NinnJinn Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 That's the only way to move equipment. Even in this case one person is leading and the other needs to do exactly what the leader says and nothing more. Thinking back when I first bought this machine, you are absolutely right! When I first bought this machine, It had to be moved roughly 10ft to where it sat earning money. we had 4 people and it seemed to take forever and a lot of confusion and IMO a lot of wasted energy! My father and I scooted it to the side yesterday to make room for the owners new machine, and to me, it was a piece of cake compared to when I first bought it and there were four of us trying to move it if that makes sense at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 I must say, Coke keeps me on my toes! First machine I ordered from them came 3 weeks later. Had to wait 6hrs for product. Second machine came 4 weeks after I ordered. Had to deal with wife grumbling about 14 cases of drinks sitting in the spare bedroom. 3rd and current machine comes without warning what so ever and 4, yes I said 4 DAYS after I placed the order..... I was at work and got a voice mail from my rep, I called him back and in a sorta concerned/worried tone he was telling me about coke having my machine at the location and wanted to know where it was to be placed etc. Which in turn, worried me because after almost 5weeks of stopping by the location every week to try to get a "yes" I finally got one and was to meet him the following Tuesday to discuss where he wanted it placed etc. All I had was a yes, so I jumped on ordering it. I had no product ordered for the machine, no paperwork, no nothing except a "Yes" So I left work and went to the location, no coke truck outside, I went in, and there it was. a Coke Zero machine. (yuck) All plugged in and ready to go. The Plant boss comes out and says, "wheres the drinks? I'm thirsty" with a chuckle. So it eased my mind somewhat and then I went into apology mode about not having product, and not letting him know it was coming etc. I had to get back to my day job So I told him that I would be back the following Monday, (yesterday) to set everything up. Monday: While I was testing the machine out, I realized that on Friday I had thought the changer said dimes, which it was actually Nickles. So I rummaged through my car and found 50cents worth of Nickles. I also had 2 guys ask if the Monster was cold yet. With this being my first machine with Monster in it, I didn't have the Monster yet due to not expecting the machine 4 days after I ordered it. I went to Wal-mart and bought a 10 pack of monster and stopped at two different locations to pull a few bottles out of each one to put it in the new machine. This morning I went back to the location armed with nickles and an agreement for the office manager/plant manager to sign. He told me that I needed to stock the machine. I explained to him my situation and promised him it would be fully stocked Thursday after I get my order delivered. That is when he replied "didn't you get the monster from wal-mart yesterday? I went to the machine this morning to get one and it was sold out" I went to the machine to check it fearing that it jackpotted or something. Sure enough, the column was empty and money in the acceptor to prove that each one was paid for. So off to walmart I went. Got 2-10packs this time and on the way back to the location, I called coke and had them up my Monster order from 1 case to 4 just to be on the safe side. As it stands, for once, Wal-mart is the one killing my profit margin! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pxs Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 wow this is a fascinating read almost can't believe i took the time to read the whole thing I definitely hope things keep improving for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 wow this is a fascinating read almost can't believe i took the time to read the whole thing I definitely hope things keep improving for you. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Your perseverance is admirable but your adventure has made me rethink my plan to dabble in full line. I think I'll stick to bulk and maybe some amusement vending like cranes, etc. Good luck as you go forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I know this is old but i still enjoyed reading it as I am just getting started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 I know this is old but i still enjoyed reading it as I am just getting started. Thanks, I need to get my rear end in gear and stick to keeping it updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicglide Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thanks, I need to get my rear end in gear and stick to keeping it updated. Sat and read your adventure yesterday. I sure understand some of the frustration you have been thru.I have been dealing with it myself trying to get machines placed and working properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 *Sigh* Have you ever had the thought "the hell with it!"? I am starting to have that thought. It seems ever since I got my first indoor location, my outdoor locations' sales have plummeted! I can understand if it was fall or winter, but its June for crying out loud! May outdoor sales actually dropped below winter average sales! And on my first bottle location, that did the best, for the last 16 days, I have been waiting for 5 vends to rack up! I have put dollars in, got each of 8 selections with no problem and got the proper change. Put change in and got each of the 8 selections with no problems. I haven't raised prices or anything, there are no new machines in the area. But sales have come to almost a stand still! The other SLOW location has developed a DBV problem and will no longer accept bills, Error code says "reset or service" When I reset the machine bill acceptor does a grinding noise, but none of the belts move. when I attempt to move them, they move freely than usual, with no resistance at all. It is a 3rd party machine, but I will not be able to meet a tech until next friday at the earliest. First and last time I left a key with the business owner, She had to leave and left her 13yr old granddaughter in charge. To say the least I had 10 drinks unaccounted for. I guess this post is pretty much worthless, I guess I just wanted to vent and gripe about my vending month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 *Sigh* Have you ever had the thought "the hell with it!"? I am starting to have that thought. It seems ever since I got my first indoor location, my outdoor locations' sales have plummeted! I can understand if it was fall or winter, but its June for crying out loud! May outdoor sales actually dropped below winter average sales! And on my first bottle location, that did the best, for the last 16 days, I have been waiting for 5 vends to rack up! I have put dollars in, got each of 8 selections with no problem and got the proper change. Put change in and got each of the 8 selections with no problems. I haven't raised prices or anything, there are no new machines in the area. But sales have come to almost a stand still! The other SLOW location has developed a DBV problem and will no longer accept bills, Error code says "reset or service" When I reset the machine bill acceptor does a grinding noise, but none of the belts move. when I attempt to move them, they move freely than usual, with no resistance at all. It is a 3rd party machine, but I will not be able to meet a tech until next friday at the earliest. First and last time I left a key with the business owner, She had to leave and left her 13yr old granddaughter in charge. To say the least I had 10 drinks unaccounted for. I guess this post is pretty much worthless, I guess I just wanted to vent and gripe about my vending month. The post isn't worthless, is shows that you are experiencing the normal growing pains that many vendors experience as a small startup. One thing to remember that even though you have a history at a location that does not guarantee that the revenue is assured week after week. The revenue can and will fluctuate dramatically from time to time with no apparent reason, its just the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I sure have so I took a break and went to vegas lol. Stick with it and dont give up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielirubin Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I know this post was like year ago I am reading your full story and this really got me excited... good read and congratulations hope all is still going good =-) September 15th 2010 I drove 76miles one way to meet with my Coke rep only to find that he was out and about and wouldn't be in the office today. LOVELY!!! I had the Mrs. with me so we hit the mall. Mrs. went shopping (of course) and I went on the hunt for vending machines. I am not sure how many square feet this place is but it has 130 specialty stores, 3 popular department stores, and a Food Court with 10 eateries and a T.G.I. Friday's restaurant. That doesn't include the 25 or so little cart type places that are in the open areas of the mall. While walking and looking around, I did find these Hospital sponsored flags... Start, 1/4mile, 1/2mile, 1mile, 1 1/4 mile etc. at the entrance where I saw the "start" flag, on the other side of it. It had "finish 2miles" So I guess if you walk along the walls where the entrances to the stores are you end up completing 2 miles worth of walking. I found a grand total of 3 coke machines. they were situated between the double doors you have to go through to get into the place. And I found 7 different entrances to the place. For you Bulk vendors, there were 4 different Bulk vending islands placed through out the mall. They were owned by the same person/ company because they all had beaver machines, and the islands were all built the same and had the same signage. Sorry I didn't get pics. never crossed my mind until we were on our way home. There were 36 machines total per island and they were all 25cent mechs with candy and different flavored gumballs. there were 2 change machines on each island. There were a few machines that were pretty much completely full, On each island the full ones were all the same color gumballs. Some were about half, and there were at least 10 machines on each island that were dang near empty. It seemed like each island had the same amount of stock. ex. all islands had full white gumballs, all islands were almost out of tutti fruity gumballs. The way these were set up, I would love to be there when they are stocked to see how they stock them. each island was set up similar to a pyramid. Mrs. talked me into going to Baskin Robins for the first time in my entire life. (35yrs if you must know lol) They have some pretty good stuff! Anyways there was a bulk vendor there trying to make a sale, but the owner/mgr said its against corporate rules to have anything inside the store except Baskin Robins items. The guy wouldn't give up. he offered a placement reward, etc. after about 10mins. the owner/mgr started getting upset and asked the guy to leave otherwise he would call the police. On our way home, each little small community we drove through on the main road I was on the look out for machines. Came through a small town that had one gas station, (had to fill up) their inside coolers had 20oz drinks for $1.79! I paid for my gas and left telling the Mrs. about it she encouraged me to drive around the area. We found a busy flea market that she wanted to check out that was within eyesight of the gas station. She goes in, I look around outside. hmmm. there is a park next to it, with several parents and kids running around, a church across the street and houses all around! OH!!! and there are electrical outlets on the side of the flea market building! So I go inside on a mission! I was going to get me a location! I go in track down the owner. "Hi my name is Mike, I am the owner of NinnJinn Vending and I was wondering if you have any locations for rent outside that I could put vending machines at?" She said yes I do! What kind of vending machines are you wanting to put out there? "They would be 20oz bottle machines." Will you take care of the machines or do I have to? " I would take care of everything, stocking, cleaning, repairs. I guess the only thing you would have to do is provide me the space, and an electrical outlet." (with a chuckle) Oh, ok well I would charge $10 a week would that be a problem? "No ma'am it wouldn't. So basically $20 a week to have a coke and pepsi machine out front of your store right?" No, just $10 a week will do "Would you be charging commission?" Nope, since you take care of everything, as long as I get my $10 a week, and keep your area tighty, I will happy. "Well, thank you very much ma'am. I will be keeping in touch with you and will hopefully have the machines up and running within 2 weeks. Do you want me to go ahead and pay you for the spot today?" No hun, thats ok, when the machines come, you can pay me then. "Ok, well thank you very much for your time and I will see you soon!" Ok hun, see you later. As calmly and as professionally as I could, I walked out and got into the car shut the door leaving the windows up. Looked around, no one looking... I started hooping and hollering like a little kid. My wife comes out and sees me and starts wondering if I was having a seizure or something.... WOOO HOOOO!!!! I PRESENTED MY FIRST SALES PITCH AND GOT MY FIRST LOCATION!!!!! Now, I am up to Two locations! I will call my coke rep today to get the ball rolling, and hopefully Pepsi will call soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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