vendor that does not service their machine for a year AND has no contact info on their machine is just asking for trouble from the location owner.  I would not really blame any business owner for disposing of a crappy-looking neglected machine sitting ON THEIR PROPERTY with no contact information or out-of-service phone number that has been sitting empty for a year.

 

And for those that want to bring up the "Abandoned Property Laws".  Well, the cops and the court system could care less about abandoned gumball machines - especially in large metro areas where the cops have bigger problems to deal with.  The court system is already jammed with crazy cases.  Does a DA or judge really want to deal with an abandoned gumball machine case?  Heck, most lawyers require a minimum of a $10,000 loss to file a law suit.

 

Time to end the rambling!  There will never be a consensus on this topic!  And the rhetoric will go around-and-around for a never ending disagreement.

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