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How to handle the people wanting u to leave


JLM Vending

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LOL, you just put it in there without permission. For bulk candy (not toys or gumballs), 25 percent is absolutely not worth it. Imagine if you have to spend money on broken parts. Remember, you only make about 50 percent in peanut mms and plain mms, maybe a little bit more. Giving up 25 percent is absolutely not worth it for me, just to keep a few more spots. I would rather lose the spots and make more money. Right now if I gave 25 percent to my restaurants, I would make way way less money, despite keeping some more spots. Mise well just work for mcdonalds then, that would be more profitable because at least you make A profit. And 30 to 40 bucks every 6 months is nothing for them. A homeless person would feel very offended if I gave them a nickel or 2 pennies. 6 months doesn't seem like yesterday, it seems like a long time ago. Like that one guy said he gave the owner 500 bucks and the owner was mad.

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True. But what if it helps sometimes? It then helps the charity.

If you think that because "its for the children" that its ok to "act up" as you put it then you are wrong. This is a service industry and as such you will eventually lose EVERY location that you have, some will be your fault, some won't, but you WILL lose them regardless.

IMO, go in and be professional, thank them for the opportunity and ask if you can check back in 6 months or so to see if they are happy with the new guy. Then followup, chances are pretty good that if you leave on good terms you might have a chance to get it back in the future.

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What I'm going to do is put up an act, but an act that comes from the heart and is not a lie. But I will look almost like I am going to cry and I will rant about the charity and ask them what i did wrong. I am definitely going to bring up the issue of sick kids. But if it doesn't work, i had nothing to lose. This is about the sick kids, after all. My business is not even as important as kids with cancer, and that is the truth. Actually no person in the world's vending business can compare to the importance of sick dying kids who need help and every penny counts. So I am going to have thick skin and this will be good for me. Actually, it's good for them, which is the more important matter. A full blown example of a man sacrificing for the kids, only benefiting the cause.

LOL, you just put it in there without permission. For bulk candy (not toys or gumballs), 25 percent is absolutely not worth it. Imagine if you have to spend money on broken parts. Remember, you only make about 50 percent in peanut mms and plain mms, maybe a little bit more. Giving up 25 percent is absolutely not worth it for me, just to keep a few more spots. I would rather lose the spots and make more money. Right now if I gave 25 percent to my restaurants, I would make way way less money, despite keeping some more spots. Mise well just work for mcdonalds then, that would be more profitable because at least you make A profit. And 30 to 40 bucks every 6 months is nothing for them. A homeless person would feel very offended if I gave them a nickel or 2 pennies. 6 months doesn't seem like yesterday, it seems like a long time ago. Like that one guy said he gave the owner 500 bucks and the owner was mad.

youre a real goofball

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LOL, you just put it in there without permission. For bulk candy (not toys or gumballs), 25 percent is absolutely not worth it. Imagine if you have to spend money on broken parts. Remember, you only make about 50 percent in peanut mms and plain mms, maybe a little bit more. Giving up 25 percent is absolutely not worth it for me, just to keep a few more spots. I would rather lose the spots and make more money. Right now if I gave 25 percent to my restaurants, I would make way way less money, despite keeping some more spots. Mise well just work for mcdonalds then, that would be more profitable because at least you make A profit. And 30 to 40 bucks every 6 months is nothing for them. A homeless person would feel very offended if I gave them a nickel or 2 pennies. 6 months doesn't seem like yesterday, it seems like a long time ago. Like that one guy said he gave the owner 500 bucks and the owner was mad.

I would always offer a restaurant commission... 25% is not a lot either,,i go as high as a 1/3 split...of course I'm done with candy and won't touch peanut mm's either,,past that chapter of bulk vending when i was a newbie 15 years ago..

I can service 3 restaurants in a good size town (say bout 20K people)... there should be at least 1 china buffet, a couple mexican rest., and a good american buffet if Ryans or something hasn't already came to town and killed the mom and pop american restaurants...I could hit those 3 racks every 2-3 months and get close to at least a grand after commission...or I could run 50 single gum balls or probably 100 triple play types to make that same income in other locations....

when i was younger i would go from door to door in shopping plazas putting charity machines in nail salons, shoe repair,check cashing places etc.. and yes i made money..But i would much rather hit those 3 great stops in that town with a rack and a crane(crane would add another 2-400 a month to each stop) and go on to next town! and the only way to get those great stops is with commission..

to each his own and your right i wouldnt place any candy on commission either as its not worth it,,i just won't do candy as candy is not worth it to me..

ron

www.blazingquarters.com

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Between this and your post on another thread, I would suggest some light reading... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics

OK??? so whats your point??? what am i doing thats unethical?? My customers are getting what they pay for,, and the locations are getting the commissions that where promised to them...those are the people I'm concerned with.

I never "lead" anybody to believe I am a representative of a charity..I personally think its unethical for anybody to put a charity sticker on a gum ball machine with some of these national charities, masking that machine to make the public think that the machine is solely for the charity that is the sticker placed on it..

I know guys who wear Uniforms with the charity's logo,put magnetic stickers on their cars with charity sign, and have business cards with charities name on it,,and all the while reaping the profits....I would rather have no sticker on the machine and just pay a commission,I can sleep better at night now since i don't mess with charities ..

as far as being cut throat in operating a vending business it is just that..I have no respect for any charity vendor in any location and will place my machines beside theirs,try to get them kicked out etc... thats just the way i feel about it. IF that offends you then I'm sorry but keep on making those hundreds of dollars and paying that measly buck to the charity(which of course only about a quarter actually makes it as a lot of them have up to 75% admin costs etc)..

If i respect another vendor(which i cross paths with a lot of friends in the biz) i won't mess with there stuff,,i will even help them when i can,,but if its someone that has picked on me then the gloves are off and ill do what i can to be successful, thats just business! no laws broken being competitive.

Ill keep on paying my commission to the store owner who owns the place..Im sorry but I'm past the "entry level" operating,, we all have to work the trenches to get our start and charity and triples etc are just that..some people keep it at that level as thats all they want but most will broaden their horizons with more profitable vending like racks and cranes etc.

ron

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OK??? so whats your point??? what am i doing thats unethical?? My customers are getting what they pay for,, and the locations are getting the commissions that where promised to them...those are the people I'm concerned with.

I never "lead" anybody to believe I am a representative of a charity..I personally think its unethical for anybody to put a charity sticker on a gum ball machine with some of these national charities, masking that machine to make the public think that the machine is solely for the charity that is the sticker placed on it..

I know guys who wear Uniforms with the charity's logo,put magnetic stickers on their cars with charity sign, and have business cards with charities name on it,,and all the while reaping the profits....I would rather have no sticker on the machine and just pay a commission,I can sleep better at night now since i don't mess with charities ..

as far as being cut throat in operating a vending business it is just that..I have no respect for any charity vendor in any location and will place my machines beside theirs,try to get them kicked out etc... thats just the way i feel about it. IF that offends you then I'm sorry but keep on making those hundreds of dollars and paying that measly buck to the charity(which of course only about a quarter actually makes it as a lot of them have up to 75% admin costs etc)..

If i respect another vendor(which i cross paths with a lot of friends in the biz) i won't mess with there stuff,,i will even help them when i can,,but if its someone that has picked on me then the gloves are off and ill do what i can to be successful, thats just business! no laws broken being competitive.

Ill keep on paying my commission to the store owner who owns the place..Im sorry but I'm past the "entry level" operating,, we all have to work the trenches to get our start and charity and triples etc are just that..some people keep it at that level as thats all they want but most will broaden their horizons with more profitable vending like racks and cranes etc.

ron

I'll keep it short here sense I'm not so defensive. You placed a GPS tracking device on someone's vehicle without their knowledge to sabotage his route. Sabotage away... but planting a GPS on someone's vehicle?? I'm not going to quote a law book or anything but I'd take a pretty good guess at that being illegal and definitely highly unethical no matter how cut throat any business is.

As far as placing a machine somewhere that you don't have permission to place it, sure it doesn't "hurt" anyone but would you want someone imposing themselves or their property on you without your permission? I know I wouldn't and would be pretty ticked off if I knew someone was pulling one over on me like that. Say that location wanted a commission, what then?

That's my point

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ok i do see some of my rather blunt posts as sounding bad,,I'm a talker more than a typer so putting it in print doesn't always read as good as i think it does ..

the tracker was a police officer friend of mines idea,,the guy was placing the machines all over my route and i was fussing about it to my friend,,I said i wished i knew where all his stops was so i could return the favor , he took care of it and at time i thought he was just gonna check around the area when he was working (he worked part time for me 1 day a week),,next thing i know he brings me his laptop and he has every movement this guy has made in a two week time frame and then he explained how it worked..against the law?? i don't know,,I don't think it would be myself but to be honest ,,i didn't care as I had someone sabotaging my business and now i had a way to fight back quick...Maybe thats something i shouldn't share in a public forum??

as far as gorilla locating Im not the only one who does this,,its just a tactic that has to be used with some thought,,I don't go into a location with out any machines ,or a place with say just one rack from one vendor..It can only be done against charity type stops like a car lot with 5 triples, or a courthouse without any real decision maker at all, or a jailhouse or city hall,,those type places don't have anybody to ask,,they don't even have an idea who gave the permission for the machines that are in there..It not their property,,its public property and its as much mine as it is their's.... I haven't located like this in years,heck a decade...but it still works on those types of stops...I wouldn't use it on a commission type stop with a manager like a restaurant or something ,a location with 8 different triples or singles going to all different charities its a no brainer..

so sorry to offend,, this is all old stories to me and I'm sure the statute of limitations is over...lol

ron

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ok i do see some of my rather blunt posts as sounding bad,,I'm a talker more than a typer so putting it in print doesn't always read as good as i think it does ..

the tracker was a police officer friend of mines idea,,the guy was placing the machines all over my route and i was fussing about it to my friend,,I said i wished i knew where all his stops was so i could return the favor , he took care of it and at time i thought he was just gonna check around the area when he was working (he worked part time for me 1 day a week),,next thing i know he brings me his laptop and he has every movement this guy has made in a two week time frame and then he explained how it worked..against the law?? i don't know,,I don't think it would be myself but to be honest ,,i didn't care as I had someone sabotaging my business and now i had a way to fight back quick...Maybe thats something i shouldn't share in a public forum??

as far as gorilla locating Im not the only one who does this,,its just a tactic that has to be used with some thought,,I don't go into a location with out any machines ,or a place with say just one rack from one vendor..It can only be done against charity type stops like a car lot with 5 triples, or a courthouse without any real decision maker at all, or a jailhouse or city hall,,those type places don't have anybody to ask,,they don't even have an idea who gave the permission for the machines that are in there..It not their property,,its public property and its as much mine as it is their's.... I haven't located like this in years,heck a decade...but it still works on those types of stops...I wouldn't use it on a commission type stop with a manager like a restaurant or something ,a location with 8 different triples or singles going to all different charities its a no brainer..

so sorry to offend,, this is all old stories to me and I'm sure the statute of limitations is over...lol

ron

Very interesting. I don't always agree with your methods, but I can't deny you are effective. As to "Guerrilla locating" I'm not sure where I stand on it. From an ethics standpoint I find it deplorable, but on a business note I completely understand why people do it. I'm glad you're around to share with us.

Oh, unlawful surveillance varies from state to state, but generally carries either a ridiculous fine or a few years in jail.

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ok i do see some of my rather blunt posts as sounding bad,,I'm a talker more than a typer so putting it in print doesn't always read as good as i think it does ..

the tracker was a police officer friend of mines idea,,the guy was placing the machines all over my route and i was fussing about it to my friend,,I said i wished i knew where all his stops was so i could return the favor , he took care of it and at time i thought he was just gonna check around the area when he was working (he worked part time for me 1 day a week),,next thing i know he brings me his laptop and he has every movement this guy has made in a two week time frame and then he explained how it worked..against the law?? i don't know,,I don't think it would be myself but to be honest ,,i didn't care as I had someone sabotaging my business and now i had a way to fight back quick...Maybe thats something i shouldn't share in a public forum??

as far as gorilla locating Im not the only one who does this,,its just a tactic that has to be used with some thought,,I don't go into a location with out any machines ,or a place with say just one rack from one vendor..It can only be done against charity type stops like a car lot with 5 triples, or a courthouse without any real decision maker at all, or a jailhouse or city hall,,those type places don't have anybody to ask,,they don't even have an idea who gave the permission for the machines that are in there..It not their property,,its public property and its as much mine as it is their's.... I haven't located like this in years,heck a decade...but it still works on those types of stops...I wouldn't use it on a commission type stop with a manager like a restaurant or something ,a location with 8 different triples or singles going to all different charities its a no brainer..

so sorry to offend,, this is all old stories to me and I'm sure the statute of limitations is over...lol

ron

Yeah, I understand that it's difficult to get the context of a situation across in a forum. They sound more like grey areas now that you've elaborated. I'd still be cautious to proceed with those kinds of things as getting "caught" once would probably be detrimental to a vending business. Good luck in your ventures, Ron

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Between this and your post on another thread, I would suggest some light reading... http://en.wikipedia....Business_ethics

very few experienced successful vendors want to come share tips with an open forum. no one is forcing you to adopt Ron's

tactics but it benefits everyone to be, at the very least, respectful to members who are speaking from a position of experience and success in the business so as to not run them off the forum.

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very few experienced successful vendors want to come share tips with an open forum. no one is forcing you to adopt Ron's

tactics but it benefits everyone to be, at the very least, respectful to members who are speaking from a position of experience and success in the business so as to not run them off the forum.

I understand that but when those tips involve stalking someone and just walking into a place with your equipment under the false pretense that you are allowed in there then I don't think that is the example new vendors should be reading and thinking is ok and just what is done in this business.

And I was very respectful, I have seen blatant personal attacks more than a few times on these forums and you think pointing out someone's shady behavior is disrespectful?

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I believe everyone should be welcome here. I would rather hear about someone's "shady" business than to not hear about it. Small time vendors need to know this is a practice so if they encounter it in the field they can navigate around it. If someone is a "shady" business person, they will do unethical things regardless, and "censoring" the forums will not stop that.

I think a lot is getting lost in translation from user to text as Ron said, and perhaps both Ron's statements and English' statements are being taken too seriously.

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Drop Locating, Gorilla locating, sneak attack locating, etc... Is something that goes on. Sometimes it is a way around all the red tape. County, City, or other agency red tape. Takes 12 phone calls and nobody knows who to ask. So when something shows up nobody knows who Approved it and as long as it isn't bothering anyone they just let it slide. Is it ethical in my own Opinion I don't think so. It dose happen though.

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I believe everyone should be welcome here. I would rather hear about someone's "shady" business than to not hear about it. Small time vendors need to know this is a practice so if they encounter it in the field they can navigate around it. If someone is a "shady" business person, they will do unethical things regardless, and "censoring" the forums will not stop that.

I think a lot is getting lost in translation from user to text as Ron said, and perhaps both Ron's statements and English' statements are being taken too seriously.

I want it all posted here as well but I don't want to be attacked by others when it's called out for what it is (or what it seemed before he clarified). If it was posted like that and everyone just "liked" his post then Mr. New Guy reading it thinks its ok to attach a GPS to someones vehicle or drop in to the local Walmart lobby and drop their machine off without speaking to anyone. Again, he's clarified his statements and it doesn't seem like those were his intentions but one can see how someone would interpret them that way.

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I want it all posted here as well but I don't want to be attacked by others when it's called out for what it is (or what it seemed before he clarified). If it was posted like that and everyone just "liked" his post then Mr. New Guy reading it thinks its ok to attach a GPS to someones vehicle or drop in to the local Walmart lobby and drop their machine off without speaking to anyone. Again, he's clarified his statements and it doesn't seem like those were his intentions but one can see how someone would interpret them that way.

I agree that new vendors should not be led astray, but really it comes down to the individual operator to do their due diligence to learn about this business before they dive in. Ron has posted some "controversial" things, but you and others have countered his statements, so anyone reading would see this was not a common/accepted practice.

There is little more you or I can do to help new vendors I'm afraid.

As to the attacks against you, I certainly did not mean to attack you if you are referring to me. I cannot speak for anyone else.

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I agree that new vendors should not be led astray, but really it comes down to the individual operator to do their due diligence to learn about this business before they dive in. Ron has posted some "controversial" things, but you and others have countered his statements, so anyone reading would see this was not a common/accepted practice.

There is little more you or I can do to help new vendors I'm afraid.

As to the attacks against you, I certainly did not mean to attack you if you are referring to me. I cannot speak for anyone else.

Not you at all, you are very objective in your posts and that is respectable. My intentions in the first place were to point out that this isn't a good practice to get into. And then to rebut the people saying I was being out of line. It's all good on my end, I'm not upset or anything. Just foruming on a forum ;)

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If you think that because "its for the children" that its ok to "act up" as you put it then you are wrong. This is a service industry and as such you will eventually lose EVERY location that you have, some will be your fault, some won't, but you WILL lose them regardless.

IMO, go in and be professional, thank them for the opportunity and ask if you can check back in 6 months or so to see if they are happy with the new guy. Then followup, chances are pretty good that if you leave on good terms you might have a chance to get it back in the future.

Is that a fact? I am going to lose all of my locations?!

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Is that a fact? I am going to lose all of my locations?!

Just like I said, its a service business and sooner or later you will lose every location you have, so will I and so will everyone else. Even if you provide great products at a great price with great service that's the nature of the service industry. Things change, not saying it will always be your fault but accounts close, accounts move to areas you don't want to be in, new management doesn't want you, new ownership doesn't want you, etc. That's why I say that sooner or later you will eventually lose every account you have.

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Just like I said, its a service business and sooner or later you will lose every location you have, so will I and so will everyone else. Even if you provide great products at a great price with great service that's the nature of the service industry. Things change, not saying it will always be your fault but accounts close, accounts move to areas you don't want to be in, new management doesn't want you, new ownership doesn't want you, etc. That's why I say that sooner or later you will eventually lose every account you have.

You lost every location then? But i know someone that had spots for more than 10 years. Are you gonna lose every location?

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You lost every location then? But i know someone that had spots for more than 10 years. Are you gonna lose every location?

I guess I'll try to explain this so that even you can understand it.

My comment, "sooner or later you will lose every account" is meant to be more metaphorical (in case you need the definition of a metaphor http://en.wikipedia..../Metaphorically ) than literal. I use this metaphor to remind myself and others that you should not take your accounts for granted and that they are yours to keep for as long as you want them. This is not the case as you are not the only one that decides if if a machine stays on location. To some degree you get to decide if you want to keep it there. You can decide to pull it if you want for any number of reasons, but the owners and management also have a say in the matter about allowing you in their business in the first place and if you get to stay. In order to stay you must provide good service, simply put, keep them clean full and working. It also helps if you have a pleasant demeanor and don't look and smell like you just crawled out of a dumpster.

I read on here all the time about people complaining about kickouts, if you had 50 accounts and then decided no more new accounts how long before you lose them all? If you don't provide good service then it won't take long, if you provide great service then it likely take many years but in the end you or the guy you eventually sell them to will lose them.

In full line vending, from NAMA, the AVERAGE life of a account is 3-5 years. I've got accounts that I have been in for over 15 years, but IMO, sooner or later something will change at the location or someone will solicit them and offer them new equipment or better pricing and if I don't meet the offer chances are pretty good I will get the boot, in spite of the lengthy history and relationships I have at the business.

I use the "sooner or later you will lose every account" as a way to remind myself to not take my customers for granted and to service them every week like its the first week that I have the location. That's why I have accounts that I've been with for 15+ years.

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