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Post by cheryl on Aug 10, 2016 18:26:37 GMT
Do you have one of these? We see used ones popping up from time to time at a much lower price than what they originally sold for. I like the idea of members being able to use their access cards for purchases if they don't have any cash. Here are my concerns
- It's supported by Snap's IT group. I wouldn't trust that group to plug in my toaster.
- If someone buys a bunch of things on their card at the beginning of the month and then their credit card is changed and they decide to cancel without giving us a new credit card then we're left taking a loss on anything they purchased.
The alternative is to get a vending machine which has a credit card reader. That seems like a more robust solution.
Opinions on this?
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Post by Amy on Aug 10, 2016 23:56:27 GMT
Cheryl...we have never and would never purchase that vending machine. We do everything physically possible to avoid putting any $'s into peter's pockets. Also, like you said you would be dependent on their IT dept. which we all know is a dangerous situation.
For years now we have had a small refrigerator with drinks and shelving with protein bars, nutritional supplements, tshirts, towels, lanyards, water bottles, shaker bottles, etc. next to the fridge. We have a price list and cash box where people can put cash into or if they do not have cash we have On Account Sheets (these also list each item and price) where they write their name and date of purchase and then we add it to their monthly billing.
This works well for us. We purchase most goods at Sam's Club (48 waters for about $6 and we sell them for $1 each for a $42 profit)and branded items locally...DO NOT go through BIG.. We probably sell about $300/mth in goods. Hope this helps.
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Post by fishstyxx on Aug 12, 2016 19:27:59 GMT
We have the Snap Vending machine. It's probably the only piece of hardware supported by Snap IT which is properly supported. Chris Kliwer (I may have spelled that wrong) is the one who always contacts us when there's an issue and is able to fix it relatively quickly. Even with that though the hardware itself seems to be lacking. The augurs work sometimes and sometimes they don't. When we test the motors and augurs they work fine, but then someone makes a selection and nothing happens. We contact the vending machine company directly, but because it doesn't happen all the time there's nothing they can do.
I can't say that I'd recommend the Snap vending machine. The main issue is that of billing. If an unscrupulous member knows that their billing isn't going to go through and that they're going to skip town they can run up a huge bill and stick you with it. We had someone do this to us once. Their bill was $85 and we basically kissed that money goodbye. In other instances we had members terminate and the billing processing occurred after they terminated and they were never charged.
I'd either go with a standard vending machine with a credit card reader or just go the fridge route, which was mentioned by Amy.
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