MikeFeldman Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I placed a machine this past thursday at a location I got from a locator( I was going to do all my locating myself but I chickened out) I now have three 1800s on my route. The location is a deli/market place/liquor store all connected by a foyer where I put my machine, when I placed it I noticed there was another machine. It was 4 head northwestern i think, Kind of dirty, not in the best shape , with very low product levels. I left my machine thinking it would be alright since he had different stuff than I did, we both had skittles and thought maybe id come back and swap them for something different. The owner was a nice older guy who didn't seem to mind anything and helped me find a spot for my machine. He said that someone came and put a machine a few months back then took it out, which I thought was weird. I had a voicemail this morning from a man that says he was the owner of the location and that i did not have permission and that i need to come get the machine or its going in the dumpster. Looking back its pretty obvious to me who he really was but I was nervous and I said sorry , can we work something out? maybe a commission or something? he said he would think about it and call me back. He called me back an hour later and told me he was a vendor and that the other machine was his and that I could keep it there if I want but it only makes about $6 a month, and then I asked him how often he serviced it and he said every three months and he said he was lucky if there was $9 in it after 3 months. He said it's not the best idea to put a machine where one is already but he said its okay if i leave it and I said I wouldn't place my machines in his locations and he said he would do the same, he said he sold and bought machines and had a big vending buisness and that he would save my number and I said I would save his, and I said thanks and goodbye and hung up on a friendly note. I was trying to decide what to do, since its only been a few days I may be able to get my machine relocated for free or a small fee, but I'm not sure. I didnt appreciate the way the guy lied to me and if he lied about who he was maybe he was lying about how well the location does, he's gone out of his way twice to trick people to take they're machines out, I'm guessing thats what happened to the machine the owner was talking about, Is placing your machine where one already is a really bad a idea and poor vending etiquette? I think I might just leave the machine where it is, I'm not great at getting locations and I don't have a ton of money to give to locators, what do you guys think? anyone ever been in a similar situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 If he was bold enough to lie to you about being the owner of the place, there's a good chance he's lying about the income the machine generates in that location. I'd leave your machine there for a month or two and see how it does. If this guy really has a big vending business, then he should have enough business sense to not keep a machine in a lousy location that doesn't make money. That machine is there because it makes money. Plus, if his business is as big as he says, then what is $9 every three months to him? Why would he be so upset about you coming in and taking part of his $3/month? As I said before, I think you should just leave it there for month or two and see how it does. Don't worry about the other guy, let the machine's performance dictate whether or not it stays at that location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick SDL Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Agreed, if he has a big vending business he would not be wasting him time with a low preforming machines. also if his business is as he says he wouldn't waste time calling another vendor. no one would leave a machine there for 3 months with only 9 dollars, candy would go bad every few months. leave it there and let it make some money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I would just be concerned that your machine may "walk" away. Is there anything you can secure the machine to? Also if there is nothing that you can secure your machine to talk to the owner about possible putting an anchor into the ground or wall that way you can secure your machine to it. The owner may wonder why you want to secure your machine and you can inform him of the call you got and you may be the sole vendor in this location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I would stay out of pure spite for him lieing to me and i would make sure to stay forever and add more just for fun now.. There is NO F in in the word business F standing for friends I had a simular situation once, the other vendor kept putting slugs and jamming up my mechs i would know it was him I asked around the time he was in for service from the owner... and for him to call me when he was there sure enough i got the call but by the time i arrived he had allready left i checked and sure enough .. slugs all jammed up. The onwer of the store was upset at the lost income and ended throwing the other guy out 2 months later when he did it again. and i dont have a clue who used a whole container of 5 minute expoxy on the locks and mechs on his machines before they left.. . 0.o bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will.vend Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 This guy is just being a vending bully! Dont let any other vendor tell you where you can put your machines. Clarify with the owner if you need to about them being exclusive but in this case I really doubt they are. If he lied to you once then he will lie to you again. Now on the other hand I know how he felt when he went in and saw someone else's machines. It almost feels like the owner has betrayed you. It would be nice if the owners were loyal to just one vendor but most times they are not. Owners feel like if they allow more vendors in they will make more money, which isnt always true usually it just means the quarters are spread out in more machines. you mentioned you talked to the vendor about commission, go to the owner and offer the same thing. The other vendor was out of line and you should stand your ground! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj54 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 YES! LEAVE THEM, LETS SEE HOW THIS WORKS OUT!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerformaVending Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 That's pretty gutsy to try and defraud another vendor out of a location. This kind of behavior is childish. I've had my scrapes with "angry vendors" and yet we managed to keep it professional and work out a solution. I'd advise you to fill in the owner with what you told us. That voice mail is pure gold if you still have it. Let the owner decide which vendor he REALLY wants to keep. Outperforming this guy shouldn't be hard. If this had happened to me, I would have tracked down this guys entire route, and stuck single heads next to every single one of his machines. This sort of behavior is completely unacceptable, and if some lug-head would go out of his way to take a swing at my business, I'd make sure he regretted it later. Stand your ground MikeFeldman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 YES! LEAVE THEM, LETS SEE HOW THIS WORKS OUT!! I thought you were all for not sharing locations with other vendors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbeckl Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 im new to vending ,but like most of us here ,im not new to life . The guy has already shown you can not trust him , so from here on i would take anything he says with a grain of salt . Unfortunately ,there are people in the world that want to see others fail ( i know , a shock ) , and will do , or say whatever they can to deter you from success . if the machine is dirty , and he is willing to do something like that ( the phone call ) to keep what he claims is a bad location, i would assume he is lazy .lazy people tend to fail . Personally ,id push forward with the spot and see whats what . If your machine is at least clean , your chances of making the sell are better than his . either way ,best of luck in your new location :-) ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj54 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I thought you were all for not sharing locations with other vendors. dperry I HOPE IT WORK OUT BEST FOR HIM, BUT FEAR THE WORST! WELL SEE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkvendingwizard Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Since you already met the actual owner of the establishment i would talk to him about the situation. Let him know exactly what the guy said. With the other vendors actions the owner of the establishment might boot him out which would open up space for you to place a rack. I'd fight fire with fire and tell the owner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFeldman Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 I've read what everyone wrote and I've decided that I'm definitely definitely keeping my machine there, I saved the other vendors name, number and voicemail message he left. I'm going to keep it on the down low for now but if anything happens to my machine or if I get anymore unwanted phone calls I am going to play the message for the owner. the only way I am going to take out my machine Is if it is not making money or the real owner tells me too, this other vendor can either share the location with me or not have it at all, I am going to go tomorrow to check on my machine, it's been a week, thanks for the words of wisdom, Mike Feldman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerformaVending Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Good luck MikeFeldman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Since you already met the actual owner of the establishment i would talk to him about the situation. Let him know exactly what the guy said. With the other vendors actions the owner of the establishment might boot him out which would open up space for you to place a rack. I'd fight fire with fire and tell the owner I always feel that when two or more vendors start having a turf war, the location owner would get fed up and boot all the vendors. But there's no harm in trying to beat the competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFeldman Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Just checked my machine it's been about a week and a half, there was $2.25 in it, ummm I dunno I guess that's not very good, my machine seemed in tact and had not been tampered with, I'm going to wait a while longer, I didn't talk to the owner or anything, I'm just going to try to be positive and figure out how to make my business work better and not worry about other low life vendors like this guy , he can't be having a very good time anyway. I drove by my other location( a chinese restaurant) and it looked like some product moved I didn't go in and check because I was dirty from the gym but I feel pretty good about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Since you already met the actual owner of the establishment i would talk to him about the situation. Let him know exactly what the guy said. With the other vendors actions the owner of the establishment might boot him out which would open up space for you to place a rack. I'd fight fire with fire and tell the owner snitches get stitiches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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