I am a Vendstar machine owner with 200 of their Model 4000 bulk product cannister machines. They are absolute junk. The machines are of poor quality, made almost entirely of molded polystyrene plastic, and riddled with design flaws and poor quality components. The portion control system uses a "star" that relies on a tiny 1mm. Gear tooth, which must fit into a notch on the delivery wheel. When this piece breaks, as it invariably does, it is impossible to control the size of the serving. Another component is the "curtain, " a nylon part that works like a broom to sweep product into the devilery chute and sweep away excess. This piece is held in place by a thin strip of plastic that also is prone to failure. One child actually received this part, along with his candy. On the next vend, the cannister emptied itself, as there was nothing to interfere with all of the product flowing right into the chute. The clear polystyrene face plate is attached to the body of the cannister with the type of glue used to assemble plastic models. I have had to clean up after several machines have literally come apart and spilled their contents all over the floor. Another weak poinr is the delivery door, another plastic part that is easily broken.in fact, kids like to deliberately break the doors off, leaving a gaping hole at the end of the chute.
Even if all goes well, collecting from these machines is yet another problem. When a coin is collected it drops into the machine and lands on top of the delivery chute. Since this surface is flat, coins tend to accumulate there. It is not long before enough coins accumulate to completely stop up the works. The coin mecnanism also is of such poor quality that it readily accepte Canadian quarters, car wash tokens, Colombian pesos, English 5 pence coins, brass. 50 Euro coins, and even nickels instead of quarters. For all of the above reasons, I will never again own or operate another Vendstar machine.
0 comments