tkaman2 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Hi, I am fairly new to the vending business and I was wondering if people put a label with their business name and their phone number on it, like "for service or problems contact Joe at 123-123-1234" or something like that... or, do you just talk to your business contact at each location on your route each time you service it? I don't want to receive a hundred phone calls a month from employees telling me my machine took their quarter or they want some other product in my machines, but some comments or contacts might be needed, say if I need to remove my machine or it broke or what not. How does everyone else do it? I could easily print out a label with my website and/or my phone number on it. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I put my name and number on the back. Last week I had a location call me because my lock broke and kids where taking candy out of the top. I was able to get there 20 minutes later and fix the problem. Just make sure you put at least your number on the machine in case of something like that. It saved ma a big headache. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlander Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 I have a Vonage phone # that I put on the machines, it goes to voicemail and then sends me an email with the audio. Never have to talk to anyone I don't want to and always get messages for service calls etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 I always have my service number on every machine. Contact information you hand out on a flyer or business card can get lost over time. I never got a call at 3am, but did get one once at 11pm from an upset hotel owner - the skittles (his daughter's favorite) was sold out! Other than that one, I only get calls during business hours. I'll leave the 3am calls for the next president! I actually welcome the call when there is a problem. One of the most frustrating things is that the locations do NOT call 50% of the time, but instead waits for you to show up to tell you about a problem or worse, to evict you. Some vendors don't place contact info on machines in hopes of avoiding evictions over the phone. Others do it, I believe, to avoid getting identified (and a phone call) when slamming equipment. Jax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 I put my business phone number for service calls on every machine. The system works well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkaman2 Posted August 31, 2008 Author Share Posted August 31, 2008 That is a good idea. Even cheaper than vonage is the Magic Jack (www.magicjack.com) It costs $20 to buy the hardware (a usb device that you plug your phone cord into) and $19.95 per YEAR of phone service including nationwide long distance. I already own one that I don't use much. I think I will use it for my vending service number. It also emails you voicemails. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePlate Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I use an 800 number. It cost $2/month and 6 cents a minute, you can have it forwarded to a provided voicemail or any number of your choice. Really cool service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlander Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Blueplate, Who is the provider of the 1-800 number you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhein68 Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Do you all make your own labels or have them made for you? If you make your own what do you use for labels that wont fade or rub off??:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 I have my company name and number on every machine. You can do it yourself to start and as you get larger you could have them made. Either way, the account owners and customers like to know they can contact you if needed and you will come. I service most of my account every 30 days. On the 15th day I call every account to check to see if their machines are low on product or if any of the mech's are jammed. Be happy if they call you if one of your machines is down or empty. Don't worry, if your machines are working correctly you won't get hundreds of phone calls. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench327 Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Vonage offers an 800 number for 4.99 a month with 100 free mins. I am planning on setting one up as I already use vonage, and printing my own labels. I feel there should be contact info on every machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAS Enterprises Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 These are all good points that I was wondering about. I've been checking machines since last week when I started looking into this venture. I was out letting my wife part my hard earned cash last Friday and I looked at these 2 huge 9 machine racks in Hannaford's and not one label on any machine on the back or the sides. It must not be a big issue in Ulster County. As a matter of fact I looked at some single locations near my house and they didn't even have labels. I'm going to put contact info on mine, I don't want someone rolling my stuff out the door! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Sometimes if the equipment is owned by the business it is in, they will not have contact information on them. This could be the case with the couple of accounts you mentioned. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAS Enterprises Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 That is a possibility Gary, but the huge racks are in a chain supermarket, and I wouldn't imagine they'd be owned by the supermarket, unless they belong to an employee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 That is a good idea. Even cheaper than vonage is the Magic Jack (http://www.magicjack.com) It costs $20 to buy the hardware (a usb device that you plug your phone cord into) and $19.95 per YEAR of phone service including nationwide long distance. I already own one that I don't use much. I think I will use it for my vending service number. It also emails you voicemails. Dave Dave.........this magic jack thang? It will send voice mail messages that are left to your cell phone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 For some that asked I make my own lables using a free download from Avery called Design Pro. http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/Templates-%26-Software/Software/Avery-DesignPro-for-PC.htm I use it for my business cards and charity sticker. You can use any clip art you can find or design plus many other design tools are included. Here is my charity label I designed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Ken, thanks for the link. Very nice label you have there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 No problem and thanks for the vote from whoever voted for my post. I use the 2X4 size lables with two on each sheet. I also use the clean cut doublesided business cards to print my own too. Here is a scan of the front and back of those if it shows up big enough so we can see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAS Enterprises Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Beer, Thanks for posting that link and the samples. I'm going to check out that program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Your welcome. As you can see you can bring in all sorts of items from clip art to pictures. Get as creative as you want and no printing set up fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raredory Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I put my contact info on my machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendboy Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 number on back of machines with paint marker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
that1dude Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I tape a business card to the back or side of the machine. I actually had a location request that I do this because the last vendor in their resturant was hard to get a hold of and hardly maintenanced the machine. I was able to give them a little "peace of mind" by having my contact info in the event the machine breaks, is out of candy, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shvend Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 I have a seprate cell phone that I just tagged onto my account and share the minutes, I also got what ever free phone they was offering. I leave the phone off and put it in my drawer and only check the voicemails on the phone. So it cost me I think $9.00 a month. Plus I have a extra phone if something happens to mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now