bhumphrey829 Posted July 7, 2013 Posted July 7, 2013 I was wondering if any of you guys out there hired techs to work on your machines? I am probably the most non-mechanically inclined person you will meet. If it's more technical than plugging something in or restarting it, it's out of my league (lol). I have a guy that says he will do it. He works for Dr pepper and does this on the side. He says he will charge me 75.00 per call plus whatever it takes to fix the machine. I was just wondering if this is fair price or not. I am located in Texas if that makes a difference in pricing.
AZVendor Posted July 7, 2013 Posted July 7, 2013 Yes, that is what those of us in the repair business recommend to many of the members here. To be successful in vending you need to know people who can help you. A good vending machine tech who you feel you can trust is a must. The prices will vary - around here service techs charge between $50 (hacks) and $90 (overpriced prima dona) for a service call plus parts. My charge is right in the middle of that range and then you will pay for parts. If a return trip is needed then there will be a charge for that as well. A Dr. Pepper tech who is familiar with soda machines will be capable of learning how to repair snacks and others, too. You might be paying for some learning time, but if you trust him that's half the battle.
moondog Posted July 7, 2013 Posted July 7, 2013 I was wondering if any of you guys out there hired techs to work on your machines? I am probably the most non-mechanically inclined person you will meet. If it's more technical than plugging something in or restarting it, it's out of my league (lol). I have a guy that says he will do it. He works for Dr pepper and does this on the side. He says he will charge me 75.00 per call plus whatever it takes to fix the machine. I was just wondering if this is fair price or not. I am located in Texas if that makes a difference in pricing. You need to learn how to swap out your validators, mechs and motors (in that order) - these are the most common issues you will have and there's no reason to pay a tech to change these. If you think you're having control board or compressor deck issues, this is when you call in a service technician. Do the easy fixes yourself and save your tech money for the more complex issues.
mission vending Posted July 7, 2013 Posted July 7, 2013 I did use techs starting out quite a bit but I quickly learned that there is a lot of benefit to learning how to DIY. With phone support from the major manufacturers there isn't much that you can't get figured out with some patience. These days I pretty much only use a tech for compressore repair.
Walta Posted July 8, 2013 Posted July 8, 2013 75.00 is fair I charge 55.00 an hour with a 1.5 hour minimum or 82.50 for most calls. I must charge for my travel time. Walta
CajunCandy Posted July 8, 2013 Posted July 8, 2013 I learned to fix my own junk and asking questions on this forum. Thanks to all the techs who is on this forum.
Walta Posted July 8, 2013 Posted July 8, 2013 Ask tech to fill out a W9 form so you can send him a 1099 so you can subtract his bills from your income and not pay taxes on it. Also find out if he is carrying labiality insurance. It is much better find this stuff out now and not at tax time. Walta
Vending How Chris Posted July 8, 2013 Posted July 8, 2013 You need to learn how to swap out your validators, mechs and motors (in that order) - these are the most common issues you will have and there's no reason to pay a tech to change these. If you think you're having control board or compressor deck issues, this is when you call in a service technician. Do the easy fixes yourself and save your tech money for the more complex issues. I agree that it's important to learn how to fix the most common errors yourself. I don't consider myself mechanically inclined, but swapping out these parts is about as hard as swapping out an air filter in an old car engine. Most of the time they just take some good ol' unscrewing and rescrewing. This is especially important if you want to grow your business and start hiring employees. If your employees don't know how to fix basic problems, then you will either have to do it or pay around 75 bucks a pop each time they happen. If you're paying an employee $10 an hour to start, then you will make your money back so much quicker than using a tech. Having said that, it's invaluable to know a tech who you can call for more advanced issues. Does anyone know of a unified craiglist-type tech website with peer reviews? That could be useful especially if it was arranged by zipcode.
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