clearcutvending12 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 hey everyone i just wanted to tell you guys how i am doing. i have 15 locaitons now, and i have been using the locator rob from kickstartlocations.com all the locations ive got form them have made me at least 15-30 dollars per month for a double, the locations are constant and good, go with rob and make the right choice, please feel free to ask any questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frntrange Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I'd like to add my qudo's too. Rob offered me a free location after the fiasco with that woman at "Cross Country Locators" (that was their name that week). I agreed to take him up on his offer and bought two more locations to boot. Received the three locations from Rob in 4 days. Location 1 wanted to see the machine first, local sushi bar, gave her what she wanted, classic black double-head, she's very happy. Just pulled money today, $24.50/33 days.....$21.62/month average. Location 2 was an upscale bar, put my V-Line double-head next to a shop-worn Vendstar. Pulled money last Saturday. $23.50/29 days ....$22.03/month average Location 3 was a dud, girl on phone not authorized to do anything. Manager wouldn't even come out of office. Emailed Rob to let him know situation. Replacement Location 3 received from Rob 7 days after emailing Rob about dud location. Very big, very busy car wash. Lots of other vending equipment, including another bulk machine. 2 areas for equipment, I was assigned to the area customers wait for their cars. Put in a 1800V triple head. Serviced location last Thursday, Mike and Ike's completely empty, employees figured out how to bleed a few pieces of candy at a time through the candy wheel without a quarter. M/M Peanuts sold ok, gumballs almost zilch. Even so, collected $13.50/21 days....$18.41/month average These are great numbers, well above average. Rob is doing a fantastic job, I am going to buy a couple more locations next week, and keep going! Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carter7984 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 My review of Rob with Kick Start Locators: I ordered 5 locations from Rob. When I spoke with him, he told me it would take about 10 days (This was a great turn-around time for me, I was taking vacation around this time, so I thought it would be great --- It is now 20 days later -- One of my biggest pet peeves is saying something, and it not working out -- I.E. If my friend says shes goign to meet me at 2:00 and doesn't show up until 3:00, I get pissed -- The same with how Rob told me it would take about 10 days -- I am very punctual) . He sent me an email saying that he had found 3 locations - One is a pizza place, one a kabob place, and one a bistro. Took the machines to the pizza place and the kabob place. The Bistro "wanted it delivered on Tuesday between 9-12" - the following week. Took the machine to the Bistro on that Tuesday, they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays -- No problem, I will just take an extended lunch break the next day - Go to the Bistro the next day - walked in there and said "I was told I could place a gumball machine here. Owner goes, I didn't approve it, I wanted to see it first. Showed him the machine, said he didn't want it because it didn't match his decor -- This sounds like a "questionable" location to me (the fact that the owner didn't outright approve it, he wanted to see it first, I am sure he would've told the telemarketer that as well), something Rob said he no longer does, if he feels its a questionable location/lead, he won't give it to his clients. Told Rob of the problem, couple days later he sent me two other locations. One was a Rib/Chicken place, and the other a sports bar and grille. I went to the Rib and Chicken place and asked for the contact he gave me, she said that she doesn't remember talking to anyone and that they already have 2 machines there and she doesn't know why she would've said she wanted more. The sports bar ended up working out. Rob gave me another location a few days ago, a salon. His email stated that they wanted it delivered today, Tuesday 3/25. I took it up there today, and again, another questionable location -- They wanted to see the machine first, they never approved it. It ended up not working out because the location owner didn't feel it to be appropriate for her business. From the first day we started till about a week ago, Rob kept requesting more zip codes -- I had originally given him about 6-7, which I thought was an ample amount. I live in one of the richest counties in America, and there are a ton of businesses, it seemed very weird to me that his locators were having a hard time. So all in all, about 20 days for 2 locations. I requested a refund for the remaining 3, for reasons stated above, and got it about an hour after it was requested I think Rob is a good guy, with good intentions, I just don't think he was the right locator for me. It seemed to me, that myself and T-Bird Johnny had the same problems with Rob -- we both are afraid of rejection, the "NO!" from his potential leads. To Rob's credit, the pizza place he did provide me is doing extremely well. I have high hopes for the sports bar as well. -Greg Also - I am in no way bashing Rob, I just wasn't comfortable with the way he handled business. I am happy that most everyone here has had good results with Rob and I hope that people will continue to have success using Rob. I am just placing my personal thoughts and experiences when I used KickStart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman007 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I want to thank everyone for their positive comments. As we grow our businesses together I hope to continue learning and provide even better service for you in the future. No matter which locating service you decide to choose you will almost inexplicably run into obstacles at one point or another. The most common obstacle is a location owner saying that they never spoke to anyone. When I can promise you they have indeed spoken with someone that has given the go ahead for a machine to be placed. I will use Caserri (Steve) as an example. One of the locations that I provided told him that she had never spoken to anyone. When I spoke with Steve the following day he said don’t worry about it and that he could tell she was lying. Go figure. The underlying problem seems to be that business managers are embarrassed to say “No, I decided that I don’t want the machine.†It is easier just to say “We never spoke with anyone about this.†Most of my clients work for the NCCS which is an outstanding charity. It is hard to say no to such a great cause, but sometimes when the actual machine arrives things change. To clients whom have had problems with this situation in the past, I apologize. I really want to fix this issue and strive to improve results all the time. This is why I have begun verifying locations to make sure that location owners really want a machine. However, even then sometimes things just don’t go as planned. Good Luck, God Speed. Regards, Robert Patterson, President http://www.kickstartlocations.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyrosen Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Yippee! This is the first time I can actually provide information for this group rather than milking you guys of your vending machine wisdom! I’d like to take a moment and place some more words of support for Rob and KickStart. My professional background has been in business to business sales. Any successful sale I made was as a result of working as a team, be it with my management or my technical or marketing support. I never sold as a lone wolf. Lone wolves don’t survive. Also, my team, including me, often fell short of expectations, and as a result, did not always make a given sale. Rob and I work as a team. Sometimes we win and other times we fall short of our goals. Fast forward to the vending biz. Having been in sales for over 25 years, I finally realized I was a lousy cold caller, so when I made the common mistake of buying 30 triple heads brand new from the manufacturer, they also gave me some locator referrals. I ended up going with one where the locator came to my city and through her self serving and selfish efforts, dumped my 30 machines at locations in one day. Since that time, over a month and a half ago, twenty of these machines were relocated, either because the owner made me remove them or they simply were not producing for me. Lesson learned. Then, I came upon Rob. Having been through my unfortunate experience with the 1st locator, I’ve found he ain’t perfect, but he’s been forthright and honest with me. So far, he’s placed 5 machines for me over the past three weeks. Some locations Rob gave me were ones I opted not to place, mainly for security reasons. Rob knew and understood my decisions. As Carter experienced, I showed up at several locations and the owner/manager didn’t have an inkling of who I was! It doesn’t surprise me about Steve’s estimate that about 60% of the locations get placed from a locator. The fact is, this sort of event happens in every market, be it vending, real estate, or whatever. People are the same and most likely, they have lots on their plate and do not remember thee verbal locator agreement they made. When I decided to work with Rob, we went through how he and I worked so we both knew what we were getting ourselves into. Plus, I my case, I actually wanted to stagger my placements. I prefer taking the initial time to build a working rapport with my new placements. I hope to continue having Rob place my machines in the foreseeable future. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Robert, can be described as a great, caring guy. He has 100 machines of his own, and he has the experience in this buiness. He understands our problems, he fixes them no questions asked. One example: I asked him to locate a 1" toy capsule machine. He feeds this to his locating gals, who in turn find me a transmission shop. I tell him this is not going to work, "OK Kyle, will have you a new one tomorrow", he never questioned me. and sure enough the next day, a Diner location was found, where I could vend toys. 2nd example: I wanted him to place a single head, candy vendor. He found me a hair salon, however it was in a area where crime was high, and things were run down. Told him and he said "Why did you put that there, in such a bad area and location? Remove the machine, and I will have you a new location!" In two days, he had a great body shop that is making lots of money. Robert has been more than helpful. You know, when you hear the phrase "Vending machine locator", most think lying, cheating, dis honest scam artists. Correct? Well, I am here to say today, Robert is everything BUT! He is one of the most honest, caring, buiness people around. I could never ask for a better person to deal with. Robert, Thank you for all of your support. Thank you for all of your help! Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill I Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Kyle, Sounds like robert is on the ball unlike some other locators in here. I am going to have to give him a call since Im still waiting to place my other machines and its been over a month and all i have gotten located is 4. Thanks for the review. It has made my decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith Vending Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Kyle and Andy, Jim and I agree with you!! Robert is doing a fine job. Sometimes a place just does not work and he finds us a new one. We have him doing some machines for us and he is doing a great job. Eve p.s. THANKS ROBERT!! It's nice working with you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacey Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 SO EXACTLY HOW MUCH DOES KICKSTART CHARGE PER LOCATION? IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY MAY BE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN SOME OTHERS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 SO EXACTLY HOW MUCH DOES KICKSTART CHARGE PER LOCATION? IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY MAY BE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN SOME OTHERS. Stacy, Rob has different prices for different service levels. Visit his site for more details. www.KickStartLocations.com Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 He also had a coupon for members for the first placement in a post on the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill I Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Wow. I signed on with Robert on wednesday to place my remaining 10 Triples I have. He told me it would be Monday before he could get started. I just recieved my 1st 5 locations. 2 Auto repair shops, 2 restaurants and one bar. We will see how they do. Ill deliver them tomorrow and or Monday. I will keep everyone updated. GEAUX LSU TIGERS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMEnterpr Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hello everyone, I placed an order with Rob on this past Sunday. There was some slight confusion regarding the cost of getting a location for my interactive bowling machine, but Rob honored the original price we had discussed. He's also been very quick to ask me any necessary questions and respond. I'll keep you all up-to-date on how KickStart Locators pans out. All things seem to be going well so far.:dude: Thanks, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman007 Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Brian, I do hope to place this machine for you my friend! It will be a little difficult to explain the machine so I think we may run into a little trouble there. But.. Hopefully after they see the machine they will be happy with it! And boy did you get a deal on this placement! Guys, It's not the locator stealing this time! haha Rob http://www.kickstartlocations.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearcutvending12 Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 yah . a bowling placement??? im a vendor and i have no idea what that is? lol any way rob, i might need a few dingles located, are u very busy these days my friend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman007 Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Always busy but always able to make time my friend! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMEnterpr Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 Hello everyone, I actually fell asleep on my laptop while writing this review. So, a word of advice: don't write on a forum at 4 am! My first experience with Kick Start Locations has been very positive. Rob kept me informed of the status of my order and found me a location in less than 4 days. As I mentioned previously, there was a small confusion on the price of locating this machine, but Rob honored the lower price he had quoted me at. I visited the location and was welcomed by a friendly business owner. He knew that I was coming and we had a good chat. He invited me to place the machine wherever I felt that it would perform the best. The one wildcard with this location is that its a new business-- so we'll see how it performs in the next month or two, however, the business is certainly situated in the heart of a residential area on a main thoroughfare. I plan to order more locations soon. Thanks, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill I Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 Brian, Congrats on your placement. Robert is extremely professional. He got me 9 locations. 2 unforturnately the owner changed their mind and told me no. I thanked them for there time and moved on. 2 I turned back due to bad parts of town. 2 I declined due to lack of traffic. So I was able to place 3. A hairdresser who had her own machine which was empty, and 2 bar and grills. I talked to Robert over the phone and told him what happend with the owner declines and emailed him what happend with the rest. I am very pleased so far with how Robert conducts his business. Unlike the 1st locator I used. I will highly recommend Kickstart Locators to anyone who is looking for a locator. GOOD VENDING! GEAUX LSU TIGERS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuchols Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I recently used Rob's services and was very happy with the results. He was able to find me two locations within a matter of days. There was some confusion because one of the locations requested a certain product which I was unaware of but beside that everything else has been great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsurvz Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Kickstart has been great to work with so far. We have gotten 4 locations from Rob. He is very good to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman007 Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 I hope everyone is doing well! There is a huge OVERHAUL going on over here at Kick Start Locations! We are instituting an entire new database to track all of our business, location revenues, and efficiency. What does this mean for you? Much faster response times! Instead of putting one locator on your account we are going to put the fastest locator on your account. Not only that, but the work flow will be handled by a computer which will tell our locators when you need locations. This way we can work around your schedules and produce locations much quicker. For all our faults we are getting much better at what we do. One of our locators was ill this week but we’re moving through that. I thank everyone for your business, patience, and kind words. Regards, Robert Patterson, President http://www.kickstartlocations.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsurvz Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Thanks for the update. I am still interested in a few more locations but I think I will slow down a little. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith Vending Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Robert: I will testify that your organization is first class and I will recommend you to anyone who needs your service. I understand how tough locating is and considering the circumstances KickStart does a great job. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuchols Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 NOTE: The following review has been voluntarily retracted by the author. Please disregard this review if you are considering this locator. Details of the retraction can be found in post # 53 of this thread. Well, I hate to do this but I have to give a negative post about kick start. I paid for 3 locations on April 11th and they had two locations within the next couple days which I was very happy about. Which by the way are doing very well. I am still waiting for the last location which I didn’t mind waiting because I had gotten two within such a short turnaround time. But it has been a month now and I still don’t have the third location. They had found an auto shop couple days ago, but before I place any machines I Google the location and look for reviews. This shop had three very bad feed backs to include the owner of the shop wanting to get into a fist fight with a customer. So I told Robert I didn’t even want to mess with the location. He never emailed me back with a reply. I thought about it for two days and decided it would only be fair to Robert and his employees to at least go to the location and take a look at it. Well when I emailed Robert to tell him this, I received a quick response saying he was happy that I was going to look at the location. Well when I got there I did not like what I saw. It was a auto shop being ran out of someone’s home. Email Robert told him I didn’t want the location, he insisted to try the location, which then he offer me a free replacement if it performed poorly, which I thought was great because I didn’t pay for that package and I had nothing to lose. So I went to the location again the next day and when I went into the office there was already two V-line double machines there serving every candy product except skittle that I serve. So I didn’t want to even mess with this location considering I didn’t feel comfortable with the location and it already had two double heads. I email Robert about this and still have not received a reply and I had even paid for another location because I was told he would find me two locations by last week. I used kick start because of all the great reviews and the fact that if you didn’t like the location they found they had no problem with your choice and would find you another one, but I didn’t have that experience I felt pressured in taking this location and seem to never get a response when I emailed about not wanting this location but always got fast reply any other time. Just wanted to share my experience with you all. At this time I have mixed feelings with this company which is a shame because I was hoping for a long lasting business with them.Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman007 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Hey Johnny, I hate to hear that my friend. I'll be honest, I think the problem is with the mail. The last email I see from you was from May 9th: "Robert, Ok, I will get it a try and have the machine setup tomorrow. Thanks for that, it make me feel a little better about giving this place a chance." I still have you down for another location this week. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding. Have a great week and I apologize about the miscommunication. Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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