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Real time reviews of locators


kandyking

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It sure seems like the locators work in spurts. Sometimes you can't get them to answer a phone call or email for weeks. Sometimes they are right on it. I think we are in the taking weeks cycle.

They do seem to work in cycles. I'd be curious to know more, but they keep their secrets pretty well.

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They do seem to work in cycles. I'd be curious to know more, but they keep their secrets pretty well.

I have a hunch these places don't have people "in the office". I'm guessing their employees work from home and once a week (depending on order volume) they are sent a contact sheet with machine type, area code, listing of business contacts, specific requirements, etc. Then the employee is paid based on the number of calls made or locations obtained.

One can quickly see the problem inherent in a system that's set up like that. If your order is farmed out to Janet, responsible stay at home single mother of three who needs to feed her kids and mine is farmed out to Caleb, 23 year old renting a house with 4 other guys and needs money to score a dime bag for the weekend - you and I will probably have a VERY different experience with quality of locations and turnaround time.

I could be WAY off here, I don't pretend to have any intimate knowledge of these locators - that's just my hunch.

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So you are right near stuart and west palm?? I have located there and its a jungle compared to where i am SO MANY PEOPLE!

I have a small pusher route there and have tried to get my partner down there interested in bulk as i had dozens of locations from just running my mouth like i always do when servicing the pushers.. I would ask did they want bulk and they would ask me about it and i would sell it but my "part time partner" down there wouldn't want to mess with it..

I remember back in the day i would place 20-30 doubles in good stops , never less than 10(as this is how many i could place in back of my dodge dakota and still have room for my homemade wood box that held all my gum.) thats me finding,talking and installing..my van I could put 30 and if i was just locating i would usually empty it by about 4 and head home..

I hated servicing,,thats what took all the time..I tell people all the time if i would have had a partner do the servicing , and bookkeeping etc. I could have been HUGE!

I have pushers from port st lucy all the way to ft lauderdale, and inwards over to okeechobee,indian town etc. just a handful really..was approached by locator in Jupiter wanting to work with me.

I used to come down about every 2 months , locate mon-tue-wed and go fishing thur-fri and head back,,I absolutely love snook fishing at night with my friend/biz partner there in stuart so we would go every night if the weather was good.. He is just my partner on that route as we are old friends and I would come down and go fishing so i set him up a route to work part-time.

ron

www.blazingquarters.com

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So you are right near stuart and west palm?? I have located there and its a jungle compared to where i am SO MANY PEOPLE!

I have a small pusher route there and have tried to get my partner down there interested in bulk as i had dozens of locations from just running my mouth like i always do when servicing the pushers.. I would ask did they want bulk and they would ask me about it and i would sell it but my "part time partner" down there wouldn't want to mess with it..

I remember back in the day i would place 20-30 doubles in good stops , never less than 10(as this is how many i could place in back of my dodge dakota and still have room for my homemade wood box that held all my gum.) thats me finding,talking and installing..my van I could put 30 and if i was just locating i would usually empty it by about 4 and head home..

I hated servicing,,thats what took all the time..I tell people all the time if i would have had a partner do the servicing , and bookkeeping etc. I could have been HUGE!

I have pushers from port st lucy all the way to ft lauderdale, and inwards over to okeechobee,indian town etc. just a handful really..was approached by locator in Jupiter wanting to work with me.

I used to come down about every 2 months , locate mon-tue-wed and go fishing thur-fri and head back,,I absolutely love snook fishing at night with my friend/biz partner there in stuart so we would go every night if the weather was good.. He is just my partner on that route as we are old friends and I would come down and go fishing so i set him up a route to work part-time.

ron

www.blazingquarters.com

bought a blazin used in wpb , hope it wasnt stolen from you

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What happened to LRU, I have been waiting weeks for a location?

LRU: Gayle just got back to me yesterday -- I'd been trying for nearly 2 week to pay her and LRU for the location that they found for me -- and happily, I just received the invoice... Has anyone else here been in regular contact with Gayle at LRU? I've attempted to place a new order with LRU several times now; however, I have not received any communication.

First Choice: Today, I received my first location in 3 weeks from Sonya at First Choice Locators. I am happy to know that First Choice is still on the case. I provided Sonya with a list of all the stores/telephone numbers in a very large mall and industrial park; however, she said that none were willing to accept a vending machine due to "corporate policy." To cite corporate policy, I've learned, is a pretty easy way for stores to deflect what they perceive as soliciting for charity donations (even though vending is, in this case, a free service that comes with no legal liability.)

To locate in break rooms is ideal for my type of machine -- I'd love to hear any tips that people have learned on how to locate at larger chain stores.

I'll continue to report on my post-KickStart experiences as I have them.

ALSO: If anyone has any other vending locators to recommend, please do so and I will place an order! I love to sharing my experiences here, and reading others' experiences -- this thread is a goldmine of information!

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I placed an order for 5 locations with First Choice Monday. Haven't heard a thing yet.

I placed an order for 5 locations with LRU Monday. Haven't heard a thing yet.

How can customer service be this lax and they still are in business? Heck, I don't even know if they have started locating for me, if they will start soon, or if they may never start. They will not answer email, phone calls or keep me posted. WOW. I bet if I take this long to pay or answer their emails they will say "this vendor is a jerk."

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has LRU invoiced you yet. They won't invoice you until there ready to start locating for you. First Choice is pay after location so just chill. We all act like were the only client they have to deal with, sometimes and that is not always the case. I got three for LRU this week and 4 form First choice I will place the last one tomorrow that they have and the third one from LRU.

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I am not saying they will not locate my 10 machines for me. All I am pointing out is.... for LRU I filled out their online order form and placed an order for 5 locations Monday morning. Four full days later and still no response NOTHING. Did they get the order, do they need more information, do I need to resubmit it, are they happy that they got my business and will work on it this week, next week, next month? How do I know ANYTHING? I would guess they got my order, but are busy locating for others and will get to mine as soon as they can, which is fine with me. BUT can't they let me know over the course of a work week? Do you think that is good business?

For First choice, I ordered. They sent me an email with the agreement which I filled out, signed electronically and emailed back. Then guess what ..... nothing.

If a huge pizza place or mexican restaurant emailed you to order a rack, would you just ignore the order, not let the restaurant know you received the order, not let them know you appreciate the order and let them know when you will get it to them, etc?

Just saying, they must be as busy as they want to be. Hopefully they have my orders and will get to them soon. But isn't it weird I am just in the dark about it?

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I am not saying they will not locate my 10 machines for me. All I am pointing out is.... for LRU I filled out their online order form and placed an order for 5 locations Monday morning. Four full days later and still no response NOTHING. Did they get the order, do they need more information, do I need to resubmit it, are they happy that they got my business and will work on it this week, next week, next month? How do I know ANYTHING? I would guess they got my order, but are busy locating for others and will get to mine as soon as they can, which is fine with me. BUT can't they let me know over the course of a work week? Do you think that is good business?

For First choice, I ordered. They sent me an email with the agreement which I filled out, signed electronically and emailed back. Then guess what ..... nothing.

If a huge pizza place or mexican restaurant emailed you to order a rack, would you just ignore the order, not let the restaurant know you received the order, not let them know you appreciate the order and let them know when you will get it to them, etc?

Just saying, they must be as busy as they want to be. Hopefully they have my orders and will get to them soon. But isn't it weird I am just in the dark about it?

LRU never sent me anything either. It is an unusual way of doing business to say the least. If they hadn't sent me locations so quickly, I would have been upset that there really was no communication to speak of. If they haven't contacted you yet, call them. They have their number listed on their website, and that will get you the answers you seek from them the fastest.

I have not dealt with First Choice, so I cannot weigh in on why they haven'[t contacted you.

It is unusual for a business to handle their customers so sloppily. Don't get me wrong, I like LRU, but both LRU and First Choice are very lucky that the locator business doesn't have much for competition.

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Thanks for the reply's. I will just resign to the fact that communication will probably be very poor.

Maybe my first communication from either of them will be an email with a location.

I call them and pester them after I place an order. Just call them a few times a day and the be really pleasant when you talk to them. It's worked so far for me.

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Oh, I LOVE receiving these placements!! Now there's a TIE for 1st place in the "race!!" (It's not exactly the Olympics -- but it's certainly just as exciting for me.)

1.) This weekend, LRU found me an excellent placement at a local bar and grill! I haven't yet delivered the machine to the bar&grill as they're closed on Mondays; however, it's a popular place -- and a great place for a machine!! THANK YOU, GAYLE -- and please thank your staff for me!! I will be paying the invoice and placing another order upon delivery of the machine tomorrow.

1.) First Choice also netted me a GREAT location this past weekend... Sonya specializes in locating machines in break-rooms -- and she did it again this past weekend, finding me yet another chain, clothing store in the region's largest mall!! Thank you, First Choice. :) I was able to deliver the machine today -- and as with LRU, I'm excited to pay you for the good work.

I love receiving these placements..! Although I didn't hear anything for a few weeks from First Choice, I'm very pleased with the company's service overall -- but LRU, IMO, has now tied First Choice for the lead in this "race." :) My reason is: LRU found me a placement very quickly upon my re-order, whereas First Choice took a few weeks... Both have provided high quality locations thus far.

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I did get LRU on the phone today. She wanted to verify all the info I had sent them. After she verified everything was correct about my order she stated she would send me an invoice for 50% of the fee. I haven't got it yet.

First Choice emailed today saying they have locations for me. They are going to verify the locations in the morning and send them to me. I don't know how many they have, but I am very anxious to hear from them tomorrow.

I just bought 20 more Northwestern 60's. If these locators do good they will get those orders. If not, I will have to locate myself.

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I did get LRU on the phone today. She wanted to verify all the info I had sent them. After she verified everything was correct about my order she stated she would send me an invoice for 50% of the fee. I haven't got it yet.

First Choice emailed today saying they have locations for me. They are going to verify the locations in the morning and send them to me. I don't know how many they have, but I am very anxious to hear from them tomorrow.

I just bought 20 more Northwestern 60's. If these locators do good they will get those orders. If not, I will have to locate myself.

Good luck with them! LRU is a little slow to send out their invoices, though they will send them eventually. Mine usually came a few days afterwards.

Again, good luck with the placements!

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Got my LRU invoice today and promptly paid it.

First choice sent me three locations today!!!! Going to visit each tonight (3 restaurants) see what is currently in there. Set up machines tonight to compete with them and place them tomorrow.

Yeah!

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Locators are us has gotten me three that I approved Still waiting on number 4.

First choice got me all 4 2 should be prime spots. I figure the other two should do ok though.

I did the kickstart auction and got a bar from them so in a few weeks when I do my pulls i will let everyone know how the did.

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Got 3 locations from First Choice. 3/5

1 in a Bar Restaurant - should be good

2 is a pizza place that is in a convenience store, not to sure about it, no seats, carry out and delivery. Gonna try it because of the convenience store, could be a lot of traffic.

3 is a ribs to go place. No seats, mostly delivery and some pick up orders.... gonna ask for a new location.

Paid My LRU invoice yesterday and no response. Not even a thank you for paying. I hope they checked their Paypal to know I paid.

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im waiting on LRU for a invoice from 6/6/12 , and still no word on a decline from 7/18/12 . we are also waiting for replacements requested on 6/10/12 ( 2 of them ,but i located one yesterday ) , and no response to a email asking if they are up to the task of locating 20++ more doubles in 10 zip codes . to my own discredit , i havent emailed them in a few weeks . we have worked with LRU quite a bit ,and always been happy with their service , and a majority of the locations we get from them are great performers . its also worth mentioning , LRU really seems to build a ROUTE , not scattered locations here and there . and of course , the amazing price per location they charge . hopefully we just got lost in a spam folder , because we would love to continue working with them .

first choice --we have got some real good spots from first choice . some declines ( small auto type shops ) which was no problem , and a few locations given were out of zip codes requested ( declined ) again ,no issues . unfortunately , i was asked for more zip codes to finish my order of 9 doubles ( currently we are working in 10 zip codes , 70-75 square miles ) . first choice has sent some great spots that have suprised me : large chain store break room , a front spot at a large chain auto parts , and a front spot in a large chain resteraunt .

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