8 replies to this topic

[angela_natalia]

Like most of you, I would LOVE to be able to locate our machines myself but with my husband serving in the US Army and my full time job, it is literally an impossible feat. I've settled on a locator called Advance Placement Services so far but have not sealed the deal as of yet. They want 1/2 down for a deposit and they will send me an in-person locator. Here is their website http://www.vendingplacement.com
Has anyone worked with them yet? I would love to hear some feedback. The last thing I need is a locator scam.

[lew]

My opinion of them is listed below. This only happened to me but my friend had a very pleasant experience with them. They located his machines within 2 weeks of signing the contract. Both of us have some very good locations and some very poor locations. Again this is only my opinion. Read on.....

If I had to do it over again I would have placed the machines myself but I had no time to do that. Sometimes placement services do well and other times they do not. My story is below.

I was one of the unlucky ones and was not pleased with the results after I signed a contract with APS to place 30 machines for me in August of 2007. You pay 1/2 to APS and the other half to the locator that places your machines. The locator does not work directly for APS but works with them. Be careful and read your contract. Every word is in the locators favor. After paying APS I waited 6 weeks to have my machines placed by the locator. I was about to cancel the contract with APS in October 2007 which would have cost me $250.00 according to the contract but they finally sent the locator out. The locator and I placed 15 machines the first day. The second day I was unable to go out with the locator due to my work schedule. Three of the locations asked me to remove the machines from the first day because of various reasons. I notified the locator and he placed the machines that were removed for me that day. I paid the locator and that week went out and placed the 18 machines that were left. Three locations asked me to remove the machines because they did not authorize them to be placed into their business. "BTW- that's why the locator does not want you to go in with them. They tell you that they may lose the location if the owner sees two people in his business. Please do not fall for that line. A good locating company will not do that. I called the locator and he said to call APS and that they would take care of it. I trusted him so I called the placement company and explained the problem and they said that they would find 3 more locations for me which took them another 3 weeks to respond back to me. I finally placed all of my machines in November of 2007. Remember, I started this process in August 2007. In December I wanted to move 6 machines due to poor performance and called APS. They told me that I could only have 3 machines moved for free and that I would have to pay 75.00 for the other three machines to be moved. The contract I had signed with them stated that 6 machines would be moved for free so I questioned them about the 75.00 fee. They stated that they had already moved 3 machines for me and that I only had 3 free moves left. This is where you should read your contract carefully. The locator and APS were off the hook according to the contract and they both had my money. I thought I read the contract and understood it but I was a newbie and missed some of the fine print. It was a beginner’s mistake. One that I will never make again. APS and the locator were in the clear and I had lost valuable time and money. APS will provide the services that are in the contract that you sign with them but it may take a while for them to perform the service. There are no time lines in their contract so if you expect fast service and do not receive it they are in the clear. I would not say that APS are scammers and they do what they are hired to do according to the contract.
This was only my experience. Your experience with APS may be different. I'm trying to keep an open mind about this but it is hard for me to do so. Good luck.

[angela_natalia]

Ok. Here is an update on our experience with APS:
After we had signed a contract and sent them our deposit, they sent a locator out March 17th. We had them locate 24 machines. We specifically told APS that we could not physically go with the locator to the venues since we have a very tight schedule being an Army family. Within the next week, we started delivering our machines. Much to our dismay, numerous locations stated that they never confirmed a "yes" with the locator. Some of the locations even had 2 or more machines in there already!
I finally got fed up with wasting gas and decided to call up all the companies and set up a time to deliver the machines. Long story short. We are 10 locations short. All of these location contact persons said that they told the locator to call them back for an answer and never confirmed at all.
We are still trying (for almost a month) to get in contact with either the company or the locator. Can't seem to get a call back after numerous voicemails left. Any suggestions on where to go from here?

[danl]

Angela - speaking as an owner of a locating company it just sickens me to read stories like the one you've reported. I guess you've tried getting the 10 unconfirmed companies to commit. Taking legal action can be time consuming, costly and even futile considering the tight contract they had you sign. Then there's the part about the locator who doesn't work for APS but rather works with them! That might be a little sticky to battle. Whom do you complain against - APS or the locator. My way of thinking is that APS has to assume some type of responsibility for the people who do their work for them but I'm not a lawyer. You did the right thing by reporting your experiences here. I'd take it even further and tell your story just as you've written it on every internet portal you can think of. Of course, that doesn't help you with your immediate problem but it might make you feel a little better if APS's business is affected and others can avoid what you went through with them. One idea for now at least is to give the best service you can to the accounts that you have. Be on the lookout for other possible locations as you service your existing route. Once you've established a reputation for satisfactory service with your existing customers you might be able to leverage that reputation to help you get new accounts with nearby sites. I've actually had some of my happier customers write glowing letters stating how good my service is and then take those letters to potential sites with me where I've wanted to set up one of my machines. In a lot of cases that strategy worked. You'd be surprised how many people are unhappy with their service. So don't let those places that already have machines on location discourage you.

[G2Gball]

Hi All, I guess I didn't do enough research. I did some searches and talked to a few people, but didn't find enough negative comments about APS to NOT go with them. Angela has a similar situation to me. They had my deposit Feb. 1. Barry James told me they would have a locater out within a week of having my deposit.

The date kept getting pushed back, I pushed and pushed. Finally I got a call on a Saturday night that Ron would be there Monday morning. I had to assemble and fill 55 machines by then. I could not go out with him due to my work schedule, nor did I believe I needed to per Barry. Why would i hire someone that I needed to walk around with? I was paying for a professional and saving time.

I went out the first night and checked in on several of the locations. I asked why there were 7 other machines at a car dealership? Ron told me that the others were being removed because they hadn't been serviced in a while. I know now that was obviously a lie.

What else has happened? He located 3 at Wal-Marts, 1 was thrown out since he never got approval. I had to remove one for the same reason, and got approval myself for the 3rd. He placed one at a company with a big "For Sale" sign out front. When I asked the owner, he told Ron that they were moving and he said it wouldn't matter. He told many places that he was with the existing vendors and they were "upgrading" their machines and someone would be by to pick up the old ones. He placed some without telling the people what he was doing and just took their card. Many of the folks I contacted had no idea that anyone had dropped off a machine (probably because there were 3-5 others already there). He even placed one of my machines in a corner directly behind an identical existing machine.

Obviously he wont return my calls, but his cell number is: 727 512 9484. Don't work with him.

Barry is telling me that they can only replace 20% of my machines. I think that's BS since they never properly placed them in the first place. I signed off on the locations? Many of the locations were fine...if he had approval...if there weren't 2-7 other machines already there.

This is supposed to be a professional company. Barry sent me an email while I was calling and emailing everyday to get someone out:

"There is no need for us to correspond everyday. It does not speed up the process.
I have told you a few times to be patient so be patient and we wll do you a good job
if you give me a chance. Thank You Barry"

A good job? I'd be happy with them being placed appropriately. Good or not.

My next step will be legal action. I will be in contact with my lawyer, since it is obvious that these guys have no desire to make this situation right.

Yes, more due diligence.

[Qmancandy]

My experience has been more positive...

Yes, my best locations I personally have found through "piggy backing" and referrals, but APS has found some good locations for me too. Locating can be very difficult and although problems do arise, they have worked with me through the issues and found me some good locations and it's been from these locations that I have "piggy backed" my best locations. I have spoken with Barry several times and one of their telemarketer-locators Ned. They both were patient. Your level of satisfaction will depend on your expectations. I want to make money RIGHT NOW just like anyone. Yes, it is frustrating when these locators don't meet our expecations, but they need our repeat business and, have at least for me, been pretty accomodating. I just got some new accounts from them in the last few weeks.

If you're just starting out and have somewhere around 20-30 machines I would recommend using a locator that you would go with in person to meet the contacts/decision makers. I know you say you don't have much time but you'll just need a day to knock this out. You'll will get to see first hand how they locate your machines and what they say. If the locator has their own bulk business like Chris, one of their locators from Fort Lauderdale, this is a great time to ask some questions on how to be successful in the business. That's what I did. Use the telemarketer locators if you're busy, already been in the business a while and perhaps are just trying to add new accounts. But maybe you're not new and I'm just wasting your time here.

In the end you're more likely to find some of the best locations on your own. I'm pretty good at this, but am always trying to get new ideas to be even better. Recently I came across an e-book where the author uses some very similar tactics. They are very effective, in fact, that's where the term "piggy backing" came from. Using similar techniques you can get new locations where they gladly welcome you in. HERE'S THE BEST PART...it doesn't require any more additional time to go out and prospect for new locations. You'll get these better locations while doing your routes.

This is just my opinion, it works for me, but you have the right to disagree. By all means I admit I have a lot of room to grow. Hope this at least helped a little.

[Vendgirl]

I have to agree. From my understanding, the best way to find locations is to learn how to locate them yourself, and then if you cannot do that, look into hiring someone that you can physically meet up with to assist you. If you are looking into any other types of locator situations, please be sure to read your contract, and remember, their customer service is key. You want to be sure they can help you, not hinder you.

[wife_eh]

Dan, I wish that I would have found your company before I hired Advanced Placement Services for 40 machines. Overall, it hasn't been that much of a nightmare but I do feel slighted. The first guy they sent out (his name is Jim Moore who lives near Cleveland) was more than happy to take the machines with him in the car. Now I know why: I think that he just put the machines in without even asking anyone (maybe the person at the counter---definitely NOT the decision-maker of the location). However, he could only take so many at a time so eventually he just had to give me names and addresses of more locations in which I would put more machines. Unfortunately, a good number of them said "no I did not approve that machine and no, I do not want that machine". Then next Monday, he never showed up and never returned my phone calls. I called Barry James at APS and he said that he would send Candace Medley out to re-place the locations that Jim erroneously told me about and I erroneously paid him for. Candace came out a week later. I thought that I was going to get scammed again b/c she called and asked me to come and bring her $20 b/c she was low on gas and forgot her debit card. I said that I would if she gave me something valuable for collateral. She then said that she should have enough gas to get a few placements for me and then I could come and pay her for those so that she could get some gas. Fair enough, I said. So, she did a fairly good job the first day. Actually, I was quite pleased with most of the locations. The next day is when I got sucker-punched. At the end of that day, she handed me a stack of business cards and said that she was ready to cash out and go home for the day. So, she earned my trust the previous day so I figured that everything was good with this day's locations. WRONG-O! 4 of those locations I believe that she just got business cards and told me that she talked with the owner and the owner said okay.

Now I am trying to work with APS to get those replaced OUTSIDE of the 20% warrantied locations b/c I never got to put my machines in in those 4 places.

I have both Jim Moore and Candace Medley's phone numbers so I am going to try to sweet talk them into telemarketing the last four. I told Candace that I would even give her a list of company names and phone numbers so that it would be easier for her. It's been 24 hours since that last conversation. She said that she would call me back. We'll see.

[phoenix vender]

Angela - speaking as an owner of a locating company it just sickens me to read stories like the one you've reported. I guess you've tried getting the 10 unconfirmed companies to commit. Taking legal action can be time consuming, costly and even futile considering the tight contract they had you sign. Then there's the part about the locator who doesn't work for APS but rather works with them! That might be a little sticky to battle. Whom do you complain against - APS or the locator. My way of thinking is that APS has to assume some type of responsibility for the people who do their work for them but I'm not a lawyer. You did the right thing by reporting your experiences here. I'd take it even further and tell your story just as you've written it on every internet portal you can think of. Of course, that doesn't help you with your immediate problem but it might make you feel a little better if APS's business is affected and others can avoid what you went through with them. One idea for now at least is to give the best service you can to the accounts that you have. Be on the lookout for other possible locations as you service your existing route. Once you've established a reputation for satisfactory service with your existing customers you might be able to leverage that reputation to help you get new accounts with nearby sites. I've actually had some of my happier customers write glowing letters stating how good my service is and then take those letters to potential sites with me where I've wanted to set up one of my machines. In a lot of cases that strategy worked. You'd be surprised how many people are unhappy with their service. So don't let those places that already have machines on location discourage you.

oh i feel better ,kowing that i wasnt the only one that ron took for a ride ,ron likes to steal (yes that is right folks steal other venders machines so he can move your machine in to a location,or he will sell your machines to somebody else quite the standup guy.he recently did work for me 54 locations ,34 either had to be picked or he left them in front of a business on a friday nite and the business didnt re-open til monday u-turn 8 heads with metal coin -mechs ouch ! that still smarts so ron if you read this or barry i am sure putting the good word out for you guys .