Abandoned machines/routes

[Arqangel13]

painting them yourself saves big bucks too.

Oak wants between 2.00 to 8.00 per machine for custom colors.

and unless you are buying like 100 at once you have to wait for them to get to your painting batch. common is red. a big vendor in calif. is using yellow.

I like green or blue myself. they would be easy to paint, head top, head base, body, and base.

 I figured I would be painting them myself.  It's not too hard and I have had some experience painting with durable paints.  I am partial to blue and green too.  While I don't think any color will make someone want to buy or avoid buying candy from my machines, it certainly will make me stand out.  Also does a lot for branding my business.  Thanks all. Take care. Mario

[Arqangel13]

So would it be smart to look for locations that have machines that look as if they have been abandoned?  I would think they would be in need of a quality vendor.  Also, is there a good way of approaching a location with my new route as they might be a bit put off due to the prior vendor not servicing his/her machine?  Thanks. Mario

[FrCorey]

So would it be smart to look for locations that have machines that look as if they have been abandoned?  I would think they would be in need of a quality vendor.  Also, is there a good way of approaching a location with my new route as they might be a bit put off due to the prior vendor not servicing his/her machine?  Thanks. Mario

 

just go in and tell them you see they are now getting the vending service they need.

and you will put in machines and closely monitor them.

by law the location has to keep the abandoned machines until the owner claims them,

or the location files to remove abandoned property.

if they were smart they could file for storages charges and then dispose of the property.

sort of like a storage place would.

[Arqangel13]

Thanks FrCorey:

That sounds like a very good suggestion.  I just hope that the previous vendor didn't say the same thing or he will be less likely to believe me.  As for charging storage charges on the abandoned machines, I am not sure that they are afforded the same rights as are the storage companies.  However, I think that after a diligent attempt to contact the owner of those abandoned machines, he may be able to claim them as abandoned property through the court system.  I will have to research that, but there may be provisions in the state statutes (check your own state's statutes) for abandoned property.  Take care. Mario

[dkochan]

Just ask the owner to move the abandoned machine to the back and tell him that you will service your machine every 30/60 days and pay him 25% commission. Hand the owner your business card.

Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk 2

[Arqangel13]

Is that 25% gross or net?  Also, do you have to offer such a high commission.  It seems that it is hard enough to make money in vending without having to offer part of your profits.  Just asking.  I think I am amiable enough and hopefully could persuade the owner to give me a chance to show him my work ethics.  Thanks again. Take care. Mario

[ronsidney]

No.  You misunderstand.  I don't want the abandoned machine so I wasn't planning on touching them.  I just wanted to know how they are removed.  Does the owner of the establishment move them?  After all, if I were to place a vending machine next to one of the abandoned machines, I think it will reflect badly on me.  I think people would think that they belong to me and I should be servicing them.  I don't want the responsibility for the abandoned machines if I were able to get one of these locations.  I also don't want someone else grouping my machine with the abandoned one and "accidentally" removing it with the non-serviced machines.  Sorry I wasn't clearer about that, but I appreciate your posts.  Thanks. Mario

my opinion is the location is probably crap if the machines are neglected that bad.  I am guilty as sin about neglecting crap accounts, It looks bad on me maybe but  i always had thought of if it makes $2 thats $2 more than it would make at home in my shed, when the shed is cleaned out of machines then i will worry about pulling the bottom earners.  As long as there where soldiers at home not being used i wouldn't pull underperforming machines.

[Arqangel13]

Could be a bad location.  But if the machine is empty, wouldn't that mean that the product did sell.  It could just be a bad vendor.  I guess it may also depend on what is being vended at that location.  Perhaps it could be made into a good location.  It wouldn't hurt to test it, provided one had the machines to do that.

[adog]

Could be a bad location.  But if the machine is empty, wouldn't that mean that the product did sell.  It could just be a bad vendor.  I guess it may also depend on what is being vended at that location.  Perhaps it could be made into a good location.  It wouldn't hurt to test it, provided one had the machines to do that.

I had the same thoughts you did when I first started out. I got a auto shop location with terminator. The Terminator was just about empty and was dirty. I thought to myself that this must be a killer location. Long and behold I go back 2 weeks later and there was a dollar in the machine. Since then haven't been there but I will be servicing it in the next week and hopefully there is at least 6 bucks in there lol.

[ronsidney]

Could be a bad location.  But if the machine is empty, wouldn't that mean that the product did sell.  It could just be a bad vendor.  I guess it may also depend on what is being vended at that location.  Perhaps it could be made into a good location.  It wouldn't hurt to test it, provided one had the machines to do that.

not necessarily, if its a bad location i wouldn't fill it all the way cause i dont want it to go bad..i will fill with toys now,but in the old days of candy i would just fill halfway at service time and come back 6 months later and collect my $20..

 

i had some 2" bouncy ball machines i would hit once a year in florida and georgia, I eventually sold those off on craiglist though, but they where remnants of when i was  wanting to be big regional vendor before i discovered the real money in cranes and got smart.

[Makes Cents]

The only way to know if its a good location is to get your machines in and try it, then you'll know. People abandon machines for all kinds of reasons, I still dont understand it.I have run across locations that had an abandon Northwestern rack, one that had a sportsblaster and one that had a small plush crane. All locations claimed the machines did great and the owner just stopped coming around. The one with the sportsblaster I was able to place a double in and it does $50+ a month. The other two locations never wanted to deal with vending again.

[Arqangel13]

Got your point.  Could be a bad location, but it could be a good one.  Need to test the location first.  If using candy, do not fill up more than 1/2 so it won't go bad.  But as Makes Cents said, there are many reasons that locations are abandoned.  I just hope I find one where the route owner is just sick of vending and not because it is a bad location.  You never can tell until you place the machine.  But I will keep it in mind that it may be a bad location and test/tweak the location to see if it could become profitable.

[kennedyvalley]

I have one business that I was thinking of offering to sign a contract to remove the old unserviced machines and store them, for 1 year, until I can clam them under the abandon property law here. That way if the owner comes looking for them, They could call me from my machine, or talk to the business owner, and get my info. I would have a contract with the business owner to remove and store the old machine, after 1 year, I would go to court file the paperwork and get ownership of the machines. It helps the business owner and can help the owner if they come for them in the first year. The business owner wants the old machines removed and I think this would get me in a good location and protect me if the old owner comes looking.

What do you think.

[sherlock]

I have one business that I was thinking of offering to sign a contract to remove the old unserviced machines and store them, for 1 year, until I can clam them under the abandon property law here. That way if the owner comes looking for them, They could call me from my machine, or talk to the business owner, and get my info. I would have a contract with the business owner to remove and store the old machine, after 1 year, I would go to court file the paperwork and get ownership of the machines. It helps the business owner and can help the owner if they come for them in the first year. The business owner wants the old machines removed and I think this would get me in a good location and protect me if the old owner comes looking.

What do you think.

 

That's an interesting approach. But, why go through the hassle?

 

Couldn't the location owner just go through the same process (filing court docs to get ownership) since he's been storing the equipment in his location already?

This would avoid the need for a contract between you and the location.

You would also be spared the need to store the equipment yourself.

Plus, it would avoid starting the 1 yr time requirement clock all over again since theoretically the location has been "storing" the equipment since the machine was last serviced.

 

And once the location takes legal ownership, they can do whatever they want to with the equipment whether you want to be involved in its disposal or not.

 

I recommend you let the location handle the filings and stay out of the middle-man position.

 

I do have questions about the storage contract, too.

By law, are you sure a contract between you and the location for storing the equipment would be legal given that the equipment does not legally belong to the location in the first place?

[Makes Cents]

I have one business that I was thinking of offering to sign a contract to remove the old unserviced machines and store them, for 1 year, until I can clam them under the abandon property law here. That way if the owner comes looking for them, They could call me from my machine, or talk to the business owner, and get my info. I would have a contract with the business owner to remove and store the old machine, after 1 year, I would go to court file the paperwork and get ownership of the machines. It helps the business owner and can help the owner if they come for them in the first year. The business owner wants the old machines removed and I think this would get me in a good location and protect me if the old owner comes looking.

What do you think.

How can you claim the machine owner abandon their machines when you take them and move them to a location unknown to the machine owner? Thats not abandonment, thats theft imo. The fact that you have a contract with the location owner is meaningless because its not valid as he dosent own the machines. The only person who should have a claim of abandonment would be the location owner after the time limit. Then he could dispose of the machines as he sees fit.

[musser]

Why do rookies all think that machines they don't think are being serviced "right" (even though the rookie does not know what proper service might be) are somehow "abondoned" and free for the taking? If it aint yours it aint yours to take no matter what story you tell yourself.

[FrCorey]

Why do rookies all think that machines they don't think are being serviced "right" (even though the rookie does not know what proper service might be) are somehow "abondoned" and free for the taking? If it aint yours it aint yours to take no matter what story you tell yourself.

 

It's still theft.

If I put out 5000 machines and only touched them once a year.

they are still mine, and I will prosicute you when I catch you.

[sherlock]

In some states the location never has a right to the equipment no matter how long it's been abandoned.

So another vendor would have even less of a right to obtain possession of those unserviced machines.

 

In those states, the only legal way for a location to handle "abandoned" machines is to turn the equipment over to the state.

But, the property (equipment) has to remain unclaimed for a certain amount of time...those time periods are set  by the state.

And until that equipment has sat unserviced for at least that amount of time, the equipment can not be legally defined as "abandoned".

Some states and types of property require as much as 3yrs time.

 

 

 

[FrCorey]

In some states the location never has a right to the equipment no matter how long it's been abandoned.

So another vendor would have even less of a right to obtain possession of those unserviced machines.

 

In those states, the only legal way for a location to handle "abandoned" machines is to turn the equipment over to the state.

But, the property (equipment) has to remain unclaimed for a certain amount of time...those time periods are set  by the state.

And until that equipment has sat unserviced for at least that amount of time, the equipment can not be legally defined as "abandoned".

Some states and types of property require as much as 3yrs time.

plus it could even get more complicated too.

What if someone starts a route and then dies?

and thier estate dont find out about the route for years.

"if in doubt, dont touch that route."

[Action Vending]

I have been back to locations that we owned that where still there after 7 years.

The guy that was taking care of it basically abandoned the route and never went back, I still had the route cards and got 3 locations that had our machines there and cleaned up the machines filled them and they let me keep them there.

One place had our machines in the basement the other place had them in the storefront for all those years sitting empty.

This is very ridiculous and I was extremely surprised that some where still there.

[Nick505]

I have been back to locations that we owned that where still there after 7 years.

The guy that was taking care of it basically abandoned the route and never went back, I still had the route cards and got 3 locations that had our machines there and cleaned up the machines filled them and they let me keep them there.

One place had our machines in the basement the other place had them in the storefront for all those years sitting empty.

This is very ridiculous and I was extremely surprised that some where still there.

How did you "loose" them for so long!?

[FrCorey]

How did you "loose" them for so long!?

 

err, poor book keeping

[caserri]

It's easy to do. I know when I closed up shop I left a bunch out in the field because I simply didn't remember where they were. I was getting calls for months from locations wanting me to come fill the machine and I was like "oh yeah I have a machine there!"

[Makes Cents]

I think part of the problem is we vendors get lazy and dont pull equipment from locations that should be relocated. I know Im guilty of it. Locations are so hard to get that when one under-preforms I have found myself leaving it and putting it on 90 day schedule. I can easily understand a location that hasent seen you for 90 days or more thinking the vendor has forgot about them. Ive recently started to relocate these poor performers to eliminate this.

[Safari]

If its not yours or on your property, you have no claim to it.

The owner of the property would have to follow the abandoned property laws in that state in order to acquire it himself.

Even if he said "yeah, go ahead and take it," he doesn't have the right to say that.

Stealing is a clearly black and white issue. Nobody wants there machines tampered with or taken.

The golden rule applies!

I had a 4-in1 carousel vendesign machine in the employee lounge of a supermarket. The lounge was very small and was occupied by 3 candy machines, including mine. The manager was doing housecleaning on this lounge and asked me to remove the other 2 machines that had not been serviced for a while. I removed my machine from this location because it was not profitable for me. However, I did not move the other 2 machines. One of the machines had a taped sign on it that read: CAN I TAKE IT?  It was apparently written by an employee of this supermarket. I didn't remove this sign nor did I remove the machine. The housecleaning involved removing unwanted items, including these 2 machines. What they did with these 2 machines is a guess. Apparently they where not serviced for over 1 year.

 

In another situation, I had an 8-selection U-Turn machine near the front customer line of a fast-food restaurant, A&W / KFC. This establishment housed 2 restaurants together as one, where the menu items displayed both types of goods to the customer. This location was very profitable for me. On a monthly basis it was giving me anywhere between $75 to $110, clean. I was totally unaware that the merger of these 2 restaurants was closing its doors to the public- permanently. After 3 weeks of servicing my U-Turn I found the doors to this establishment closed, with a sign on it. It read: SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, BUT A&W/KFC WILL NO LONGER BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT THIS LOCATION. My U-Turn was stuck inside with money inside. The restaurant operators where in the process of removing ALL THE FURNITURE, INCLUDING MY U-TURN MACHINE. I tried calling their telephone and received absolutely no return calls. I left message after message and no return calls. After 2 weeks of trying to reach them, everything inside of this restaurant was removed. My question is, who gave them permission to treat my machine as abandoned property. I serviced this machine periodically and look what they did to me.

 

Since these cnady machines are truly not very expensive, any legal problems would be settled in a small claims court. BUT PEOPLE, PLEASE BE REASONABLE. A police officer, a small claims court judge, and a lawyer, are not going to spend thousands of taxpayers money solving this problem, which would appear in their minds as not important at all.

 

I have witnessed establishments discard unserviced candy machines into the trash bin quite a few times. A police offer must do his/her job, at all times and with no personal regards to the value of the said merchandise in question. HOWEVER PEOPLE, YOU MUST BE REALISTIC AND PRACTICAL If I where a manager in one of these establishments I would discard the machine, especially after the original vendor states I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO WITH IT.  In a situation like this, I will remove the machine myself after it has been approved by the establishment and the original vendor. END OF STORY!