Dispensing Tokens?

[cruth25]

I currently just dispense quarters, but I am considering dispensing high security dollar tokens and quarters, because all my vending products are mechanical. Has anyone ever done this? Any ideas on the ratio from tokens to quarters on each bill?

 

[Randy]

Dispense all $1 tokens from your changers and do away with the quarters in your changer. Change over your vending to accept only your tokens. Accept Quarters in the bays and vac’s only. We’ve been doing it this way since 1985 and we’ve lose over 6000 tokens a year.

 

[cruth25]

Dispense all $1 tokens from your changers and do away with the quarters in your changer. Change over your vending to accept only your tokens. Accept Quarters in the bays and vac’s only. We’ve been doing it this way since 1985 and we’ve lose over 6000 tokens a year.

That's a great idea, but how do I switch my laurel mechanical vending machines to just take dollar tokens?

 

[Randy]

It all depends on the size of the token that you’re going to use. Call Chip at Laurel Metals http://www.laurelmetal.com/ he’s a great guy to work with, very helpful and knowledgeable. Before you buy any tokens do your home work and make sure no one else in your area is using a token like yours. Arcades, Chuckie Cheese Pizza, Batting cages etc

 

[cruth25]

It all depends on the size of the token that you’re going to use. Call Chip at Laurel Metals http://www.laurelmetal.com/ he’s a great guy to work with, very helpful and knowledgeable. Before you buy any tokens do your home work and make sure no one else in your area is using a token like yours. Arcades, Chuckie Cheese Pizza, Batting cages etc

I planned on vonbrook. Do you have people just walk away when they just have a ten or twenty dollar bill on hand? Do you run a promotion on a higher bill, like 11 tokens for $10 dollars or 22 tokens for $20?

 

[vinh]

dispensing token will increase revenue by 10 - 20%. I don't like it because I think it is stealing from people that bring you business.
I see the benefit in high crime areas. The honest way is to have two changers: one for tokens and another for quarters/dollar. give promotion for the token changer and let the customer decides.

 

[Randy]

I planned on vonbrook. Do you have people just walk away when they just have a ten or twenty dollar bill on hand? Do you run a promotion on a higher bill, like 11 tokens for $10 dollars or 22 tokens for $20?

No I don't think it's been a problem, we still get a large amount of $10's and $20's. We don't give any extra tokens, just 1 for a $1, 5 for a $5, 10 for a $10 and 20 for a $20. Talk to Dottie at Vanbrook she knows more about car wash tokens than anyone I know.

 

[wendy's wash]

about 4+ years ago i finally started despencing tokens and quarters in my bill changer. after alot of research i found that only the ctx220 tokens from vanbrook would work. 2 washes with a total of 25 laurel mechanical venders. this coin will drop thru the venders with out clogging them. this method allows you not to have to change any thing in the vendors. posted on all venders will not take tokens and only quarters. my bollar bill machine spits out a mix of tokens and quarters, only need to adjust coin switch. i started out at 200 tokens to 2000 quarters. this will give out just enough tokens so the customers dont have to take away extra tokens.
this stopped most people from taking away my quarters but some still leave and never return. raised to 250 tokens and have stopped any quarters from going away at all. have gone thru about 10,000 token so far. if you go to the larger tokens they will stop up your despencers and you also can not mix the coins to despence from a single hopper. if you have 2 machines and 1 is tokens and 1 is quarters, they will use only the quarter machine. you can add or remove the amount of tokens to fit your needs. my major problem was going thru 1000.00 in quarters each month. this will **** off any wash near you that also puts out only quarters. they will lose more quarters once you do this. i heard about it when i did it from other washes. oh well i still smile about not losing quarters. now when someone drives up in front of the dollar machine and jumps out, i no longer care that they are taking my quarters. the only draw back with these tokens, is that you do not make a killing if the tokens never come back because of the cost. they run 20 cents + each.

 

[Sequoia]

Tokens

I dispense $1 tokens only. If a customer puts in a $5, they get 5 tokens, period. After doing this for 5 years, without any complaints, I don't see why anyone would startup fresh using tokens with a .25 cent value. All my machines will accept either $1 tokens or quarters, and the customer can decide how many or how large of a bill to put in the change machine.

After I switched, I got a number of compliments on the tokens. Especially in colder weather, the convenience of 5 coins for a $5 wash instead of 20 coins.

I guess honesty could be looked at several ways. If my customer inserts 5 tokens and starts washing when the timer starts, how does that compare to another who is still standing there with the meter now running but feeding quarter after quarter into the machine trying to get up to full value. Aren't they being .... cheated .... while the meter is running and they are still having to feed in a high number of coins?

 

[Whale of a Wash]

Dispensing tokens is the only way to go. It is an honest way to go. A customer can add $2 in 2 seconds, and be washing. I give bonus tokens, which is the only way to go for me . Really get alot of $10 bills. The number of coin jams i have is almost zero now, even allowing the customers to use their own quarters it seems like the bent or dirty quarters don't come in anymore. I lost money and ticked off customers when i had coin jams. The $1 H.Security token is the best. I have buckets of 85/15 tokens if anyone wants free tokens. Cute whale on them.

 

[rzeavy]

If you think what your customers want and not what makes your life easier, you will dispense quarters and dollar coins combination, for any bill larger than a single.
Customers walk away with unused tokens and forget to bring them the next time - this is not what customers want. besides, it is easier to buy dollar coins at the bank, than to buy tokens.
The mix of dollar coins and quarters, deter some of the laundromat users.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

You would probably rethink your dislike for tokens if you had corporate accounts. I will sell probably close to $1500 this month to corporate accounts that want to pay with a check instead of giving the employee cash. They also receive a 20% discount. I give discounts with a $10 in the changer, probably not a good idea with dollar coins. The bill acceptor in the bay can also be a way to cheat a customer that puts in a $10 and gets more time than needed. Or a CC swipe that charged them for more time than needed, or they forgot to push the stop button. I also hear from customers that come in more often because they had some tokens in the car.

 

[rzeavy]

I don't say not to use tokens at all, just give your customers the option, to receive real money from the changer if they prefer it. You can have a specific changer for tokens only.

 

[pitzerwm]

One major factor for dispensing tokens is that it almost eliminates vandalism. I also had 100% walk off a year.

 

[Jim L.]

rzeavy,

You obviously have not been robbed near enough times. It took only one $1,000 lesson on a sunny Saturday afternoon for me to see light and convert to tokens. The crooks still try every now and then, but the days of stealing quarters from the changers are over.

 

[rzeavy]

If you experience stringing on an ongoing basis, than you are correct to use tokens. We have had that problem with the Row changers,replaced them with Mars validators- problem is gone.