VendingLocator4u.com Review!

[PerformaVending]

Sometime before Christmas, I ran into Rodney69 here on the TVF, and we chatted about his locating service. I was rather impressed with his story of how he ran his business, and told him that when I had a machine suitable for a locator, I'd give him a try.

 

Flash forward to a couple weeks back, and I finally got a machine that was "suitable" for a locator. As my route is still made up with mostly rack and capsule gear, it took a bit to get a triple together for the trip. The machine selected- my trusty, modified Seaga TV3000. NW Mechs, a modded plate inside to keep the mechs from ever coming loose, and a reinforced back door. As much as I liked to think that Rodney would land me a good spot, I wanted to make sure that even if that spot was the roughest spot in town the unit would survive everything thrown at it. This Seaga has marched through many bars and laundromats, so I could think of no safer candidate for a new locator.

 

To begin, Rodney does not charge up front. This isn't a huge deal for me- I've never had any qualms with paying locator fees up front in the past from other services, but I know this is a big deal for operators who may not be interested with paying for work before it's done.

 

His website is neat and straightforward, and really easy to use. I had everything input and ordered (on my phone, no less) in a matter of minutes.

 

Rodney does have a contract for the vendor to sign. It's the usual legal jargon in the event you don't place your machines, fail to pay, etc. The one thing I didn't expect was a requirement to halt all locating efforts in the zip code his team would be working in. Not a problem per se, but it kicked my timetable back a bit while I settled up my existing leads in the area before going ahead with him. If you're like me and you're working out accounts all over town all the time, just keep this in mind before you order.

 

It took Rodney about a week from the time we began to the time I got the email saying I had a location. To my surprise, he landed the JCPenny, the last "big box" store on the west side of town. Manager knew I was coming, which charity I was benefiting, and had the space picked out for me. Perhaps this is just the manager, but the notion that I truly just came in and dropped off the machine without having to "re-sell" the loc as I have with some other locators in years past was really refreshing.

 

In short, it was as painless as it can possibly get. You give Rodney and his team a zip code, and wait for the locations to roll in. You pay when they find locs, and they'll locate just about anything when it comes to your standard units- singles, doubles, triples, quads, and even snack boxes if that's your thing. I've tentatively given Rodney my recommendation in the past based on what others have said, now having used his service I can recommend it with confidence.

 

I will update soon with how the location performs. In the event this one is a dud, I do have the 60-day warranty for a relocation- I'll keep you all posted!

[AMD Snacks]

Rodney got me a restaurant kitchen and I thought for sure it was gonna bomb.

First 3 weeks and that triple brought in $50, and the people love it.

Rodney does some good work!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[mikejody]

I just contacted him through email and he was rude! I figured if he has no customer service skills I don't want him anywhere near my potential customers. Would stay away, as this is a customer service business. 

[rodney69]

I'll have to take a look at that,  I'm rarely rude.  Abrupt,  yes at times.  Rude?  Only if it's deserved typically.  

 

[mikejody]

19 minutes ago, rodney69 said:

I'll have to take a look at that,  I'm rarely rude.  Abrupt,  yes at times.  Rude?  Only if it's deserved typically.  

 

Guess we got you on one of your "rare" days. Probably not a good idea to be rude even rarely.

But it did lead us to find an absolutely wonderful locator whom we have used to place numerous machines. She has worked for us for the past 4 months, even in the midst of the pandemic, and has done absolutely amazing work every week. 

People do not need to settle for rude vending placers, there are many choices today.

[rodney69]

If you were the Mike asking for our pitch and other questions,  my response wasn't ride,  but told you we don't share that with anyone.  I still have the emails.

I'm glad you found someone. 

[mikejody]

Just now, rodney69 said:

If you were the Mike asking for our pitch and other questions,  my response wasn't ride,  but told you we don't share that with anyone.  I still have the emails.

I'm glad you found someone. 

I think it's good to discuss this. While we firmly recognize your right not to share your pitch, you must also understand that we, as the business owners, would like to know what our store customers are going to hear. What are they expecting from us? Will we be able to deliver on what you tell them? We want to deliver what they are expecting, so we must know this upfront.

The locator we found shared very openly with us what she would tell our store customers, we felt comfortable with matching what she tells them with what we deliver, so she got the contract for what will amount to 500 machines (all our children are in this business with us). She's happy, we're happy. 

Again, we fully support your unwillingness to share anything about your script if you choose not to, and to also forfeit large contracts for not offering even the least bit of communication about what our customers will hear. That is your choice. We are happy, we wish you the best.

[rodney69]

That's fantastic she shared that with you! I personally won't share proprietary information.  That's like asking where we get our list?  I run a business.  Not many businesses will tell you exactly how they make their money.

If you found one,  that's gold!

I reread my response,  I don't think it was rude to say we don't share that with anyone. Maybe not the response you wanted to hear,  but definitely not rude. 

I hope you do make it to 500! That's a great goal!  Make sure to keep us updated! I love hearing success stories. 

[mikejody]

10 minutes ago, rodney69 said:

That's fantastic she shared that with you! I personally won't share proprietary information.  That's like asking where we get our list?  I run a business.  Not many businesses will tell you exactly how they make their money.

If you found one,  that's gold!

I reread my response,  I don't think it was rude to say we don't share that with anyone. Maybe not the response you wanted to hear,  but definitely not rude. 

I hope you do make it to 500! That's a great goal!  Make sure to keep us updated! I love hearing success stories. 

Again, we understand not sharing proprietary information, can you understand that we need to know what our store partners will be expecting from us?

It's a moot point now, of course, but we are explaining this to you so you can understand how a business with a large growth plan thinks, so that in the future you might be willing to enter into discussion. Not sharing proprietary information, but just an openness to help your potential future partner know what the stores will be expecting. We certainly believe we have a right to know, in general, what the stores will be hearing and expecting us to do, when we will bring the equipment, who they are expecting to arrive, etc. 

But again, you have a right not to tell a single thing and claim "proprietary" on all information completely. Clearly that works for you. We found what works for us too, so it's all good.

[rodney69]

I understand how large companies work,  we have quite a few we work with. 

We also give very clear direction on how to drop it off.  

Thank you for clearing that up. 

[AngryChris]

On 8/16/2020 at 11:41 AM, mikejody said:

Again, we understand not sharing proprietary information, can you understand that we need to know what our store partners will be expecting from us?

It's a moot point now, of course, but we are explaining this to you so you can understand how a business with a large growth plan thinks, so that in the future you might be willing to enter into discussion. Not sharing proprietary information, but just an openness to help your potential future partner know what the stores will be expecting. We certainly believe we have a right to know, in general, what the stores will be hearing and expecting us to do, when we will bring the equipment, who they are expecting to arrive, etc. 

But again, you have a right not to tell a single thing and claim "proprietary" on all information completely. Clearly that works for you. We found what works for us too, so it's all good.

This all seems like unnecessary bashing to me.  It boils down to "I am upset because of the way he responded to my email."  And then you follow up explaining how big of a deal he missed because of it (trying to make him feel bad).  It's something a Karen would do.  It would be different if he didn't have a pretty solid reputation but he does.  Honestly, I get the impression you are the type of person who will go a low-end restaurant and complain because there's a single floppy piece of lettuce in your salad and you want them to remake it and make the entire meal free.  And you'll leave a nasty review if they don't do that.

[mikejody]

2 minutes ago, AngryChris said:

This all seems like unnecessary bashing to me.  It boils down to "I am upset because of the way he responded to my email."  And then you follow up explaining how big of a deal he missed because of it (trying to make him feel bad).  It's something a Karen would do.  It would be different if he didn't have a pretty solid reputation but he does.  Honestly, I get the impression you are the type of person who will go a low-end restaurant and complain because there's a single floppy piece of lettuce in your salad and you want them to remake it and make the entire meal free.  And you'll leave a nasty review if they don't do that.

Amazing how easy it is to misread someone in an online forum setting. Because I am not rude by nature, I won't respond to your demeaning comments any further. 

[AngryChris]

1 hour ago, mikejody said:

Amazing how easy it is to misread someone in an online forum setting. Because I am not rude by nature, I won't respond to your demeaning comments any further. 

You can dish it out but can't take it.  Got it.  Pretty much just confirms my suspicion.

[mikejody]

6 hours ago, AngryChris said:

You can dish it out but can't take it.  Got it.  Pretty much just confirms my suspicion.

 

I couldn't understand why you are writing like this, then I looked at your Username and it all made sense. Feel free to have the last word, I won't respond to people like you any further.

Edited August 22, 2020 by mikejody