Faith Vending Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I am seeing more and more abandoned bulk machines and racks. I ran into a nice older 4 head Beaver rack yesterday which was OBVIOUSLY abandoned. I called the number for service on the rack and it is disconnected. The owner says no one has been in and some of the workers have never seen anyone service this rack. I would like opinions on legally who owns this rack? who should I negoiate with to purchase this rack? the owner does not want it and would probably give it away really cheap. But is it his property? Like I said more and more stuff has obviously been left probably due to the economy etc.; a good way to pick up some good stuff in an ethical manner:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I remember reading about a vender who would do this: 1) Tell the business owner he will take the rack/machines to his warehouse. 2) If the machine owner comes in have the business owner foreward your contact info to him so he can come get the machine(s). 3) If after 6 months there had been no contact from the machine owner, then the vender would keep the machines. This is a dillemma. The shop owner wants the machines gone, but you are not sure if they really are abandoned or not and they are not your property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 In all reality it is bad karma to take another machine. But you have some interesting situations and decisions to make. You have tried the service number and it is disconnected so there is one in the abandon column. The owners and workers have not seen anyone so we will count that as another one in the abandon column. You say it looks abandoned, is it out of product or product looks bad? It really is the person who put it in there as the rightfull owner. You can't get ahold of that owner though. So it is somewhere between owned and in the "lost and found" pile. Have you tried your keys in the candy part? If you can get into that part I would slip a note in and give it a month to 6 weeks. If the note has not been removed then it may be available but not for sure yet. If they want you to remove it, go the route of leaving your contact info and keep it for another 2 months at least before you try to place it. It is a tough situation to come across but like you said it is a sign of the times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 So basically you have a location where they have a rack that is not getting serviced. This is a perfect opportunity to say that you can perform better service if he will let yours in and take the other rack out. If he says yes, then well and good. Then you can go back to him and say... "If you happen to have any vending equipment that you aren't using, I'd be glad to buy it off you so you don't have to sell it on ebay." and see what happens. If he says yes, then you negotiate a price. If the vender does come back for his stuff, you can let the location owner deal with it since you bought it from the rightful owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I had one location that I pulled because of it being a low performer. This was an auto service shop with a nice waiting room. There was also another vender in there with a double v-line. I can tell it hadn't been serviced in months and everytime I came in to service, it never ever looked like it was getting business. The MMP's were cracked and nasty, etc. I finally checked it to see if there was a number. There was. The owner answered and I discussed it with her. I offered to buy it off of here. She said she'd take $150 for the unit. HA!!! so much for that. I have this other location that I've had for more than a year. The day I planted my single gumball machine there, there was also this other empty machine off to the side. Fast forward a year+ of me seeing this empty machine off to the side. I finally asked them if they would sell it to me. I offered $10 and they accepted. It's a crappy ashland that I couldn't even sell off of ebay for $0.99 cuz of the damage to the globe. But I figured the pipe stand was worth the $10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepavend Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I agree with you, here. If you made an honest effort to contact the owner, and the location is about to throw the machine away, you are at least buying the rightful owner more time to get the machine back. If you still don't hear from them or you can't find them, then I would keep the machine. I had this happen last week with a charity machine in a closed business. The owner tried to call the service number and its disconnected and the inside of the building was about to get gutted. So it was either I take the machine or it goes in the dumpster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I've actually seen ATM machines abandoned in convience stores a couple of times. Independent owners getting into financial trouble and letting the ATM's go for months without reloading money. Bad part is these are bolted to the floor and you can't get to the bolts without opening the door to the machine. Often the front door will open with a key which will allow you to get to the bolts but not the money drawer. Of course there will never be any money left when this happens anyway. I came close to buying one like this but was too afraid of the deal so told a friend about it and he bought it. Cost him several hundred in locksmith charges to open that machine and change locks, etc.. Script machines were all the time being abandoned and processors not paying the store owners for the money they paid out. nam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarter Master Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I agree with Gabe and Joe.If the business owner has not seen anybody service it in months and he wants it out of his way, then I say ablidge the man and remove it to save it from becoming scrap.It would be a good idea to hold it for 60-90 days just in case the owner shows up.Also might want to check your state laws on abandoned equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith Vending Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I might add the owner said he had no contract with the operator. The gumballs have dust all over them and a worker told me they vended dead flies on 2 occasions with the chicles. I am going to offer the owner some $ to take off his hands when I go into collect.I will use the advice you guys have stated, it will take me awhile to clean this up and drill the locks etc. I'll send a pic when and if I get the rack. Thanks. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarter Master Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 The only thing I would offer the business owner is to get it out of his way.If he tried to sell it to me, I'd have to say "no thanks" because I wouldn't feel he has the right to sell what's not his.He does have the right to remove it from his property and even ask (hire) someone like you to remove it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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