Mike32110 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 So I am new to the business, and was looking for general advice on dealing with demanding clients. I will admit that I have found the customer service aspect of this job to be difficult, as I have a pretty respected full time job and am shocked at how different people talk to a vending machine oeprator. However, I changed a coin-mech on a machine that was giving issues, and didn't click it back together perfectly, so change started jamming not soon after I left. I got a call (woke me up) the next morning from the woman who deals with the machines who said quite rudely "you need to get down here right now and fix this machine". It just so happened that this was on my birthday, and I ended up going down there to fix it, gave the woman some extra chips. Since then, i haven't had any issues with her and she has been quite friendly (I give her a product everytime I stock the machine). I was just wondering how you guys deal with situations like this? Generally, I would think that if I service the machine's weekly, they should just put up an OUT OF ORDER sign and I would just lose sales in the meantime. The sales are only 60 per week, so it's not worth my time to go out there for it. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamvend Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 You run into all types of people in this buisness. Some people have a more polite way of handling things than others. Some people are just jerks. Don't take it personally. That being said, if you are going to provide a service to a customer they should be able to expect that you are going to make every effort to correct a problem promptly. Most of my accounts wouldnt be to happy if I told them just to put up a sign and ill get there whenever I get there. A $60 / week account isn't a great account but maybe you can go every 2 weeks and pull $120 at once? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 So I am new to the business, and was looking for general advice on dealing with demanding clients. I will admit that I have found the customer service aspect of this job to be difficult, as I have a pretty respected full time job and am shocked at how different people talk to a vending machine oeprator. However, I changed a coin-mech on a machine that was giving issues, and didn't click it back together perfectly, so change started jamming not soon after I left. I got a call (woke me up) the next morning from the woman who deals with the machines who said quite rudely "you need to get down here right now and fix this machine". It just so happened that this was on my birthday, and I ended up going down there to fix it, gave the woman some extra chips. Since then, i haven't had any issues with her and she has been quite friendly (I give her a product everytime I stock the machine). I was just wondering how you guys deal with situations like this? Generally, I would think that if I service the machine's weekly, they should just put up an OUT OF ORDER sign and I would just lose sales in the meantime. The sales are only 60 per week, so it's not worth my time to go out there for it. What do you guys think? Yeah ppl get mad when the machine eats their money I bet next time u will test it better lol seriously tho its a service biz and ppl will only want to deal with u when they are pissed if u are not a personable type of guy this biz may not be for you. As someone else said u should not be servicing a 60/wk acct every week, read the cost to service thread at the top of the forum. It is funny how the nickel and dime accts are the most demanding lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snack dude Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 One thing I do when people call and bite my head off is sincerely thank them for the phone call. You want people to call you when the machine is down no matter how little the problem so you can go fix it and get back in business Also this will keep the account for you if you go right out and address it. And when I am done fixing the machine I thank them again for calling and letting me know. This will go a long way with most customers and takes the edge off most (not all) if you handle it as professionally as possible. Sorry about being your birthday but thats the fun of having your own business. Wait till you get a 24/7 account and have to go fix the food machine at 3:00 AM on a Sunday or in the middle of a family event. Thats just the nature of the beast. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 One thing I do when people call and bite my head off is sincerely thank them for the phone call. You want people to call you when the machine is down no matter how little the problem so you can go fix it and get back in business Also this will keep the account for you if you go right out and address it. And when I am done fixing the machine I thank them again for calling and letting me know. This will go a long way with most customers and takes the edge off most (not all) if you handle it as professionally as possible. Sorry about being your birthday but thats the fun of having your own business. Wait till you get a 24/7 account and have to go fix the food machine at 3:00 AM on a Sunday or in the middle of a family event. Thats just the nature of the beast. Good Luck Yeah I've been there done that. This is a service industry and those that provide the best service will be the winners in the long term. Going and fixing a machine is a part of that. You can pretty much count on the fact that if you let the machines sit nonworking until your next scheduled service you won't be in business for long because your customers will find someone else to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32110 Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 I guess I should clarify that I would try to make a trip out to fix it if the machine was broken, but if it was someone just saying the machine ate their money, I do not want to spend an hour of my time to return a dollar and twenty five cents. This same location I have heard several people say the machine ate their money, yet every time I check it, it seems to work fine. I did a full autovend of every single selection before leaving last time, and every single one worked. However, I do recall them saying 3 different selections did not vend when I was changing the machine, then when I reloaded everything, everything vended except for one selection (which was different than the others), so I looked at the row, closed it again, and then the selection vended fine. So I know this was a bit of a tangent, but any ideas on what might be going on there? Thanks for all the advice everyone! I also forgot to mention, the only reason that I visit this site weekly is due to the fact that I am new and am just trying to get the right stock list going, as well as getting myself organized. My plan is to drop it to biweekly stocking starting next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Try to remember if she treats you that way it is likely her boss and her customers treat her that way and you may be the only place she can vent. Have pity on her take it with a smile apologize and remember it was your mess up. After a repair I never leave a location without test vending the machine with coins and bill with the door closed exactly the same way your customers will. Change your schedule and if your equipment is large enough go every 3 weeks. Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Snack Dude hit it on the head. Always thank the person who called you about the problem. They didn't have to call you - they could have just let it sit there while everybody in the facility is gradually getting ticked off creating an even bigger problem. Customers are always more impressed with someone who handles problems promptly than they are with someone who never has a problem. This may sound ironic but it's your chance to shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32110 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Great, and in that case I did shine as I was there within an hour. However, I am just concerned if I get more calls from this same location as the machine does seem to be having some issues. Regarding the random rows not working, is this a somewhat common problem? Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 make a refund book put $20 in change in an envelope (2 quarter rolls) give it to the contact tell them any refunds log it in the book w/ the persons name ,what selection #, how much was refunded, date and time and signature. if ur losing more than $20 in a week in refunds u have a liar or a very broken machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Make sure your trays are actually engaged each time you move them. Some machines are kind of finicky this way. Just make sure they're vending before you leave. Check your keypad to make sure all the selections are working. This is an easy fix and you can get replacement parts from Vendors Exchange for about $50 depending on the model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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