Customers gaming me?

[Fermo Vending]

I have a DN276e that's pretty popular- it's averaging about $150 a week in sales and all items are $2 a piece. Every once in a while I get a call saying the machine didn't vend an item correctly 9maybe 6 total times over the course of a couple months), which I'm assuming is normal considering the volume (correct me if I'm wrong), and I always leave a soda as a refund for the customer. I've never had the same customer call twice except for one person. This one person has called me 4 separate times for 2 separate machines saying that he never received his item. They've always been different selections too. I've always tested the selections in question after receiving any calls like this and the columns dispense correctly at least 5 times in a row. The inventory levels match when I go, also, but I realize if a soda gets hung in the rotor then the next customer would receive two sodas so that could explain that.

I don't want to judge, but I've met this person and they give me the vibe of a get over. I feel like I'm being taken advantage of. It doesn't seem statistically likely that one person has had four failed vends on 2 different machines on different selections, and I've gotten maybe 3 other calls outside of him. 

I'm going leave the soda for him, but if & when he calls again my plan is to go to my point of contact (the site manager) to fill him in on the situation, and let him know that it seems like something else is going on. I don't have any evidence this customer is telling me the truth. 

So the question is this; is it worth going to the manager and letting him know, or should I just keep this customer happy and refund him every time he claims he didn't receive his item?

[allen watson]

Cut him off. Tell him he’s reached his maximum refund amount and no further refunds will be provided. I have had many people like this and once I cut them off the problem resolves itself. When I have had to go to management they have always agreed with me. One guy was loosing $5 every week   I just told him “no mas” and from then on he no longer lost any money 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

[orsd]

Hey man, it seems like your having awfully bad luck with my machines. I’ll refund you this time but going forward,   using the machine is  going to be at your own risk, I can’t keep issuing refunds.

[Fermo Vending]

 

40 minutes ago, allen watson said:

Cut him off. Tell him he’s reached his maximum refund amount and no further refunds will be provided. I have had many people like this and once I cut them off the problem resolves itself. When I have had to go to management they have always agreed with me. One guy was loosing $5 every week   I just told him “no mas” and from then on he no longer lost any money 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

Yeah it's just hard to believe it's the same guy every time but I'm not getting any calls from anyone else. I just like to tread lightly because this is my best account. 

[Fermo Vending]

37 minutes ago, orsd said:

Hey man, it seems like your having awfully bad luck with my machines. I’ll refund you this time but going forward,   using the machine is  going to be at your own risk, I can’t keep issuing refunds.

That's the plan on the next one. Time will tell if he's brazen enough to do it again. 

[ABCVending]

Account bum - they pop up occasionally - "hey man, your machine ripped me off" - always a loud announcement, never have any specifics on what the misvend was...just, "you owe me $2"

I usually just pay em - yes it is like feeding a stray dog...they will be back for more but those guys usually don't last that long at accounts - there are worse customers and sometimes they don't even know it....had a big machine shop with an old AP 6600 - LSS bags would hang up occasionally and those guys would drill a hole in top of the cabinet, fish the bag out with a stick of welding rod and then weld the hole back up....and they thought they were helping out - showed me the process and felt it was a favor to me as opposed to asking for a refund - they genuinely felt they were making things easier - didn't have the heart to tell them to stop drilling farking holes in the farking machines....lol, that old Snackshop had a dozen or more weld globs on the top when I finally pulled it out of there after 10 years.

 

 

[AngryChris]

Some do last though!!

I have a guy who asks for diet mt dew every year when he goes back on his diet.  He'll approach me or leave a note "hey man, I'm back on my diet.   I'll drink 4 a day!". Well, he might drink 4 a day but he only buys 2 each week from my machine.  So after a month, he'll complain that it tastes funny and he needs refunds and tell me it's almost expired.  After selling 8 bottles and refunding 2 of them, I'll take them out and he'll complain about that and say he only stopped drinking them because they tasted funny lol.  He's been there for 6+ years.  No more diet dew there though!!  I just took his annual note off last week as a matter of fact!