Poor Quality Combo Vending Machines
Outdated & Problematic “Electro-Mechanical” Coin Acceptor
Many of these poor quality vending machines use outdated & problematic “electro-mechanical” coin acceptors. Because coin acceptor manufacturers stopped making these types of acceptors more than a decade ago, companies still selling these machines are making these coin acceptors themselves. These non-standard acceptors look and sound like old-fashioned typewriters. They are noisy and constantly break down. The problem is you have a non-standard coin acceptor that no other company offers or can replace. Vending companies selling these kinds of machines are typically here one day and gone the next. If they go out of business, once your coin acceptors fail you cannot replace them with a standard type of acceptor. Your machines now become totally useless. Be sure to ask for a picture of the Electronic Control Unit so that you can see the type of coin acceptor they use.
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Coinco® Fully Electronic Coin Acceptor
At 1.800.VENDING, we don’t mess around when it comes to the “heart” of your vending machine. Only the best coin acceptor will do! Our Refreshment Station houses Coinco® fully electronic coin acceptors. Coinco® is the most widely used acceptor in the vending industry with higher quality machines and is the standard that all other coin acceptors are measured against. Coinco® acceptors are not fooled by slugs and will not jam on pennies. In the vending industry, Coinco® - like 1.800.VENDING - means you’re getting only the best.
Shallow Bill Drop = Money Being Stolen From Your Machines
Bill acceptors process bills and drop them into a bill collection area inside the machine. Most vending machines provide a 5” bill drop – the bill collection area is at least five inches below the bill acceptor. This keeps bills from stacking up near the bill acceptor on the inside of the machine. But these kinds of poor quality vending machines have a bill collection tray that is actually attached to the bill acceptor itself providing zero bill drop. As bills come in they stack up immediately right at the bill acceptor level.
If a wrinkled bill comes into the bill acceptor and is rejected, it will often grab a bill from inside the machine and spit it out through the bill acceptor. In other words, the customer puts in a wrinkled bill and gets that bill back PLUS another bill from inside the machine which could either be a $1 bill or a $5 bill! This is known in the industry with these machines as “ATM Mode” – your machine is giving money away instead of collecting it. You are now forced to purchase a bill acceptor with a “bill stacker” attached. Bill stackers capture bills and stack them inside an enclosed stacker case. The average cost of a combined acceptor/stacker is $400-$500. This acceptor/stacker will need to be purchased for each machine. Also, these stackers only hold a limited number of bills requiring you to have to service your machine more often.
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Extended Bill Drop With Generous Bill Collection Area
The 1.800.VENDING Refreshment Station far exceeds the industry standard of a 5” bill drop. Just how far? The bill drop on our machine reaches an extensive 11”! Bills do not get stacked near the bill acceptor; therefore, it’s impossible for our machine to go into “ATM Mode”. Our machines were also designed with a very generous bill collection area. At 1.800.VENDING, we don’t leave to chance the possibility of someone stealing your money.
No Rear Service Door = Servicing Nightmare
As one of their cost cutting shortcuts, many of the lower quality soda/snack machines have eliminated the rear service door on the back of the machine. This means a servicing nightmare for you. If you operate a vending machine for many years you will inevitably have a snack motor fail and need to be replaced. Snack motors are mounted to the back of the snack trays. If a motor needs to be replaced and there is no rear service door, the machine owner is forced to completely remove the affected snack tray from the front of the machine. This involves mechanical disassembly along with removal of wiring cables and harnesses. Depending on the machine, it may involve the removal of multiple trays and cable harnesses to be able to get to the one you are trying to reach. Some of the companies selling these machines will offer an “instructional DVD” which is really a repair DVD. Be sure to ask to view this DVD BEFORE you make a buying decision.
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Strategically Placed Rear Service Door
The 1.800.VENDING Refreshment Station features a rear service door that is standard on most quality vending machines. If you ever need to replace a snack motor, you do not have to take your machine apart. You simply unlock the back door, take out four bolts and remove the motor. Then you put in the new motor, replace the four bolts and you are done. It’s that simple. A failed motor should be an easy repair, not an all day affair.
No Coin Release Button: One Slightly Bent Coin = Machine “Out of Order” & Asked To Be Removed
Amazingly, in an effort to cut costs these soda/snack machine companies have removed the coin release button from their machine. This shortcut will create major headaches and lost revenue in addition to losing good locations. How? Occasionally, a slightly bent coin will be used in every one of your vending machines. Bent or damaged coins sometimes get caught at the throat of the coin acceptor. The customer can tell that their coin was not processed as they can hear that it got stuck and can see they did not receive credit for it. With no coin release button, they cannot do anything to clear the jam. They will try pounding on the machine and then just give up and walk away disgusted. Additional people will put in money and subsequently lose it. After several angry people contact the location owner or manager demanding a refund, the owner or manager will call and ask you to take the machine out of their business. Be sure you ask if the machine has a “coin release button” (not a “coin change” button).
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Features a Coin Release Button – Of Course
The 1.800.VENDING Refreshment Station features a coin release button – as do most high-quality machines. Since our competitors cannot match our machine quality or support, they are forced to compete on price. They take as many shortcuts as they can to lower the price on their machine. Taking out the coin release button is a very poor choice. With our Refreshment Station, the customer simply pushes the coin release button when a coin does not fall all the way through. This allows the coin to drop through and the customer to get what they paid for.
No Pastry Coils = Serious Lost Revenues
In vending, snacks are divided into three categories – chips, pastries and candy. Each requires its own unique coil to vend these products. Many of these poor quality machines have eliminated pastry coils on their three row machine or even eliminated the entire pastry row altogether with a two row machine. Without these coils you cannot vend popular products like Pop Tarts, Clif Bars, cookies (like Mrs. Fields or Famous Amos) or any of the popular Hostess family of products (Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, Cupcakes, etc). Pastries represent one of the largest segments in the snack industry. Without a row of high-demand pastry products, you are missing out on serious revenues as you are not able to provide what the public wants. Two row machines cannot vend pastries. Be sure to look at the picture of the three row machine. If you see chips in both the top and middle rows, you know these machines cannot vend pastries either.
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Pastry Row Is A Must
Popular, high-demand pastry products generate HUGE revenues for vending machine owners every year. With the 1.800.VENDING Refreshment Station, you are able to cash in on this vital segment of the snack industry by offering Clif Bars, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cupcakes, Grandma’s or Famous Amos Cookies, Fruit Pies, Pop Tarts, Oreo Cakesters, Zingers, Doughnuts and much more. The bottom line: you’re giving your customers what they want. Your customers are happy and so are you.
