lurtsman Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I've grown very tired of managing Brand Vending. I felt A&A was far more professional. Brand vending seems to have issues with splitting up orders to two warehouses and creating two separate shipping charges. It is wasteful, and I don't care to have my money spent that way. How do the larger vendors deal with them? Since they never send a receipt with the package I've started insisting they e-mail me an invoice showing the price attached to each item. 3$ charges before shipping for a one inch display were fairly high, but their shipping seems high enough to be making a profit apart from the actual charges for the bags. I'm able to order in bulk now to reduce the charges, but after it's done they surprise me by shipping it from two facilities, and that way 12 bags ends up creating around 30$ in shipping charges. If zoo mania wasn't selling for me, I'd have thrown them in the trash as a supply company. I've already called them once and complained about absurd shipping costs. (I was ordering just displays and got hit for well over 10$. Clearly a disguised profit charge) I received a few free display throw-ins on my next purchase, but I'm tired of added charges they do not mention when we talk. (Like splitting up the order) Is there any comparable company I can buy from instead, or is there a way to get them to behave like professionals who want to keep my business? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I had the same issue so I stoped ordering from them.my last order was big enough to hold me over for a while and I dont order only from them.when a few MORE months go by I will call with a decent order,I will remind them that my last order from them was a disapointing experiance.I will remind them again not to waste my money on shipping, they should remember me after i say that.I will decide then based on the whole experiance if I will buy from them again. I think a 3 dollar display is cheaper then most,do u get yours cheaper elsewhere lurstman? the billing thing you have to ask them for an invoice everytime unless they put u on a certain list or something,I cant remember what they told me it`s been so long,but thats another thing,everytime I had to call and get them to send me an invoice untill last time I let them have it about everything. the issue is they know they have a good seller and can afford this behavior.also the 100 or so bags me and u combined buy in a year(if that) is nothing compared to what they sell in a year.gary from west coast vend buys that much every couple of months or so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 They are very difficult to deal with. I still need to put in a large order with them next week though. Its amazing how they do not send invoice reseipts for what they sell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsurvz Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Wow, Sounds like a bunch of jack a$$@s over there. I would not do business with them unless I had no choice. I would make them waive the extra charges or tell them they will lose my business. If enough people complain about ( in writing might help) to the right people something might change but you have to get in touch with the right people to see any changes in a situation like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Brand makes and sells their own sticker machines, right? Does anybody buy their machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Brand makes and sells their own sticker machines, right? Does anybody buy their machines? I wouldn't buy their machines unless it was used in good condition for 80% off the new price. Good to know I'm not the only one fed up with their behavior. My displays for one inch toys from a&a I thought were usually around 2$ for sticker displays and 85 cents for a glossy flat display. The entire challenge from Brand seems to be that they are going to milk this opportunity to distribute zoo mania. Ironically instead of milking it to create a larger business, they use it as a chance to abuse customers. In my business, I'd take the opportunity to expand instead. I like round caps, and my reasoning is that I sell many toys in charity locations. Round caps misvend far less. That means less complaints. Complaints about a charity machine are a very bad thing. That gives brand a huge advantage, as they are the only round cap that sells very well at twenty five cents. Zoo/sea mania are my primary sellers in many locations, so it would be very bad for my business to give up the item. Unfortunately things like tagging on 3 bags from another warehouse without telling me it will be separate shipping to bring the average cost up to 24-25$ per bag creates a large problem. The difference between 20$ and 24$ becomes significant if you are in a state that charges sales tax on machines that can not collect it (Who needs the magna carta?) and significant commissions, because it pushes the CoG towards 50%. Add on a 30% commission for a prime location, and you only have 20% coming in. That is trash. Brand's shipping combined with poor legislative decisions are pushing me to sell cheaper crap in the best locations. The CoG can be dealt with on charity locations, but it is still a HUGE cost. I expect them to be able to tell me what they have in stock, and if it has to ship from two locations give me the opportunity to have them delay the order a week. I can forecast my sales well enough to plan ahead for that. It pains me to not have somewhere else to go, because I would rather pay a different supplier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 To be quite honest, every supplier has their issues. While I've had good experiences with A&A's product, I've found them to be rather lack-luster when it comes to buying their machines. I ordered 15 po89 panel heads a month ago and they still haven't shipped. I'm told that it's because the bodies have not come back from being powder coated. But this is not the first time I've had this problem with them. Earlier this year, I ordered 1 single panel head and it again too forever to have it shipped. I finally called and found out it was because they couldn't completely assemble the machine because it was missing a chute door. I told them to ship without the door and send the door later. I've also had issues with Oak (my favorite manufacturer) when they sent a large order of machines but sent the locks separately and they came much later. I've also had them do the same thing of taking a loooonnnngggg time before they would ship out an order. Blue Bar has some major issues as well. I think it's a one-man operation and he doesn't pay attention to detail. I had placed an order for their Magic Beans. When I got them, there were only 180 in the bag instead of 250. I called and he said he'd send out the remainder. But on the same call, I ordered more product and another bag of beans. When I got the beans, he gave me a large bag of 180 again, and a smaller bag of 70, like he was supposed to do. But he again forgot the second smaller bag of 70 for the second order. Cardinal has some shipping issues too. On their website, it will automatically charge me $26 for shipping for the first bag of product. I have to buy at least $200 worth of product before the shipping cost starts going up. I agree with you also about Brand. When I called to place my very first order, I ended up speaking with a woman on her cell phone and she obviously was not at the office and she could barely hear me. I dislike giving my CC info over cell phones. And like you said, I did not get a single invoce or statement. Not only that, the shipping address was wrong. It's a good thing that my phone number was on the label because Fed-Ex had to call me to get the correct address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavity Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 To be quite honest, every supplier has their issues. I'm told that it's because the bodies have not come back from being powder coated. But this is not the first time I've had this problem with them. Earlier this year, I ordered 1 single panel head and it again too forever to have it shipped. I finally called and found out it was because they couldn't completely assemble the machine because it was missing a chute door. I told them to ship without the door and send the door later. A&A machines(knock offs of NW and Oak) are made in Taiwan. IMO, they were feeding you a line of horse sh!t about the powder coating. Most likely they were on back order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Does anyone that has posted have an issue with me sending their comments to Brand Vending. I do a lot of business with them and I think they need to know how new and past customers feel about them and their company. I can copy and paste it to a word doc. and I will not give any names. They know that Vendiscuss.com is a huge vending web site. Lets see if we can change the way they do business. Let me know if it is alright to send it. Thanks Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Gary,I hope you do this for us.it`ll be good for us and for them too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Would you be so kind as to edit out the specifics that make my order extremely identifiable given the level of my rant? I do think it would be good for them to understand that several of their customers are strongly displeased, and it makes sense to have such a large buyer be the one presenting the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I dont care if they kniow its me or not.u can tell them my name for all I care.that way they will know that even the small vendor can influence thier business income and that all costumers are important not just big ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Maybe I will just talk to them about the over all issues that many of you are expressing. I will see what they have to say and report back to the forums. I don't want to start editing posts before sending it to them. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsurvz Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 You guys could make up a post (like a letter to the company) with bullet points stating the concerns and have everyone sign it and send it to them. Or something along those lines..... Just a thought. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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