Vending Machine Opportunity

1.800.Vending, Inc. is a company offering bulk vending business opportunities. The company sells triple-selection vending machines for approximately $375 as part of a comprehensive offer to support customers in starting their own business, including procuring and placing machines in profitable locations, online support, and lifetime coaching. In exchange for these services, customers may pay a significant surcharge over the cost of comparable machines.

The machine sold by 1.800.Vending is a triple selection candy machine with interchangeable canisters. The company claims to have designed their machine to solve the problems of other machines on the market, and offers a lifetime warranty on it.

Company history

1.800.Vending's founders, Michael S. Burnett, and Jeffrey Marsh, formerly said to have operated Turnkey Vending, which is a Kaysville, Utah based company offering vending business opportunities. In 2003, Turnkey Vending was cited by the Federal Trade Commission for numerous violations and fined $22,000.. 1.800.VENDING sells both combination soda/snack machines and bulk candy machines but focuses on the soda/snack segment of the industry.

The size of the initial investment varies by the size of business the entrepreneur wishes to start with. The company sells vending distributorships which includes the vending machines, locations for the machines, vending software, support and other items.

According to the Better Business Bureau 1.800.VENDING has been in business since 1999. A Dun and Bradstreet report on the company lists the start date as August 25, 1999 and indicates that the company is privately held and wholly owned by its two owners. The Better Business Bureau indicates that the company has a satisfactory record and no complaints in the three year reporting period. The company’s web site indicates that it has never had a customer complaint but there is no way to verify this claim.

The Dun and Bradstreet report indicates that 1.800.VENDING has a Credit Score Percentile of 94% compared to the Industry Norm of 50% (high risk: 1%; low risk: 100%). Payment information in the D&B files indicates no slow payment(s) nor negative comment(s) and there is no record of open suit(s), lien(s), or judgment(s) in the D&B files. According to the company's website:

The FTC sweep to which the company refers was Project Busted Opportunity, a major operation that led to the U.S. Government filing a complaint alleging that Turnkey had operated a fraudulent business opportunity. A Stipulated Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction was entered on June 25, 2003 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Under the terms of the order, the two men were permanently enjoined from selling the contact information of Turnkey's customers; ordered to turn over a fine of $22,000 to their attorney for placement into escrow within five days of the order; required to notify the FTC of any changes in their addresses, phone numbers, or employment status; forbidden from misrepresenting their business opportunities in the future; and mandated to provide a copy of the order to any customer service personnel handling complaints from customers at any business venture the men might own or operate in the future; among other conditions. 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.

References

1.800 Vending, Inc. Fined $10,000 For Business Opportunity Investment Act Violations, Bulletin #2108, State of Connecticut Department of Banking, July 20, 2004.
United States of America v. Turnkey Vending Stipulated Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction, June 25, 2003.

Footnotes

^ "Report: 1800Vending, 1-800-Vending, Jeff Marsh, Michael Burnett". 2007-02-07 . http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/258/RipOff0258227.htm . Retrieved 2007-11-08 .
^ "Commission approval of application". Federal Trade Commission. 2003-01-10 . http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/01/fyi0303.shtm . Retrieved 2007-11-08 .
^ "Summary order to Cease and Desist" (pdf). State of Washington. 2003-01-22 . http://www.dfi.wa.gov/sd/orders/S-02-292-02TO01.pdf . Retrieved 2007-11-11 .
^ "Turnkey Vending Defendants to Pay $22,000 Civil Penalty As Part of FTC Settlement". Federal Trade Commission. 2003-09-03 . http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/09/turnkeyvending2.htm . Retrieved 2007-11-12 .
^ DOB: 1.800 Vending, Inc. Consent Order

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