Jax Snacks Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Just want to share a funny story and how goofy vending can be sometimes. 5 months ago, I had a 3 head NW60 stolen from a car wash. The ownership there had changed and the entire facility was remodeled. My machine was nowhere to be found and the manager had no idea what had happened to it. One employee told me that the contractors moved the machines out of the waiting room to get the work done. I just figured that the machine conveniently ended up in the contractors van and that was the end of it. Last night I get a call from a hotel and they told me to pick up my machine since they were closing the facility. The funny thing was that I never stepped foot in this hotel before! At first I thought it was a real stupid thief who relocated the machine but left my phone number on it. I have heard that this has happened to other vendors before. So today I arrive at the hotel. Guess what? It was the same machine stolen from the car wash! However, it had the same locks (two different codes) and there was no sign of tampering. I asked the manager who the owner of the hotel was. She told me he owned many properties - including car washes! She then told me that he had bought a car wash in the same city where this machine was stolen. At this point, I don't really think the machine was really stolen. Rather a contractor got careless and left it in his van and decided to drop it at the hotel instead. Or maybe the contractor did intend to steal it and got cold feet and then decided to not take the machine and dumped it in the hotel. I will never really know. It was nice to get back a $300 machine (replacement cost brand new with shipping) and $70 in quarters. The moral of the story is to always have your phone number on your equipment. Unless you are dumping or slamming them (lol) - just a joke to lighten up everyone. But the story is real. Also, never hand write your phone with a pen since it will fade or get blurred by the cleaning people - use a typed set phone number INSIDE the machine. Jax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Jax, thats a funny story, thanks for sharing. It makes you wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassine Vending Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Funny story indeed, but I am glad you got your machine back in one piece and money in the tray!!! Except for the 5 months of worry and frustration, what more could a guy ask for!!!!!! Glad all is well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith Vending Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Glad it turned out well Jax!! Excellent tip for identifying your machines too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlander Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Nice story Jax, you need to talk to the owner and see if you can place in all of his properties. Opportunity knocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Along with my phone # I engraved a six digit code on my machines. Just in case there becomes a disagreement of the ownership. I have the same code on all of them. I'll just tell them the numbers are xxxxxx on the back and viola you know it's mine. I also saw on an episode of Cops if you engrave your drivers lic # on your property they can track you down to get it back to you! Not sure if I want that kind of information out in the general public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsurvz Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 How funny, It's good to hear you recovered your machine and even got a nice clump of quarters too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Great story Jax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shvend Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Good story Jax, I am glad you were able to locate you equipment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Glad it turned out well Jax!! Excellent tip for identifying your machines too.I agree thanks FOR THE tip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarter Master Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Good story Jax.You mention machine identification, I guess all the racks I see in my area must have been placed by a slammer or two. Not a name or number on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted November 15, 2008 Author Share Posted November 15, 2008 Anyone that can slam a rack gets my vote for most valuable locator - even the Wolf Man can't do that! I really don't know why some rack vendors don't have I.D. on their stuff. Do the amusement vendors place tags on all of their machines? Maybe they have been there for years and the owner knows who to call. Maybe they don't want other vendors to know who they are. Maybe they are hiding from various government entities like the IRS or the State Sales Tax Collector. Maybe they don't really care or think its important. I am sure they have a reason, but rack slamming is probably not one of them. Jax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 I think with $70 for 5 months it needed relocating anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fvc Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 where do you stick your phone number on the bottem with a sticky or inside??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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