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.