Vending Machine -- "Nothing to do with us"

Syth

I'm sure this has happened to many people before, you use an vending machine and it either swollows you money or doesn't give you anything or forgets about your change. Grrr!! Stupid Machine! Sometimes this happens in a place owned by someone else and there is a staff member around, like in a train station. So you tell them. They tell you the machines are nothing to do with them and you have to take any complaints up with the owner of the machines yada yada yada.

Is this legal? Can they absolve themselves of responsibility? Does the fact that the vending machines are on their property mean they have any legal responsibilties to make sure it doesn't rip you off?

Sleipnir

No, it doesn't belong to them. The person who owns it pays for the machine to be placed in a station or wherever. So they don't have keys to it.

There's usually a number to all but as far as I know they haven't invented a way of
sending 70 cents down a phone line yet.

Syth

I know the vending machines don't belong to them, I'm just wonder what responsibilities they have since it's on their property. If I go into a shop and I'm scammed/ripped off then I can go to the staff member and demand a refund. They can't say that it's nothing to do with them. I'm just wondering if they legally can do a similar thing with vending machines.

There's usually a number

Yeah but you also have to have a working phone wit you or a phone nearby, and you ahve to give your personal details to them, and I've done it a few times and they never send you anything, so I've given up on that.

oneweb

I'm growing to despise vending machines. The ones that actually dispense the product often don't wanna give back change, or leave you short (without the exact change warning). Even in the canteen in a previous job there was nothing to do but corner the filler upper when he came in. But we rarely had to 'cos he was sound and gave us the one or two bits that wouldn't fit But anywhere else and it's not likely to be dealt with. We often have to shake the buggery out of the can machine before it'll cough up the can :mad:

In the same vein of things, had a prob with a constipated photo machine (took money in, nothing came out) - rang the number and got a cheque in the post

HarryD

I f00kin hate vending machines..
So many times I've been ripped off by em..
I had an incident recently in a taxi office.

It was Saturday night I was drunk..
The machine swallowed my money and gave me nothing.
The lady in the office was very rude when I asked her the story,
saying the machine was nothing to do with her.
So I started shaking the machine agressively, and she got
annoyed, even though the machine had "nothing to do" with her.:mad:
I argued that since it was on her premises it HAD something to do with her.
She just got increasingly rude and annoying,
so I said I'd give the taxi driver the fare, less what I was owed.

The taxi driver was not impressed with my idea (naturally enough)
and asked me to get out of the taxi half way home,
calling me every name under the sun.
So I got a lift 1/2 way home for my troubles :-)

There should be some kinda proper control on these machines,
so that this doens't happen. I'd love to know the legal situatiuon with this.
I guess they all legally have to display a number incase of faults ?


BTW: There wasn't a number on that one and the friendly lady didn't have one either.

RainyDay

One of those little business card printing machines swallowed 6 or 7 euro on me last year. But after a simple phone call to the number on the machine, I got a cheque refund of the full amount owed within a few days.

eth0_

Originally posted by HarryD

The taxi driver was not impressed with my idea (naturally enough)

That's because you're an idiot. The vending machines are operated by a company external to the taxi company. No wonder the radio operator was getting so pissed off, i'd have refused to give you a taxi if you were freaking out so much about a can of coke! I've had money refunded to me from a vending machine company before, no problem.

One time though, I needed to check something online on one of the Eircom internet phone boxes in COnnolly station. Put a euro in and the piece of sh1t promptly reboots, and thus loses my money. I ring the support number on the phone to be told 'Internet phone box??' *rustling*...'Mary, do we have internet phone boxes?'....'No, We don't look after those' Me: 'but your number is listed on the box for support' her: 'Listen, send an SAE to the customer services manager for phone boxes and she'll send you out your one euro refund'.


Er yeah. So to get a refund, i've to spend money on 2 stamps and 2 envelopes....Yeah I think that comes pretty close to one euro. Morons!

alleepally

Any decent premises should refund you although I don't know how it is possible to prove it didn't work if the employee didn't see you put in the money.

HarryD

Originally posted by eth0_
That's because you're an idiot.

And you can judge that from one post ?
Anyway like I said, I was drunk and didn't say i was been rational.
As I indicated the driver had every right to be pissed off with me.

i'd have refused to give you a taxi if you were freaking out so much about a can of coke!

Can of coke ?
try 10e top-up card
Would you be annoyed ?

I've had money refunded to me from a vending machine company before, no problem.

Still no refund.. no number on the machine..

Incidently has anyone bought Vodafone top-ups at Dublin airport,
that have credited less than the purchased amount ?
Has happened me twice out of 2 times

Ripwave

Originally posted by HarryD
Can of coke ?
try 10e top-up card
Would you be annoyed ?

Earlier you said "So I started shaking the machine agressively".

I can understand shaking a machine to dislodge a can of coke, or a packet of crisps - but a top up card? You should count yourself lucky that your weren't arrested!

spongebob

best not seek refunds when p1shed in a Hackney office......

much better superglue the mutha up permanently the next time you are there....to protect others from being ripped off:D . it has nothing to do with the taxi office people ...... of course .

M

Syth

much better superglue the mutha up permanently the next time you are there....to protect others from being ripped off . it has nothing to do with the taxi office people ...... of course .

The change swollowing vending machine that inspired this thread got full with cardboard! And the other ones there as welll.

Seems like no-one knows of there is a law about this, I'll just have to pretend there is and hope I can sound pissed off enough for people to give me a refund.

Capt'n Midnight

You know those chocolate machines on the London Underground years back that never had any chocolate in them.. Well the explaination I heard was that the guy who used to fill them was on the make. He'd put a few bars on the front of the spiral and one at the back. And because the sensor was at the back the machine would keep taking money. And the company didn't care cos they got the money. And yer man would sell off the chocolate bars..

Victor

Originally posted by Syth
Is this legal? Can they absolve themselves of responsibility? Does the fact that the vending machines are on their property mean they have any legal responsibilties to make sure it doesn't rip you off?

So would you blame the Station Master if the payphone kept your money?

Champ

The extent of my vending machine experience is based on UL.
Only one type of problem ever occurs; and that is snacks tend to get caught up on the hook. Person coming up sees this and thinks "I'll get an extra one free!" ... nice freebie eh? Wrong; the second snack forms an orderly queue behind the first one; and this can continue up till 4 attempts:rolleyes:
You can either shake it up if your pretty strong; or if your like me not possessing tremendous strength; get the cafe staff to open the machine up and give you the offending snacks:)

Cake Fiend

The modern ones rarely get blocked up, they seem to have a sensor at the front of the spiral which detects whether the bar/can/whatever has popped out or not.

We used to have a vending machine in work years ago which was notorious for getting the bars stuck in the spirals. I'd have customers coming up and blah-blahing about it all the time, I'd have to go out and literally throw karate kicks at the bastard to get it to spit out the bars. Sometimes you'd get a 3-bar pileup, and then you'd get the chancers playing bar-lottery trying to knock four bars out for the price of one

spongebob

My favourite vending machine was the Ould 5p for a Deutschmark type one.

Ya had to learn to count and then thump the machine about 3 secs after dropping the 5P coin in it . You could tell when the paddies had just arrived in town because they would keep thumping the machine in an indiscriminate manner even though it would do them no good.

M

Capt'n Midnight

then there's urban myth about how more US marines get killed by vending machines then in battle.

http://www.usmc.mil/almars/almar2000.nsf/0/b4b4e96742348fea85256a4c0070ac36?OpenDocument

A. ON DUTY FATALITIES:
1. CPL FROM 2/3, 3D MARDIV DIED AFTER BEING CRUSHED UNDER A VENDING
MACHINE.

Vending machine launches chemical weapon attack.
http://www.poe-news.com/stories.php?poeurlid=36927

http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/a/005445.htm

Moreover, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission there were 37 known vending machine fatalities between 1978 and 1995, for an average of 2.18 deaths per year.

Typedef

Play nice now children.

Syth

Originally posted by Victor
So would you blame the Station Master if the payphone kept your money?

If they had a machine that was faulty and were getting paid from the phone company and didn't care that their customers were getting ripped off, then yes I would. Far as I'm concerned, it's like hiring a staff member who robs from customers. The business is responsible.

parsi

Originally posted by Muck
My favourite vending machine was the Ould 5p for a Deutschmark type one.

Ya had to learn to count and then thump the machine about 3 secs after dropping the 5P coin in it . You could tell when the paddies had just arrived in town because they would keep thumping the machine in an indiscriminate manner even though it would do them no good.

M

Oh that brings back memories of ringing home from Berlin having stacked the phone with 5p s. Unfortunately they rejigged the sensors after the Wall came down because some Polish coin (of even less value than a 5p) was the same size/weight as a Mark (in those days there were 2.51 DM to a £1 ).. bit of a bummer really...

The Real B-man

me and a few mates got our revenge on a choclate/sweets machine one night we tipped it at an angle and made off with years worth of undispensed goods that we paid for hahahhahahaha

Gillo

So not content to steal the property of another company you go and vandalise (tipping the machines can do serous damage) their property also.

And then go and admit to it here.

The reason none of you are getting any joy with the station staff is that they have nothing to do with them, they simply rent out the space to the company who own's the machines. I mean if you buy a cd in HMV (and please don't start a rant about it been cheaper on line, this is just an example) and it is damaged, you don't complain to the landlord who own's teh building HMV is in, you conmplain to HMV. Thats why you have to phone the vendign machine company.

Raskolnikov

Originally posted by Sico
Sometimes you'd get a 3-bar pileup

That one had me in stitches. etho_'s comment about having to send an SAE to the value of €1 to claim €1 from eircom too, can't say I'm suprised.

Naos

no the karate kicking comment was the funniest...
but those damn vending machines. esp when u were younger and it happened. after spending your last 20p and u went out to try complain, and this giant tells you its nothing to do with them, and all you can do is look in distraught at your marsbar hanging on by a thread..

Xcom2

Friday night I asked at the bar for a refund because the rubber machine in the toilet's ate my money.I got my 4 euro back! probably because the bar manager is a friend of mine.

G

Yoda

In Japan they have wonderful vending machines. They sell cans of cold beer, cans of hot green tea, and other things.

Gillo

What happens when they don't work, thats what this thread is about.

Yoda

But… surely in Japan they always work…

GlennaMaddy

I lost 2 euro to a vending machine late at night in a bus station, when I rang the number I was greeted by an answering machine. The message said 'if you have lost money in our machines please state you name, number, address, location of the machine and the value of your loss'.
I didn't hold out much hope, a month later a letter arrived from the vending machine company with a 2 euro coin stuck to it.