1.800.VENDING Complaints: Have you had any dealings with the 1-800-VENDING business opportunity or 1-800-VENDING vending machines? Please share a comment about your experience – good or bad – below, as well as advice for those considering investing with 1-800-VENDING.
The bios of founders Michael Burnett and Jeff Marsh are impressive.
The pictures of its headquarters in Kaysville, Utah are impressive.
And the 1.800.VENDING sales pitch is impressive:
1.800.VENDING provides everything you need to successfully establish, upgrade or expand your vending business. Our goal is to provide you with your own “up and running” business from day one. In other words, you don’t have to waste time reinventing the wheel. We can assist the beginner to the seasoned operator with a successful business. Let us show you how 1.800.VENDING can help you generate immediate and long-term cash flow!
1.800.VENDING: A little too impressive?
To a newcomer, 1-800-Vending has a very impressive image. To those who are aware of the controversial past of 1.800.VENDING and its founders, it might seem a little too impressive.
A little too orchestrated.
For example, if you do a Google search of the term “1.800.VENDING scam” you’ll see some red flags:
You’ll see that numerous complaints about 1-800-Vending on Rip-Off Report have been sanitized, scrubbed clean and given that cheery endorsement reserved for those, one assumes, who have worked out a financial agreement with the site owner.
You’ll see numerous listings for phony blogs (called splogs) that use the terms “1.800.VENDING” and “scam” in their titles, urls, tags and body copy. This is a common technique used by those who have, or expect, a lot of scam complaints on the Internet. The intent is to flood Google search results with these sites and posts in order to bury legitimate scam warnings or complaints.
Be wary of those who “Splog.”
Here are a trio of suspected “splogs” that appear to be designed to dilute search engine results for the terms “1-800-Vending Scam,” “1-800-Vending Complaints,” and “1-800-Vending Ripoff,” respectively:
Each of the URLs are registered to a “private party” using a premium ownership masking service (Hmmm… wonder who owns these?). Each of the supposed blogs uses the offending term in its url, title and as a keyword in the single awkward article that appears on the site. The blogs are so phony the authors didn’t even change the generic WordPress sample posts (Hello World!).
While there’s nothing illegal about splogging, it is certainly a red flag that a company would need to manage its reputation in such a fashion.
“We are seriously considering laying the stupid machine on the tracks and watching a train obliterate the *** thing”
Despite the suspected Internet countermeasures, some complaints have snuck through to the top page of Google. On ComplaintsBoard, Norman wrote:
I cannot explain how much of a HEADACHE our experience has been with 1-800-VENDING. There are railroad tracks across from our business and we are seriously considering laying the stupid machine on the tracks and watching a train obliterate the *** thing. The machine didn’t work from day 1, and trying to get customer service that was actually helpful was impossible. We were sent various parts, chips, circuit boards… NOT worth the headache it’s caused. The company’s communication has been terrible, we’ve gotten jerked back and forth and given the run around for weeks now… Don’t go with 1-800-vending! Not worth the headache!
Sins of the Past: Turnkey Vending, FTC & Connecticut Legal Actions
According to Wikipedia entry for the 1-800-Vending opportunity, founders Michael Burnett and Jeff Marsh seem to have a good reason for covering their Internet tracks. Prior to 1-800-Vending, the partners founded and operated Turnkey Vending. In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sweep titled Project Busted Opportunity led to the U.S. Government filing a complaint alleging that Turnkey had operated a fraudulent business opportunity. The FTC filed a permanent injunction against the company and its founders.
When the dynamic duo started fresh with a new entity and name (1-800-Vending), it seems they hadn’t abandoned their scurrilous ways. According to Wikipedia:
After Turnkey’s dissolution, the two men founded 1.800.Vending. The latter has been fined by the State of Connecticut. Specifically, the agency accused the defendants of ‘misrepresenting its prior Connecticut business opportunity sales activity’ and alleged that the company’s disclosure documents:
- failed to include financial statements as required by law;
- failed to make adequate disclosure concerning 1.800.Vending, Inc.’s affiliates and predecessors;
- failed to describe in sufficient detail the employment histories of Michael S. Burnett and Jeffrey L. Marsh;
- failed to adequately set forth the risks involved in the business opportunity venture;
- lacked sufficient information on the employment and disciplinary histories of 1.800.Vending, Inc.’s sales representatives; and
- did not mention the fact that purchaser-investors might have to pay retailers for the use of space for the purchaser-investors’ vending machines.
The State of Connecticut also accused the company of “making earnings claims on its web site without including documented data to substantiate such claims and disclosing such data to prospective purchaser-investors at the time such representations were made.”
Despite its legal difficulties, the company remains in business today, spending large sums on advertising. It is one of the first sponsored links to appear in the results when a Google search is done on vending-related topics.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS 1-800-VENDING AN HONEST COMPANY THAT LEARNED ITS LESSON? ARE MICHAEL BARNETT AND JEFF MARSH “THE TWO MOST APPRECIATED MEN IN VENDING” LIKE THEIR WEBSITE STATES?
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1800vending is the worst company to do business with. Their machines are junk. I foolishly bought into their lies. I bought 15 yes 15 RS900 combos. Not one of them worked as they should have. Not one! Compressors burned out in less than a year. Seems fell out constantly and they are expensive to replace.
I now have 2 left. Sold 6 for 200.00 each after one year and felt guilty bout that. Gave others away for junk. I promise I speak the truth!!!!!
they are liars and produce a sham of machine. My lawyer said j had chance to win case but had to pay up front. I had lost all my money and just let it go. DONT buy from these crooks! Ask to have demo in their plant. Then compare to any other company. They won't let u see machine before purchase.
Class action anyone!!?they need to be out of business
My complaint was not published. I will meet with anyone in Tyler Texas and prove beyond any doubt how bad their machines are. 1800vending is a scam. I bought 15 have 2 left. And I can show you the rest. I will publish my phone number if necessary!!!r. I speaktheosinful truth!!
We have a client of ours whom has 10 Seaga vending machines they bought from a third party whom of course bought from 1800vending while most dont know this 1800vending is not the goto vending shop as you might think as the hy900 (healthy You 900) as also knon as is built by Seaga and sold as an exclusive rights arrangement for only 1800vending to sell to the public at large and well. To be fair its Seaga whom took and made trash and then ha 1800vending sell the trash but im sure 1800vending is just as guilty but well.... im not about to search for hours to find whom is doing what and how... whom cares the point it 1800vending is yes trash and seaga is right there with them...
http://www.1800vending .com
http://www.seaga .com/
My fiance and I purchased 13 machines by 1800vending / Healthy you. I've been reading posts on your website. The fact that 1800 Vending sent an Subpoena alleging all of the unhappy owners of their machines were their competitors, is unreal! Everyone's posts were SPOT ON. It's a total scam.
I want to take legal action against them and noticed there were many others who wanted to file a class action suit against them. Is there a way I can contact anyone on this site who wants to take legal action? Or have them contact me? Whoever wants to take a class action suit, I would like to coordinate with them, I'm just not quite sure how to do so with the folks who have posted.
I am over this company and their scams along with SEAGA. List of issues;
People can stick their hands up the drink dispenser and steal drinks. Poor design. I contacted them about it and instead of sending us the necessary part, they told us we could buy a SAFETY DOOR and attach it to the drink dispenser. So we BOUGHT a safety door.
The LED screen goes out constantly and the drink dispensers have a habit of malfunctioning and dispensing several, if not all, of the drinks.
The tell you they will pay 50% for parts after the first year, but they double the price of the parts, so you end up paying more than market price. We've done the research. We have recently found a vending repair guy that fixed a compressor issue, REPLACING the compressor, for HALF of the cost of the compressor Healthy YOu wanted us to buy ON OUR WARRANTY.
We had a new machine that wouldn't work in our first year. According to our contract, the machine was supposed to be replaced with a new machine. Seaga sent us another machine which had to have been another DEFECTED machine they had tried to fix and recycle. The machine had more issues then the new one we purchased.
We are having issues with another one of our machines, that keeps showing DEX. We called 1800Vending/Healthy you and they deferred us to SEAGA, SEAGA deferred us to the credit card company. The Credit card company did all they could and it came back to being a machine issue. Once we contacted SEAGA, their Tech guy JOSH, who clearly does as little as he needs too, informed us they had a new protocol that if their tech team was to help us, we would have to pay?!! EVEN THOUGH, it clearly states in our contract that we have a 7 year warranty which includes giving us the necessary steps to repair the Machines. Scott Jordon has been great at Seaga, he's been my only saving grace out of this whole nightmare.
LINE 14 IN OUR CONTRACT: All Machines come with a Seven Year Limited Warranty against manufacturer defects. Should the Machines fail to operate due to equipment malfunction for normal usage and wear, we will advise you of the necessary steps to repair the Machines and replace any parts if necessary. Necessary parts during the first calendar year (from the time of delivery) will be covered at 100%. Necessary parts in years two through seven will be covered with a 50% deductible. 1.800.VENDING is the supplier of the Machines.
You can't change terms to the contract once signed and fully executed, even though it seems they are trying to, hoping we wouldn't keep a thorough paper trail.
In the short period of time after paying $89,000 for 11 machines, we've had to buy countless parts and spend countless hours trying to repair. It's been stressful, caused emotional distress and we've lost quite a bit of money. If they don't make this right, I intend to be this company's worst nightmare. I am NOT a competitor, so any of the 1800vending/Healthy you sploggers can save their time assuming otherwise.
I am happy to join forces with anyone who wants to take a class action suit against them. I have a great attorney we can talk to as well.
Thank God we only bought 3 machines! We too feel as if we were scammed - high pressure sales, misinformed, etc. The only good thing about this experience has been a nice loss to offset income for income tax purposes and we learned how to use Task Rabbit to move our machines to bring them home because customers were unhappy. Nightmare in a nutshell.
I took out some investment money from my 401K and wished I never did. I am Interested in joining someone for a class action lawsuit. Contact me.
Thanks
Josh Taylor
True Revive Vending
1-800-Healthyyou
After purchasing machines, we became aware of substantial misrepresentations that were made to us before the purchase. I am currently investigating whether others have had the same experience. In particular, did the company provide you with a list of other operators close to your geographic area? And, after you purchased, did you later discover there were in fact more competitors buying machines from this company than the market could bear? Please leave your comments and perhaps we can connect and compare notes.
OMG Biggest Mistake of my LIFE! I spent half of my inheritence on 3 machines. Yes they helped me place them, and then that is it! You call Sega for help and are made to feel stupid! Out of my 3 machines I have a total of 6 Non-Working motors, they sent a replacement that did not work. On top of that My machin es drop drinks out like candy, I have lost so much money, I can no longer deal with this and have stored 2 of my machines and will sell them as scrap! what a waste of my inheratance! Please Pleas do not buy from this company!!!!!
Yeah, this company is about the worst. I have been tempted to file a complaint with the BBB, but I'm not 100% sure it rises to the level of criminality. I'll just share my experiences:
1) The location service: They did not take into account what I bought, even though I specifically asked the salesman whether they did or not, they assured me the location people took into account what you bought. I bought equipment (side units) that would not even fit in the location they sold me, two out of three locations. So I've had two side units in my garage since I made the purchase. Of the three locations they sold me, for $1600 each, two of them wont even make back enough money to pay the cost of the machines. I paid in advance for 2 more locations, and had the good sense to reject the stupid places they came up with, grudgingly, they did refund my money. A waste of months of my time and money. Even the one location they sold me that does OK does not sell healthy products. They advertise as Healthy vending but the locations they sold me want snickers and Doritos, nothing else sells. All of the side units in my machines stay empty because no one will buy anything out of there. The places they sold me want cheap crap, and are NO PLACE for a nine thousand dollar machine.
2) Machine quality: Absolutely bottom rate. These machines require constant servicing, I have two machines in my garage just for parts, I've replaced at least a dozen motors, had to hire a metalworking shop to custom make parts for me and design my own custom solutions because their parts keep falling out of the machine. When an electronic part goes down, like the changer or bill acceptor, I have to go to my garage if I have an extra or ebay if I don't, because their parts cost about 5x the normal price. Professional vending service people have told me they can't get parts for the machines. No used vending companies will buy these machines except for parts, they are simply the worst. Not just cheap, but poorly designed as well. The rotary style drink dispenser is just a stupid design and constantly requires adjusting and repair. My fail rate on vends approaches 5%. I've been standing nearby when parents tell their children "I'm sorry sweetie, nothing ever comes out of that machine." The refrigeration unit has failed within just a few years on 3 of my machines.
3) USA technologies: The company they set you up with for your credit purchases, these people have about the second worst customer service in the business. I told them to disable one of my units, the one that sits in my garage for parts. Unbeknownst to me, they never did, I didn't notice until two years later they have been charging me for that unit, finally shut it off but refused to refund. I called them back and told them to disable all my units except for one, two months later they still haven't don't it, now they owe me like $300 bucks. Those people I DO have a BBB complaint in for.
4) Don't buy these machines used from other people either, unless they are for parts, you will not get any support from the company. I had to threaten legal action to get the codes for the software when I bought used machines from someone else, and the original owners had not even used the codes so what I wanted didn't even violate any of their software rules. These people are money grubbing animals peddling literal trash in a fancy package. Choose another company.