hoosier96 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Anyone have any experience with the new Crane Merchant Media machines? I'm thinking about bidding a sizable contract and if I get it, I'll be purchasing some new equipment. Most of my equipment is AMS with some BevMax, AP, and DN machines in the mix. I'm considering either the snack or combo machines based on what they requested in the RFP. The AMS machines have been good but I'm interested in the Crane machines for a few reasons: 1. They have financing 2. They are ADA compliant (mandatory for the acct.) I don't believe AMS are after you mount the CC reader in the knockout? 3. Capacity 4. They look good Some things I'm not sure on and would like some feedback are: 1. Do all the bells & whistles cause more maintenance issues? Are they reliable overall? 2. Cost? 3. It looks like the machines have integrated validators and CC readers. Do you have to use their validators & cc readers? Any other feedback is really appreciated! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickers Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 We don't have any but I was told they were junk from a guy who has a bunch of them. They look good and can hold a lot of facings that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I currently have 3, I like them, and they have good financing terms. No, you don't have to use their cashless system (in fact, I would discourage it, I tried them and not impressed with that part). I have been ordering them in the 7 tray configuration, but with only 6 trays you still have lots of facings and a little more clearance on the middle shelves. The candy rows can be pared easily in the field if you want to reconfigure for more snack size items. The 6 wide has panels that will pull out so that you can move it thru standard size doors (unlike the large Bevmax drink machines, which won't fit a lot of places). Software driven, which is where most of my issues have originated, but the software can be updated in the field as new versions come out. They will be glad to send you the downloads that you can put on a thumb drive and upload yourself. I was also impressed with their field service, they sent a factory tech out to help me set up my first machines. I think now that they bought out MEI and are using their changers and validators that it is even better (was not crazy about the cashcode equipment they came out with before the merger). I have the keypad version, so no experience with the touch screen to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Another note on ADA compliance - you are correct about the AMS if you mount a separate card swipe above the validator, as it would be too high, and has to be accessable if provided. The fix is to get a 4 in 1 bezel for the validator and pair it with a compatible telemetry unit. MEI/Crane makes a nice CC bezel for their 2500 series validators, and I know Nayax has an adaptor cable to mate with it. I think USAT does as well but would have to look it up to be sure. Last I checked with ParLevel their cashless does not mate up with the MEI bezel... the Merchant Media machine can be ordered with two knockouts, both within the proper range for ADA compliance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I Beta tested 2 of the original Media machines 5 years ago. They never made it out of my shop, in fact, 1 was never even uncrated or un wrapped. We returned them 2 years later. The first 3 of the current version I purchased was 15 months ago and were non touchscreen food machines. I have since purchased 20 or so touchscreen snacks, food, and combo and have had zero warranty claims and very few service issues. I also have 3 or so Media Bev Max and can say the same. I do, however, update the firmware when available, it's easy and fast. I order the machines with the integrated bill acceptor, it's MEI, and MEI CF7512 changer. For the card reader, I order the machine to have the 3rd payment knock out for my USAT system. I keep a clone of every machine on a flash drive and sometimes use the same configurations on other machines. I have another flash drive where I store our company logo and our customer logos, or school mascot to upload into the attract loop of the machine. Programming is very similar to the 181 if you used the menu system. The programming is sluggish but intuitive. So is customer response at the machine. Turn off the shopping card, and turn on rapid vend for less customer confusion. You can also control the panel light colors in the programming. I set mine to go from red (UL-Lafayette) to purple (LSU) to cover our sports fan base. Although the touchscreen version is more expensive, the ease of use as well as the wow factor make up for the expense. Do not order the 7th tray. You will be giving away extra products as the bags get stuck on the shelf above. A lesson we learned on the 181. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHX1 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 We have 3 of them in some car dealerships and they have been great. We still used usa tech for the credit cards. I don't know about financing because we bought them outright. So far we have not had a single problem with any of them and the customers/ dealerships have also loved them because they work and look great. One of our competitors here in phx recently bought over 100 of them for Arizona States 5 campuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57thTom Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 8 hours ago, lacanteen said: I keep a clone of every machine on a flash drive and sometimes use the same configurations on other machines. I have another flash drive where I store our company logo and our customer logos, or school mascot to upload into the attract loop of the machine. Are you worried about long term storage of information on flash drives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 5 minutes ago, 57thTom said: Are you worried about long term storage of information on flash drives? Not at all. Those flash drives are copied on my computer. My computer backs up to our main server and our main server backs up to a cloud. Those drives are all attached to their own lanyard and hang on my office door knob. If a tech takes one, he has to wear it around his neck so it does not get lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57thTom Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Back up. That's the real deal. Redundant is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegroup Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 So I wonder what one of those babies cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Flash drives are cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegroup Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Hi Jack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 13 hours ago, wegroup said: So I wonder what one of those babies cost? If you mean the 6 wide machine north of $4K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 14 hours ago, lacanteen said: If you mean the 6 wide machine north of $4K. That makes a lot more sense if that's what he was referring to and NOT the flash drives lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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