MidStateVending Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask me: "Got any free snacks for me?".... "Look everyone, free samples!".... "What can you give me for free?" It gets old very quick.... My problem is that I don't have a good way of handling it. I'd like to tell them to "Take a hike... I'm trying to make a living here". What do you say to these requests for free product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 One of mine is a wholesale tire company, I asked if they had any free tires.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvending Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I usually say..... I keep ordering the free ones but they never seem to send them to me. I'll let you know when they come in.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I used to say with a smile that yesterday or last week was the free sample day. You just have to play along. If you let it bother you they will sense that and get negative about you pretty quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunCandy Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Sunday is freebie day! You show up and it will be waiting on you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deee_z Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Not an issue for me, although I will give a soda or candy bar to someone that wants one while I am restocking the machines. No doubt they will buy additional items in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I offer anything for free as long as the bribe money is fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHX1 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Not really a big deal to hand out a free bag of chips or soda to someone. Once that person knows you for you doing that they will buy more from you and take care of you. Here in AZ in the summer sometimes I'll offer entire break rooms free water. A perfect example, I use an iPad to keep track of all my sales and one night I left it on top of a snack machine by accident. The next week when I came back to service the account one of the Hispanic housekeeping ladies is standing behind me holding my iPad out. She was one of the ladies I gave a free bottle of water to which cost me a whole 18 cents! If you are a grouch when people ask you for stuff it's one more reason not to keep you around when a guy like me calls on your account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegroup Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Freebies went the way of Obama and Clinton. I give here and there, but it is mostly predicated upon the receivers attitude. However, I always make sure the person who is in charge of the account receives some love, since I don't pay commissions, as a token of my appreciation. Most of the time, that person passes on the offer, but I think they just appreciate the thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 yea, it's a judgement call for sure, a comp here and there is a good thing for business. Most people are kidding on the square about it, not really expecting anything but happy to take it if you offer.... if I have items I'm pulling that have a day or 2 left I might even leave some of them laying on the breakroom table if no one is around to hand it to (not all of the stales, but sometimes!). One thing I don't do, if an account has kids around, is give anything to a child without the parent's permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 One thing that I forbade my drivers from doing was leaving any stale items around for the customers as that would lead to lost sales as well as expectations that I would not want to meet. I also ran coffee and cup soda machines and our rule was that if anyone wanted one of those drinks while we were servicing the machine that they would get a free drink. No one ever had to lose out on a hot or cold drink just because we were working on the machine. That did not apply to can soda which had a much higher product cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57thTom Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 I work in a facility that houses an alternative probation program. Even the staff will try to take product while I am filling the machines. If I started to give free stuff to the residents I would lose $100 a week, like the guy that did the job before. He was fired. I just tell them that I don't do sales off the cart and it's not my stuff to give away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidStateVending Posted November 13, 2016 Author Share Posted November 13, 2016 Thanks everyone. A lot of helpful advice. I see the benefit of giving away 1 or 2, but manytimes I service with a room full of people... then everyone wants something for free. I guess it just depends on the situation. I agree AZ that I no longer leave out stales... they get used to it and expect it without buying product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57thTom Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 I put 100 bags of hot cheetos that were past the best by date on sale for fifty cants and sold them in about 16 hours. Normal price seventy five cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chkoolaid1 Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 I don't give free stuff to people who ask. Depending upon the temperature in the room I'll chuckle a lil and say "now you're trying to get me in trouble" or something along those lines. Most of the people I run into don't know I own the machines. If someone is trying to pay for a product and no one else is around I'll usually just give it to them especially if it's an employee based location and not a retail/school location. Like the previous iPad story told I think it's helpful in that even a can of pop or bag of chips can encourage people to return the favor by keeping an eye out for you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendio Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 When I have cans of coke that get jammed or dented and I can't use them, I'll often give them out if someone is around. I gave them to the security guy at a site I used to have, and it was appreciated and helps build goodwill, especially since they were handling refunds for me. At another site I sell my out of date chocolate bars for around cost price and they sell well. Chips I get a refund on what doesn't sell before the expiration date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindVending Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 2 hours ago, brendio said: When I have cans of coke that get jammed or dented and I can't use them, I'll often give them out if someone is around. I gave them to the security guy at a site I used to have, and it was appreciated and helps build goodwill, especially since they were handling refunds for me. At another site I sell my out of date chocolate bars for around cost price and they sell well. Chips I get a refund on what doesn't sell before the expiration date. Not that I get alot, but how do you get a refund on expired product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendio Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 One company here (Australia) has a "sale or return" policy, whereby you can return what doesn't sell for a full refund. We get the added bonus that because we don't have a local rep to return the product to, they just take our word for it and we dispose of it ourselves (usually in my mouth, as it still tastes fine at the expiration date). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EatMoreJunk Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 "As soon as I started getting the product for free, I'll start handing them out for free" .... or "free? Do you work for free?" (with a smile, of course) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendio Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 In my amusements business I will often leave the pool table racked up and a couple of credits on the jukebox if people are around, as these don't cost me anything in stock and I'm hopeful the goodwill built by it means they will put more money in once they've finished their free game and songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psk007 Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 In a lot of my accounts that I don't pay commission to I will often give out some snacks and sodas. I look at it as marketing in a sense. Some of your best customers will use your machines daily which adds up big at the end of the year. Giving them a soda or snack on me just lets them know how much I appreciate there business. In return they stay loyal and keep coming back day after day keeping my bottom line where it needs to be. Also by matching that with good service and it is hard to knock me out of good locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magiccity726 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I hear you. There are some locations where people get greedy. I have machines at a low budget hotel and one day last summer I gave a kid a soda. Next thing I know there were 10 kids behind me asking for free product lol. I don't mind hooking people up with a free soda especially if they work at the location. My advice would be to say it's company money. Tell them you just work for the company and they track the inventory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 3 hours ago, Magiccity726 said: I hear you. There are some locations where people get greedy. I have machines at a low budget hotel and one day last summer I gave a kid a soda. Next thing I know there were 10 kids behind me asking for free product lol. I don't mind hooking people up with a free soda especially if they work at the location. My advice would be to say it's company money. Tell them you just work for the company and they track the inventory. I agree with the "company money" thing. And about being greedy, I have known people (in the past) that would not only beg for free stuff, but get mad when I don't give it!! I learned my mistake probably 9 years ago when I had a location that I would leave expired product on the table (I was instructed to do this by my then-boss). I realized that people would refuse to buy ANYTHING until the product expired, then they would QUICKLY grab every expired thing that I left on the table. I suddenly stopped providing free expired stuff on their table, and the sales eventually picked up. Imagine that! Oh, and I vaguely remember at least one customer in the past who demanded free stuff and claimed he "used the machines all the time" and "drank x sodas every single day." The specific flavor he was referring to wasn't even an option in the machine, so I told him that he couldn't be talking about that machine. He got mad and countered with something along the lines of "Well, I buy them at the convenient store on the way home and blah blah blah..." Sure guy, you buy your snacks somewhere ELSE and demand that I reward you? How about a hamster for your troubles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magiccity726 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Yeah I got a service call a few weeks ago. I got there and a guy comes up and tells me he tried to buy a Gatorade and it didn't vend. The machine does not have Gatorade. People lie about this all the time. It's the nature of the business I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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