New Location Contact Info

[TWvend]

So we go out locating...venturing into towns and such where we normally don't travel or know anyone. Sometimes far from home base. You see a pizza , deli, mom & pop store , so on and you successfully get the location. You install a 5 or 7 way, maybe flat or whatever. Some may check back in a few weeks to make sure everything is ok.  We get it into a routine 4 - 6 - 8 week service cycle. 6 weeks later, the place is locked up , paper blocking the windows and doors and you cant see anything inside. That 5 way was brand new and you have 700.00 invested. You look & ask around and no one knows anything what became of the owner..... So my question is , when getting the location & placing equipment, is it normal practice or routine to get specific info from whoever is running the show? Info such as home address/phone number , drivers license numbers or anything similar?  Maybe some ops just go with things and factor looses like this just a cost of doing business ? Many of these type of locations have been long established, while just as many come & go or also have frequent owner changes , so , how is this handled?

[rodney69]

google the address and see who the commercial broker is that is handling the sale of it. When you get a hold of them tell them you want to pick up your equipment. I've had to do this many times.

[TWvend]

Rodney thanks for the reply , I was wondering what others do if anything to try and keep from having to do that to a minimum.  Its not fun to have to go chasing to get your equipment back , although I know it happens at time. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Jax Snacks]

When installing a new rack location, try to get the owner's cell phone number before you leave - just in case.  Even then, that may not help much.  Sometimes a bankrupt owner may simply not care about your vending machines since he has other problems to deal with.  Or in case of an eviction, the landlord may have already changed the locks and the business owner can no longer let you in.  If the machines are locked in a strip plaza location, ask the neighboring businesses for the landlord contact number.  Of course landlords are not always easy to deal with either - some will be helpful and other not so much.  But you need to be persistent in any event.

 

P.S.  This happens more often than we vendors's like.  The effects of the Great Recession still linger on.