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How to catch a thief?


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Last time I serviced this account, someone had stuck a flathead screwdriver in one of my NW80 machines. The rough metal shavings around the key opening gave it away.

This time around, there is no doubt money is definitely missing.

I had maybe $3 in my NW S60 Skittles machine, and had vended 4/5ths of a head worth of product.

I was expecting to see at least $40 in there.

I guess the first step is to install a vend counter. But what else can I do? This guy clearly has a key to my machine, because there's no more evidence the locks have been messed with. I guess maybe I should order locks from a company other than Chicago Lock Co.? My guess is the guy ordered a complete set of the keys off Ebay or something.

Should I take the issue to the general manager and get his feedback?

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You should be able to pickup a barrell lock for any problem locations you have. Did you change the lock out the first time? If not it is damaged and will come out easy without leaving more shavings.

Mike

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Thanks GBP and Big Mike. Placed an order for 5 barrel locks from Baton.

I'm sure the idiot will be disappointed I threw a wrench in his new cash flow.

Maybe now he'll go occupy Wall Sreet instead of my cash box. :)

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Check and make sure the lock actually works. I've had that happen with one of my machines before. Don't just assume that because your key fits and it turns that it's actually locking the lid down. At this point, it just may be that the lock is a glorified lug nut, where any key or any screwdriver can open it. But like everybody else says, switch the locks for some barrel locks. I've seen several videos of the tricks used to open barrel locks too, but they are much too hard to do for casual thieves.

It may not be that they are taking money. It's more likely that they are just taking out candy.

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A very wise vendor on here with years of experience has said a few times BUY YOUR OWN KEY CODES.

Oh ya that was me

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

I'm still new to this and want to learn more. Is it possible to have a 'master key' for a barrel lock? I had a location I visited last week which was supposed to give me $20/month according to the guy who sold it to me. First time I visited it was less than $10 and last week it was $4.75. The guy could have lied about how much he earned from the machine (very possible) but is it likely that somebody else has a round key which matches my lock? I thought the candy was lower than what I should have expected from the quarters. I replaced the machine with one from my garage with a different key and hope to figure out either 1) the location is half the half the money it was supposed to be or 2) somebody was in the cash box and taking quarters or in the top taking candy.

Tom

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I am not trying to dissuade anyone from getting custom/unique locks for their machines.

But, just to make sure we are covering all the bases here....

Before assuming someone has access to your machine just because candy was missing and/or money was short:

Make sure it's not the result of something as simple as a faulty wheel.

Candy wheels sometimes give free candy if not appropriately positioned when filling the globe.

Sometimes a simple back-and-forth jiggle of the handle will move a candy wheel enough to vend free candy.

A bored/hungry employee or regular customer at your location may mess with the machine, discover the problem, and drain your candy supply.

This may not apply to the scenarios on this thread.

And, AGAIN, I won't dissuade anyone from getting custom locks.

But, sometimes, thieves don't have to break locks or have identical keys to your machine in order to get your candy for free.

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An alternative is AA sells a what I'll call a threaded washer. Even if they get the lock out you can't remove the lid. It takes a special tool to remove the washer. I have a couple of locations I use these in. Now this will increase your service time.

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I am not trying to dissuade anyone from getting custom/unique locks for their machines.

But, just to make sure we are covering all the bases here....

Before assuming someone has access to your machine just because candy was missing and/or money was short:

Make sure it's not the result of something as simple as a faulty wheel.

Candy wheels sometimes give free candy if not appropriately positioned when filling the globe.

Sometimes a simple back-and-forth jiggle of the handle will move a candy wheel enough to vend free candy.

A bored/hungry employee or regular customer at your location may mess with the machine, discover the problem, and drain your candy supply.

This may not apply to the scenarios on this thread.

And, AGAIN, I won't dissuade anyone from getting custom locks.

But, sometimes, thieves don't have to break locks or have identical keys to your machine in order to get your candy for free.

You are probably right with this comment. I noticed that one of the coin slots wasn't lining up exactly right and tried to figure out how to make it work right. I didn't try to make it work 'wrong' so that it would vend free candy. I moved this machine over to a hair/nail beauty school and will see what happens with it. My policy (still being formed) is when I place a machine at a new location I will check it every week or two just to see that it is working well ( as long as it is not too far out of my usual travels.

I have peanuts in a triplevend at a factory and the guys during break showed me how they jiggle the machine to get extra peanuts out. This was while I was cleaning the machine and put all peanuts/candy out in a bowl on the break table for them to enjoy. They thought they were getting free peanuts but I was learning how to clean my machine.

Tom

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Sometimes the coin mech can be at fault. There is a pin on the back plate that prohibits the knob from being turned counter-clockwise. If that pin wearns down, the customer can rock the handle back and forth to get free candy. Had this happen at a dealership. One of the sales guys called me and said it was dispensing free candy. When I finally arrived, that rep told me that the owner fired the sales rep that was doing it! Just amazing how most of my petty theft problems continue to happen in automotive locations.

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Just to clarify, after noticing the small amount of money I checked the timing and the timing was set correctly. And I always make sure the locks are actually screwing down the lid.

I am positive I have a theft issue going on here.

But what has me really wondering is how big the problem actually is. It could be worse than I am assuming, and I may have just been completely clueless to the situation.

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I am positive I have a theft issue going on here.

What good is a vending counter if you are already positive the theft is happening?

All you will be doing is investing more time/money into a bad location.

If you are already "positive" the machine is being broken into, then your best course of action is to remove the equipment.

Seems the potential for loss is greater than the potential for profit at that location.

Theft and vandalism are very close pals.

Take away access to free candy with better/custom locks and next thing you know, your machine could be vandalized out of sheer frustration by the thief.

If your car was continuously broken into at a downtown parking garage, would you continue to park there?

If your locker was regularly broken into at a local gym, would you still workout there?

The answer is probably "NO" to both questions.

Take the same attitude with your vending equipment.

I know I would.

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Haha yeah, exactly... the display ain't going to be walking out the door anytime soon. There's cameras all over the place and I'd be on him like a fly on sh1t if it were to happen.

The problem is the lack of cameras in the break room where it's located.

Do you think counters in addition to the Baton locks is a bit overkill?

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The potential risk to equipment is just a cost of doing business. I have had several racks "walk away" through the years and replaced just about all of them.

True.

But, I'll bet you were pulling more than $3 out of each head on those racks you replaced.

Vending does involve risk.

But, the chance for profit at the location should outweigh the risk.

I've replaced stolen machines too.

Sometimes it works out -- and sometimes it doesn't.

Once, I even had machines stolen from the same location a 2nd time.

But, I was pulling a heck of a lot money out of those machines each month.

The locations have to be worth the investment.

And I don't know that Profits' location is.

Profits, what makes this location worth the extra hassle and expense?

it obviously ain't the $3 you pulled from the skittles machine.

Have you been in there long enough and pulled enough money out of this spot to make you feel it's worth the risk?

Haha yeah, exactly... the display ain't going to be walking out the door anytime soon. There's cameras all over the place and I'd be on him like a fly on sh1t if it were to happen.

You should be more worried about vandalism than theft if the crook doesn't like you changing the locks.

All it takes is one vandalized machine to set you back investment-wise.

It will take you many months to recoup the cost of the loss if the location isn't a gravy spot.

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The location does about $80 / month. Not super fantastic, but not low enough to inspire me to relocate.

And who knows? Maybe when I change the locks I'll be pleasantly surprised by the uptick in revenue.

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The location does about $80 / month. Not super fantastic, but not low enough to inspire me to relocate.

And who knows? Maybe when I change the locks I'll be pleasantly surprised by the uptick in revenue.

After changing the locks, maybe check and collect after a few weeks just to be safe and sure.

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After changing the locks, maybe check and collect after a few weeks just to be safe and sure.

That's a good idea.

Don't wait so long to do a follow-up visit after your locks are changed.

$80 per month is a good location because I believe it's a 4-way you have in there, no?

I was expecting a much lower gross based on your post about only pulling $3 out of the skittles head.

If you are pulling $80-per-month, I retract my suggestion to pull the equipment...I wouldn't pull it.

Especially when you consider you'd be well over $100 each month with that 4-way if they weren't stealing from you.

Just change the locks.

As gumballprince stated: risk is a part of the business.

And, at this location, the reward potential definitely outweighs the risk.

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$80 per month is a good location because I believe it's a 4-way you have in there, no?

I was expecting a much lower gross based on your post about only pulling $3 out of the skittles head.

It's actually a 5-way, and I was blown away by seeing $3 in the tray when there was easily 15 lbs worth of product gone. That was the red flag...

There should have been at least $40 waiting for me.

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The location does about $80 / month. Not super fantastic, but not low enough to inspire me to relocate.

And who knows? Maybe when I change the locks I'll be pleasantly surprised by the uptick in revenue.

Shoot, $80 bucks from a 5 way? Some guys on here will not even put the turn signal on for that.

I once had a NW 60 that you could hit the handle really hard back and forth and get small candies like Skittles or RP to keep coming out. Didn't matter where I positioned the wheel at either. I ended up going with a bigger size candy, Sour Sweets to be exact, and now do about $75 from a triple head monthly.

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No one ever answered my question--how much do the custom locks cost? Thanks.

You could call up a lock company like LAI or Camlock and ask. They would be the ones who would REALLY know the answer to that.

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