In June, I was invited and presented with a lot of Ad brochures and materials and got selected through an 'rigid' interview process to be a 'distirbutor'.in my experience with these machines for about 3 months, I had a lot of issues, which are narrated below, and I have included brochure statement made by Planet Antares to prove why it is false and misleading.
(1) One of the cans got cut open while vending by a customer, invalidating the brochure statement Reliable, trouble free etc'. (2) 3 different coin mechanisms were jammed over the 3 weeks though the coin was very good, invalidating brochure statement Reliable, trouble free etc'. (3) The dollar bill changer got jammed with a 10 cent stuck in the mechanism. However, the dollar bill changer continued to show that it is in operation with a solid green light, instead of flickering green light invalidating the brochure statement Rugged Reliable mechanism for a heavy duty usage'. (4) Customers are using Canadian quarters instead of US quarters to vend from the machines.invalidating brochure statement Options Vends prices adjustable by the operator'. I adjusted for US 50 cents to be vended using 2 US quarters but the customer used Canadian quarters and vended the product! (5) People tilted the refreshment center and made the snacks to fall off from the lines causing dollars of loss for me invalidating brochure statement Economical, costs much less than machines with comparable features.' (6) In one week itself, 3 times people stole the snacks from the bottom 2 lines of each Snack machine just by putting hand inside the chute invalidating brochure statement, Economical, costs much less than machines with comparable features.' I had to keep the bottom 2 lines empty! (7) At one of the client site, both the Dollar bill changers were tampered and opened by someone and stole about $75 worth of cash
To the above complaint which I filed at BBB, the company responded to the above issues with the following statements:
Out of the last 1000 distributors the company has put in business less than 1% has ever complained of any one regarding the theft issues this customer has alleged. The equipment is mass-produced and has been shipped to thousands of distributors over the past ten years. If a problem had occurred in production, the company would have received hundreds of complaints. The customer was advised that his equipment had inadvertently shipped without the anti-theft brackett. This was rectified. It was apparent that a customer vandalized one of his machines. The company has not been able to deter every means of theft if someone is motivated to steal. The company does suggest that the vending machines are located in upscale, secure location like law firms, insurance offices and accounting firms. Where employees are not in the habit of sneaking out with a fax or computer machine. The customer was recommended that if the problem persisted they should relocate the equipment. The company also offered to assist in relocating the equipment and compensate them for the loss. The customer declined. The company also offered to trouble shoot any alleges theft issues and the change machine. The term, "Never our of Order" refers only to the machine's continuing ability to offer a selection of refreshments even if an individual coin mechanism should malfunction. All loading and vending functions are addressed in detail in the technical video and operating manual along with access to a representative that will assist them by phone. The company is willing to meet their contractual obligations upon acceptance by the customer.
My responses to above statements are the following:
1) When I first reported the theft from bottom 2 lines, my assigned Planet Antares' 'coach' told me that this was not possible. So, I sent the photos plus the other issues through email and asked for full refund. Then a Management rep from Planet Antares called me and told that Engineers were looking for a solution to resolve this issue in a week. If so, the company told me a lie about 'inadvertently' missing the anti-theft brackett, which was not shown in the video nor listed in any packaging list. Note that even mounting screws, which was missed in packaging, was shipped (2nd-air) in 2 days from Planet Antares office. But this bracket came after almost 10 days after I reported the theft issue! This clearly proved that these people are habitual liars!
2) No where did the company ever made a statement about recommending to keep the machines in upscale location (as mentioned above in their reply - law firms, insurance offices and accounting firms). The following statements are made by Planet Antares brochure (titled "Welcome to one of the most amazing business opportunities in America today". Refer to page 3) at the time of invitation to become a distributor. The important is the location where I had most of the issues was the one selected by the Planet Antares' location assistance team! Look at below the 'boastful' statements (3rd para below) made by the company.
= Beginning of part of Ad Brochure statements ="You can build your business without making a single cold call!
There are thousands of offices - hundreds of thousands of employees - just waiting for this service!
As a business, you can take advantage of our outstanding location service. We identify the types of offices and businesses that offer you the greatest potential. It's that easy. - you don't have to sell a thing.
Here are just a few types of locations available. The best locations are still available in your community!
Autodealerships, Apartment complexes, Banks, Community buildings, Convention centers, Concert halls, Colleges, Doctor's offices, Factories, Fitness Centers, Golf courses, Govt offices, Hospitals, Hotels, Libraries, Industrial Parks, Medical Centers, offices, Police stations, Service Stations."= End of Brochure statements =
3) I asked the company to call the HR Manager in the location (which was identified through the location assistance program) where I had the issues to find out the truth about the issues, if they did not believe.
With all the above points, it is clearly proved that Planet Antares told lies, false/misleading statements through the brochures to sell the Vending machines to me (and many others like me). I am demanding a full refund of US $36909.65 paid for 5 refreshment centers.
Note that BBB closed my complaint as Planet Antares did not respond to my rebuttal, and the report was NOT public. So, I would like everyone to know about the above false and misleading statements Planet Antares makes in order to deceive the new distributors (Planet Antares will call you as 'distributor' - in fact you do not distribute anything, you are just a Vending machine operator) to buy their machines.
For all future investors, DO NOT GET DECEIVED BY PLANET ANTARES' SCAM!
All-in-one VendingStatesvile, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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