6 replies to this topic

[bcron]

I recently moved into a new location which should be a decent one for me. A week or two in, I received a call that there had been a mouse in the snack machine. Long story short, I found that the plug where the power cord comes in had come out in the move and that's how he got in. I fixed that problem and he hasn't been back.

Yesterday, I had an employee say "Do sales seem low since the mouse problem? I heard a couple of people say they wouldn't buy anything from the machine because of the mouse and I won't either." I assured her that the problem was solved and she shouldn't worry about it any more.

To help get past this, would you:
A. Do nothing and wait for the memory of the mouse to go away and expect people will eventually come around.
B. Place a small sign on the machine stating that, yes, there was a short-lived problem but it is now solved in an attempt to try to calm the fears.
C. Try some other route to try to alleviate the fears.

[coinopdirect]

Impressions and peoples perception are everything when dealing with the public.

I had the same situation happen with a Candy Crane in a Wal*Mart.

I got a sevice call from the Wal*Mart corp office. I immediately called the Store Manager and he informed me that there indeed was a mouse inside of the crane and they had to unplug the game because the kids were trying to catch it with the claw. Funny now, but I was steamed when it happened.

Stopped off and loaded all new product in my truck.
Bought Food Grade cleaner and disinfectant.
Humanely trapped mouse & released in the woods behind store.
In front of everyone I removed all product and disposed into trash can, cleaned and disinfected the machine and reloaded with fresh new product. Machine was back in service an hour later and people were playing the game before I left.

You may have to do something similar or swap the machine out with another IF your sales have dropped and do not recover from the incident.

I would recomend going with the cleaning / disinfecting route quickly.

I would NOT place any sign referencing the prior incident.

PS: Sorry for any typos as I'm in need of coffee.

[jblvending]

I recently moved into a new location which should be a decent one for me. A week or two in, I received a call that there had been a mouse in the snack machine. Long story short, I found that the plug where the power cord comes in had come out in the move and that's how he got in. I fixed that problem and he hasn't been back.

Yesterday, I had an employee say "Do sales seem low since the mouse problem? I heard a couple of people say they wouldn't buy anything from the machine because of the mouse and I won't either." I assured her that the problem was solved and she shouldn't worry about it any more.

To help get past this, would you:
A. Do nothing and wait for the memory of the mouse to go away and expect people will eventually come around.
B. Place a small sign on the machine stating that, yes, there was a short-lived problem but it is now solved in an attempt to try to calm the fears.
C. Try some other route to try to alleviate the fears.

Clean the machine, and move on....do not bring it up again... if it's brought up by a customer,just explain that the machine has been cleaned and the products replaced, thats it, don't go into any details about how the mouse got in , etc...sales will go back to normal.

[gvending]

Clean the machine, and move on....do not bring it up again... if it's brought up by a customer,just explain that the machine has been cleaned and the products replaced, thats it, don't go into any details about how the mouse got in , etc...sales will go back to normal.

same thing happened to me.. keep the machine clean and sales will bounce back back after a couple of weeks.

[bcron]

same thing happened to me.. keep the machine clean and sales will bounce back back after a couple of weeks.

That's along the lines of how I was thinking. I did the clean-up and product disposal/replacement the day I learned about it.

I had it happen last year in another location, but I think most of them were clueless that it had even happened. (Even though the mouse had fallen into the delivery tray and died there because he couldn't get back out. Amazingly nobody ever grabbed him or saw him when reaching in to get their snack!) Sales there were affected minimally and only for a short time. The folks at this place were a little more vocal about it though which made me a little concerned that sales would lack for a longer period.

OK, we'll let it ride and see what happens. Thanks for the input.

[marks_vending]

let it all be a distant memory, eventually people will come back

[chechnya]

I recently moved into a new location which should be a decent one for me. A week or two in, I received a call that there had been a mouse in the snack machine. Long story short, I found that the plug where the power cord comes in had come out in the move and that's how he got in. I fixed that problem and he hasn't been back.

Yesterday, I had an employee say "Do sales seem low since the mouse problem? I heard a couple of people say they wouldn't buy anything from the machine because of the mouse and I won't either." I assured her that the problem was solved and she shouldn't worry about it any more.

To help get past this, would you:
A. Do nothing and wait for the memory of the mouse to go away and expect people will eventually come around.
B. Place a small sign on the machine stating that, yes, there was a short-lived problem but it is now solved in an attempt to try to calm the fears.
C. Try some other route to try to alleviate the fears.

I say put in a different looking machine if you have one. Gives people the perception that either there's a new vending business OR the vending operator decided to take drastic measures and switch out the machine.