I contracted with Secure Vending to place 50 machines in the Pittsburgh market, at a cost of $ 2,500. The contract included initial placement of machines PLUS 3 years of relocation should the machines underperform or I lose the location (to no fault of my own).
My machines were placed within 3 weeks of wiring Mr. Parker at Secure Placement my money. Within 90 days, 19 of my machines needed to be relocated, either due to businesses closing, owners asking that they be removed, or the locations underperformed (averaged less than $ 3.75/month). I submitted the necessary claims and then the fun began.By December, the number of machines needing relocated grew to 30, over 60% of my route! For the next 6 months, we exchanged emails and phone calls, all initiated by me, none of which provided a commitment on when I could expect help relocating my machines. Secure Placement claimed they were backlogged, and I was moved between a few different people - no one could provide any satisfaction on when I would receive service under the terms of my contract. Surprisingly, I did receive information from Secure Placement on their "banned location" list (profiles of locations that they do not support and would not place machines in). ALL OF MY WARRANTY CLAIMS WERE PLACED BY THEIR REPRESENTATIVE IN A BANNED LOCATION!
Frustrated, I did file a claim with the BBB and FTC, Only after I filed a claim with the BBB did I receive a call from a relocator representing Secure Placement offering help with my route. Unfortunately, I had already relocated my machines myself as I was not generating income for 6 months.
My experience may not reflect others, but my word of warning to anyone wanting to start a vending route is be prepared to invest a large amount of your own time and before contracting with a location company, ASK FOR REFERENCES and investigate them thoroughly. I feel that I wasted $ 2,500 as only 20 of my machines are still in place and I have no expectations that any future warranty claims will be honored, at least not in the 60 day time frame that our contract states.
Good Luck to all!
0 comments