Vending machines - where do I stand???

nogoodwithmoney11111

Hi,

I have used a vending machine in the public areas where I work and these are managed by a third party conrtactor. The vending machines look brand new, however their "accuracy" at dispensing items purchased is not quite right.

I have today received 2 chocolate bars and 2 bags of crisps for the price of 1 as the way the vending machine operates, if an item gets stuck it "tries again" so 2 come tumbling down. This is the second time in 3 days that this has happened. First time I left a bag of crisps at the side with a post it on saying to leave until the operators came to check the money at the end of the night, but this was taken by the person right behind me in the queue (who called me an idiot, by the way, and walked away laughing).

So I dont want this to happen again so do I post these items back to the vending machine operators? what about my postage costs etc.. as I want to rectify the situation as I have received goods illegitemately, but dont want to be out of pocket either - or is this simply the cost of a clear conscience.

Anyway, would like to know where I stand legally, rather than morally.......

many thanks

NGWM

robpw2

nogoodwithmoney11111 wrote: »

Hi,

I have used a vending machine in the public areas where I work and these are managed by a third party conrtactor. The vending machines look brand new, however their "accuracy" at dispensing items purchased is not quite right.

I have today received 2 chocolate bars and 2 bags of crisps for the price of 1 as the way the vending machine operates, if an item gets stuck it "tries again" so 2 come tumbling down. This is the second time in 3 days that this has happened. First time I left a bag of crisps at the side with a post it on saying to leave until the operators came to check the money at the end of the night, but this was taken by the person right behind me in the queue (who called me an idiot, by the way, and walked away laughing).

So I dont want this to happen again so do I post these items back to the vending machine operators? what about my postage costs etc.. as I want to rectify the situation as I have received goods illegitemately, but dont want to be out of pocket either - or is this simply the cost of a clear conscience.

Anyway, would like to know where I stand legally, rather than morally.......

many thanks

NGWM

honestly i wouldnt worry about it , just eat the extra choclate bar or bag of crisps and enjoy

Bongedone

If your that worried give them to whoever facilitates the contract with the vending company.

There will likely be a telephone number on the machine also for reporting problems.

As above poster said, eat them and enjoy.

Freddie_Snowbits

We used to have a coccie macjhne that dispenced randomly. All the girls would queue up next to it!

nogoodwithmoney11111

Thanks for the replies so far,

I know this is a small monetary issue but the morality side of it has intrigued me as regards the legality of the position. If I were teh vending machien operator I would really be upset that I was losing otu on profit. I have been researching thsi elsewhere and stumbled across the following:

If I am in, say, a fast food shop and buy a pizza that has a price of £9.99 displayed on the priceboard behind the counter, BUT the person at the till actually says "that will be £6.99" or "that will be £12.99", for example, then I hand over the money - I am therefore agreeing to that "verbal" contract. The pizza shop can change its prices at any time, and is not boudn by the price displayed.

Therefore if i pay £6.99 I am in profit (both in a moral and pecuniary sense) but if I agree £12.99 I am out of pocket (but still morally ok - if a bit annoyed)

Does this mean that if i put my money in the vending machine in good faith that it could give me whatever it wanted and I would be legally entitlled to it???

I am still unsure however as amusement with prizes machines (ie slot machines) say that all prizes are void in the grounds of a malfunction of the machine. I feel the vending machine owner would have strong grounds for a "malfunction" case should it go to small claims court, at which point I would be seen to have no integrity and therefore lose all credibility as a withness then undeniably "lose the case"

Granted, being taken to small claims court is the worst case scenario and highly unlikely, but I wanted to post this as a theoretical "test case" to see whats what.

many thanks!!

Takoda

I LOVE your thread title "Vending Machines - where do I stand?"

I've just gotta say though..... you stand...


RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT!!!!!


Just gotta be done :rotfl:



PS I would take the freebies but if I saw a person filling it/emptying the money I would tell them what it was doing. vending machines usually massively overcharge anyway!

HTH

Takoda

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

We used to have a coccie macjhne that dispenced randomly. All the girls would queue up next to it!

It must've been a foreign machine with a name like that... Romanian? Polish?

Chimpofdoom

Hehe, I would take it, infact I do... my work's vending machine does exactly the same thing!

Although there's a trick on how to get a 2 for 1

welshbookworm

I can see OP's point. If the machine is doing this ALOT then the money will be way out. The vending company could then try and claim the 'underpayments' from whoever signed the agreement. The machine could be taken away which would cause inconvenience.
Eaiest way round this is to find the contact phone number on it and ring and explain that the machine is giving out 2 for the price of 1 and you do not want any come back if the money is wrong.

Badger_Lady

I'm absolutely certain that the random dispensing is built into the profits of the machine. They will be designed and calibrated to be as accurate as possible, but the pricing will include servicing / maintainance and inaccuracy.

We've all had freebies from a vending machine... and most of us have had our last 70p swallowed up too

Takoda

Badger_Lady wrote: »

I'm absolutely certain that the random dispensing is built into the profits of the machine. They will be designed and calibrated to be as accurate as possible, but the pricing will include servicing / maintainance and inaccuracy.

We've all had freebies from a vending machine... and most of us have had our last 70p swallowed up too

Yes, or had no change at all from a quid...