Hi Mark,
Actually I picked up something similiar at Walmart, Meguiar's PlastX, based on some of the other comments. I would suspect it's probably pretty close to that product. Seems to work OK, just these scratches are more than "light" unfortunately and it takes a lot of rubbing. Lynn

Lynn,

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. Here is a link to a scratch remover I have started using with my Beaver machines with good results so far:

You can buy it at Auto Zone and O' Reillys auto parts stores. It's called Plastixs - look on the AutoZone website from the link below and scroll down several items to the product.

Scratch Remover


Thanks,
Mark

Thanks for the responses and the suggestions. I have Vendstar 5000's. Unfortunately they are not interchangeable nor rotatable so I need to clean up the face of the plastic. But what's really upsetting is this is one of two machines in two different locations which are owned by the same man and have been my best sellers. The machine in his other establishment has been stolen right out the front door apparently. What's worse is this is the 3rd one in the past six months overall that has gone missing. And I bought my machines through a business opportunity like a true "newbie" before I discovered the much, much lower prices to be had on eBay and such. Becoming increasingly disenchanted. Lynn

Lynn,

What is the spoilage rate on the patties?

Hi, well I'm not experienced enough to have done this scientifically with some kind of formula to determine an exact spoilage. I will say that most of my tossing has been the result of customer dissatisfaction at being "stale". This usually occurs at about 3-4 weeks of being in the machine because the chocolate begins to dry and harden a little. It has been difficult to determine traffic trends based on sales since this has not been consistent at all. I have learned now to not stock as much and visit more often. And not to stock as much at home. Not a knock on York or Pearson but the "loose" foil wrapping is not conducive to long-lasting product life. Something I have learned over the period of a year being in this business. And obviously York has as well by now sealing their product. Just like the learning about the other products I offer. The environmental factor is the biggest thing to consider. And in Las Vegas, that can be huge depending on the location. So this has been a learning curve for me that I'm still on. But to answer your question, I would estimate that I had to throw away 30-50% of my peppermint patties in the beginning. I'm getting better at this and now I would say it's in the 10-20% range and working its way down. Obviously no one wants to lose money by tossing product, but it does require close attention to prevent it. About all I can say for now. Lynn

Thanks to Chris's reply to my initial post, I hooked up with C-N-A Vending to obtain a conversion kit for my Vendstar machines to dispense Pearson Mint Patties. Works well and I even collaborated with the owner to provide further mods to also accommodate the side opening on the tubes to keep the top-loading feature. Here's the link: http://mysite.verizo...ng222/id19.html Hope this helps others who have the same problem. I'm now still in business, whew! Lynn