rjpapageorgio Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 DO NOT USE!!! I contracted this locator to place 400 machines for a total of $12,000 with a 90 day guarantee. Locator only placed 250 and could not honor the contract due to financial reasons. In other words he spent the money he required me to put down upfront. Factoring the locations not provided and guarantee that he could not honor, he scammed me for $4,000. Charge back attempts via credit card were not refunded because it had been past 45 days since the purchase, not to mention he is broke. Also Paypal would not dispute the charges, because it was payment for a service and not a tangible item. I write this not so much to slander, but to protect newbie’s who are getting started. I partially blame myself for putting money upfront. My mistake was putting money upfront and paying him the remaining balance daily as machines were placed… It should only be one way or the other. If you are paying a locator daily, don't let he or she tell you they need money upfront for expenses. If they can't afford gas in for their car for one days work, you should probably run in the other direction. Also from my own personal experiences guarantees are a joke. My advice is to negotiate a lower flat rate with no guarantee. There is NO way to tell if an account is going to perform or not, you just have to try them. Typically 20%-30% of your machines will have to be relocated no matter how good your locator is. On a positive note, I now have locators who do phone and in person locating for $20 per location. I hold them to NO guarantees though. FYI, below is my final attempt to collect via email. As you can see he has no shame or remorse for his actions... Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 5:12 PM From: "bernard lerner" merchantservicebyblerner@yahoo.com To: "Snack Man" ron@snackmandistributing.com Subject: Re: Money Due lets go to court --- On Thu, 7/3/08, Snack Man <ron@snackmandistributing.com> wrote: From: Snack Man <ron@snackmandistributing.com> Subject: Money Due To: "'bernard lerner'" <merchantservicebyblerner@yahoo.com> Date: Thursday, July 3, 2008, 3:50 PM Bernie, Total amount of $4000 needs to be refunded. I've carried you for 7 months, and don't know how I could have been any more patient or nicer about this situation. I even gave you one last chance to repay your debt by getting me 100 honor box accounts (no response). If we can't resolve this then the next step is small claims court. Sorry it's just WAY to much money to give away. I'll be out of town and unavailable by phone, so please email me with your intentions. RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 RJ, I feel for you. Thank you very much for the heads up. I wish you the best of luck with this scumbag. Just remember one thing: Karma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Unbelievable RJ thanks for sharing. I too have turned my back on prepay locators. I rarely use locators anymore but when I do, I will never pay in advance again. There is just too much at risk for the vendor while the locator assumes no risk. There are a few reputable locators willing to accept payment after you get a location so why should anyone be forced to pay in advance. Good luck to you on this. I'm sure the membership is behind you! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I feel badly for you RJ. I hope you rebound real soon! There are exceptions to the pay in advance rule in terms of honesty etc. I pay Midwest in advance all the time. Its their policy. I TOTALLY trust Marjorie and her staff. Matter of fact, I think it was 2 weeks ago, I had her debit my credit card for five locations in advance even though I am not ready to install any right now. But geez.........there sure seems to be plenty of locators that are not all they say they are. That's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbo Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Scamming locators, are ther any other kind?- Well, I hate to say this but welcome to the club, Ive been here more than once. It seems like getting screwed is almost a right of passage in vending. Its a tough lesson but you will learn from it and it will make you a better vendor. THERE ARE NO HONEST LOCATORS! Even the ones with positive reviews have their little tricks like keeping a list of business who have accepted machines in the area for the next vendor needing locations, how do you think, when a locator finds you a great virgin location making great money, in 1-2 months theres 2 other guys there. If you must use a locator 1- Try not to pay until you've accepted the location and placed your gear. 2- If you do pay upfront, always pay by credit card and never use paypal. 3- If you do pre-pay with credit card, do so in small quantities, 3 at a time etc. If the locator has a minimum use someone else. 4- If you use an outside locator, one walking the street, go wth them into the location. (this way you know they arent making false promises or representations) -there was an outside locator that used to go in and say 'Me and my partner are starting a vending business "can we place this small machine" and 1-2 months later, after the machine was in and the vendor servicing, he'd walk in an take the machine, saying something like 'oh we are going out of business, moving, etc etc" -there also used to be another locator that would go in working a charity deal and promise the location a 50% commission and the vendor wouldnt find out until the first collection. 5- If you use an outside locator, follow in your van and place your gear as you go. 6- Never have an outside locator physicaly take and deliver your machines because a) they will probably slam them or they just may drive away. Another thing locators like to try is to get you to sign a contract giving them ownership of your machines in case of a breach on your part. If you ever see this tell them to get _ucked. Jimbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Scamming locators, are ther any other kind?- Well, I hate to say this but welcome to the club, Ive been here more than once. It seems like getting screwed is almost a right of passage in vending. Its a tough lesson but you will learn from it and it will make you a better vendor. THERE ARE NO HONEST LOCATORS! Even the ones with positive reviews have their little tricks like keeping a list of business who have accepted machines in the area for the next vendor needing locations, how do you think, when a locator finds you a great virgin location making great money, in 1-2 months theres 2 other guys there. If you must use a locator 1- Try not to pay until you've accepted the location and placed your gear. 2- If you do pay upfront, always pay by credit card and never use paypal. 3- If you do pre-pay with credit card, do so in small quantities, 3 at a time etc. If the locator has a minimum use someone else. 4- If you use an outside locator, one walking the street, go wth them into the location. (this way you know they arent making false promises or representations) -there was an outside locator that used to go in and say 'Me and my partner are starting a vending business "can we place this small machine" and 1-2 months later, after the machine was in and the vendor servicing, he'd walk in an take the machine, saying something like 'oh we are going out of business, moving, etc etc" -there also used to be another locator that would go in working a charity deal and promise the location a 50% commission and the vendor wouldnt find out until the first collection. 5- If you use an outside locator, follow in your van and place your gear as you go. 6- Never have an outside locator physicaly take and deliver your machines because a) they will probably slam them or they just may drive away. Another thing locators like to try is to get you to sign a contract giving them ownership of your machines in case of a breach on your part. If you ever see this tell them to get _ucked. Jimbo Good post Jimbo. I am actually looking for an in person locator for August to expand my business. I especially like your last line!.....LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpapageorgio Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 Yeah it's unfortunate that most of these locators live day-to-day and really don't care who they screw just to be able to make there next months rent that they are probably already behind on. What they NEVER realize is good honest work always pays off in the long run, and they would propsper so much more... It was definetly a learning experience. I would love to not have to use a locator, but with 400 machines to service and the other types of bulk distributing I do, there is just not enough time for me to locate on my own. The good news, I found 2 hungry female locators that are both good in person and on the phone. I negotiated them down to $20 per location with NO guarantees. However with that said if I get happen to get kicked out of an account or it closes within the first 30 days, so far they have been good about getting me another replacement. I also make sure they are not locating in my existing accounts. I told them if I found out that they are, say good bye to me as a customer. I'm pretty firm and take a no-nonsence approach when I deal with people now. My suggestion is if you have to use a locator, you hire them and train them on your own, and always plan on having to relocate 2 or 3 for every ten you place. RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpapageorgio Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 Oh yeah I almost forgot. The $4000 he screwed me out of was the tip of the iceberg. He is just a few more ways he cost me… 1) Spoilage: I can’t begin to tell you how much product I had to throw away because he set my machine in the window of the business where the blazing sun would melt the PMM, Reese’s, and fade the Gumballs and Skittles. Unfortunately because he had only half the machines placed I had to start servicing them and had to rely on him to set them up. 2) Bugs: Of course because he was setting them up, he didn’t use Vaseline or Pam on the base (as instructed) and many were infested with ants. 3) Desperation: Many business owners would tell me that they told him they were hardly ever in the office, and said he was so happy just to put one any where. 4) Two Machines: He would double up my machines in locations if the business owner said he could put more than one in, and then charge me for placing two machines. 5) Time: I insisted on hiring other locators just to get it done as fast as possible. Initially the upfront deposit was so he could fly other locators in and have me up and running in 60 days. Right! Instead he took an extra 6 months to place these, mean while I had to live off my savings account, because there was no income off my 200+ machines sitting in the garage. Figure at least another 20k there. Ugh… what a nightmare!!! I hate having to learn the hard way! RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ugh… what a nightmare!!! I hate having to learn the hard way! Look at the bright side. You are able to help a lot of other vendors out because of your experience. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 RJ, any success in court? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpapageorgio Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 Taking him to court would cost me more money. Besides you can't sue someone if they are broke or don't own anything. LOSER!!! RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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