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Stringing
- Thread starter washtubman
- Start date
Stringing and Vandalism
Hello Everyone -
I just want to give a quick update on these topics. First off, as all of you know the holiday season always entices people to vandalize equipment, and if they have the skills to attempt to string machines. This year is no different. In fact with the economy the way that it is, these forms of criminal activity may increase. Please take appropriate measures to protect your investments.
About 4 weeks ago there was a trail of stringing in Ohio and Indiana. Two people were caught in Columbus, Ohio in the act of stringing the change machine. We were informed that car wash owners in the Toledo, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio markets were exchanging video of the people to see if they could combine their losses to put the crooks away for a longer period of time. We have no way of knowing if these two people were responsible for all of the activity.
As far as Hamilton equipment goes, we continue to look for new ways to resist these attempts. Earlier this year we made several physical modifications to the XE and sent a few out for review with some of our factory trained service representatives for testing. They did not work out as well as we wanted them to and so we're back to investigating new technology to integrate into the validator. We are working on this diligently as we understand how important this issue is. We will continue to offer updates as soon as they become available.
Please do not hesitate to call me directly at our office if you have information, suggestions, or questions about this subject or any others for that matter.
Thank you.
Hello Everyone -
I just want to give a quick update on these topics. First off, as all of you know the holiday season always entices people to vandalize equipment, and if they have the skills to attempt to string machines. This year is no different. In fact with the economy the way that it is, these forms of criminal activity may increase. Please take appropriate measures to protect your investments.
About 4 weeks ago there was a trail of stringing in Ohio and Indiana. Two people were caught in Columbus, Ohio in the act of stringing the change machine. We were informed that car wash owners in the Toledo, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio markets were exchanging video of the people to see if they could combine their losses to put the crooks away for a longer period of time. We have no way of knowing if these two people were responsible for all of the activity.
As far as Hamilton equipment goes, we continue to look for new ways to resist these attempts. Earlier this year we made several physical modifications to the XE and sent a few out for review with some of our factory trained service representatives for testing. They did not work out as well as we wanted them to and so we're back to investigating new technology to integrate into the validator. We are working on this diligently as we understand how important this issue is. We will continue to offer updates as soon as they become available.
Please do not hesitate to call me directly at our office if you have information, suggestions, or questions about this subject or any others for that matter.
Thank you.
mjc3333
Member
Hamilton needs a better validator
I have used Hamilton changers for 21 years and counting. I feel Hamilton needs to take a long look at thier validator lineup. I stayed with the Hamilton validator through thick and thin until I could not take it anymore. I use a different validator now. Everything else in the machine is easy to fix and for the most part trouble free. I had all of the different validators over the years HVII, HV-7, HVX, STA, and the XE. All were strung...repeatedly. Good quality machine, very bad validator.
teamplex65
Member
I love the Hamilton but the validator is horrible. They are the pickiest bill acceptors I have ever seen (number 1 complaint at the wash). yet when i call them they act like they have never heard of that complaint before.
washtubman, we were strung 1 year ago. we disabled the refund button to stop stringing, and have had no complaints.
washtubman, we were strung 1 year ago. we disabled the refund button to stop stringing, and have had no complaints.
mjc3333
Member
Score Mars 1 XE 0
If you can switch to a Mars validator you will be pleasently suprised at how NON picky they can be. I switched 11 XE validators 7 years ago to Mars amd will NEVER go back to the XE. Do not call them to ask their opinion, they do not care. Like I said before, Hamilton needs to take a long look at thier XE STA validators, or 'punt' and go with the Mars.
Hey All -
Thanks for the replies to this post.
Teamplex - I'm sorry to hear that you are having issues. I can assure you that after 25 years of manufacturing and supporting a bill acceptor we have heard pretty much everything. There are times when a new form of stringing, tampering or vandalism starts and in that case, yes it may be true that we have not seen or heard of that prior to a given phone call. But other than that, there is not much that we haven't heard.
I would be happy to look into the issues that you are having with your validator. Feel free to contact me at the office directly.
Also, as just an update we are continuing to look at any and all possible resolutions to the issues of stringing. Over the past year we have noticed a new form of bill manipulation. It took a while to figure out because we didn't have any video for quite some time. Once we were able to see what the criminals were doing, we started looking for new technology and possible changes to the bill acceptor. Just as soon as we have something to report, I will make sure that it is posted here and we will send information directly to our customers.
In the meantime, I am always available for question, comments or whatever else you may need.
Thanks.
Brad Quay
Vice President of Sales
Thanks for the replies to this post.
Teamplex - I'm sorry to hear that you are having issues. I can assure you that after 25 years of manufacturing and supporting a bill acceptor we have heard pretty much everything. There are times when a new form of stringing, tampering or vandalism starts and in that case, yes it may be true that we have not seen or heard of that prior to a given phone call. But other than that, there is not much that we haven't heard.
I would be happy to look into the issues that you are having with your validator. Feel free to contact me at the office directly.
Also, as just an update we are continuing to look at any and all possible resolutions to the issues of stringing. Over the past year we have noticed a new form of bill manipulation. It took a while to figure out because we didn't have any video for quite some time. Once we were able to see what the criminals were doing, we started looking for new technology and possible changes to the bill acceptor. Just as soon as we have something to report, I will make sure that it is posted here and we will send information directly to our customers.
In the meantime, I am always available for question, comments or whatever else you may need.
Thanks.
Brad Quay
Vice President of Sales
Validators
MJC - Thank you for your post.
I can appreciate your point of view. I believe that I may have worked with you all those years ago.
In response to your comment I can only say that yes in deed we do care, which is why we made the decision a number of years ago to give our customers the option of using Hamilton, Mars, Coinco, Conlux, and Iowa Changers validators. And as if that weren't enough, there are some more options in the works that will hopefully be available soon.
We will always continue to work on improving our bill acceptor. But if that' not your validator of choice, we will continue to offer alternatives.
Thanks again for your post.
Brad Quay
Vice Preseident of Sales
MJC - Thank you for your post.
I can appreciate your point of view. I believe that I may have worked with you all those years ago.
In response to your comment I can only say that yes in deed we do care, which is why we made the decision a number of years ago to give our customers the option of using Hamilton, Mars, Coinco, Conlux, and Iowa Changers validators. And as if that weren't enough, there are some more options in the works that will hopefully be available soon.
We will always continue to work on improving our bill acceptor. But if that' not your validator of choice, we will continue to offer alternatives.
Thanks again for your post.
Brad Quay
Vice Preseident of Sales
teamplex65
Member
With the investment I have in tokennotes and the unclaimed ones I have in circulation it is impossible for me to switch.
The answer is always "switch to MARS". I'm sorry, the answer for me isnt always "buy something new" these things are way to expensive to just throw away and buy a MARS validator.
The thing that bothers me the most is when I called twice last week I was told both times that they have never had a complain of the bills being rejected after taking them. I find it odd that I have 3 bad validators. No solutions, just that I should send them in and get them cleaned (even though they have done it since day 1)
The answer is always "switch to MARS". I'm sorry, the answer for me isnt always "buy something new" these things are way to expensive to just throw away and buy a MARS validator.
The thing that bothers me the most is when I called twice last week I was told both times that they have never had a complain of the bills being rejected after taking them. I find it odd that I have 3 bad validators. No solutions, just that I should send them in and get them cleaned (even though they have done it since day 1)
Teamplex - First off I'm sorry to address you by your call sign here but since I'm not sure who I'm talking to it's a little difficult otherwise.
Please understand that my response was not meant to send you to anyone else. I would like to work with you to improve the situation. If you would kindly email me your wash information I can look up our notes and history with you so I have a starting point to work from.
Just to make sure that I understood what you said below though, the validator accepts the bills and then rejects them? Does the machine issue credit for the bill and give change and then reject?
Obviously trying to read into the problem this way is difficult.
Let's work together to improve this situation.
Sincerely,
Brad Quay
Vice President of Sales
Please understand that my response was not meant to send you to anyone else. I would like to work with you to improve the situation. If you would kindly email me your wash information I can look up our notes and history with you so I have a starting point to work from.
Just to make sure that I understood what you said below though, the validator accepts the bills and then rejects them? Does the machine issue credit for the bill and give change and then reject?
Obviously trying to read into the problem this way is difficult.
Let's work together to improve this situation.
Sincerely,
Brad Quay
Vice President of Sales
teamplex65
Member
First off - washtubman, I apologize for hi-jacking your thread
Brad - My name is Steve and I will email you the information I have for my validators and try to explain the issue to you along with the error codes that show when the bills are rejected.
Brad - My name is Steve and I will email you the information I have for my validators and try to explain the issue to you along with the error codes that show when the bills are rejected.
mjc3333
Member
I felt the same way for at least 10 years. Why should I have to switch to a different validator, when Hamilton makes such good quality machines? There were 3 main reasons for the switch to Mars. 1 acceptance 2 anti-stringing, 3 updates for future bill changes. Some were more important than others. I ended up switching 11 machines from the XE to the Mars. I still use 3 XE validators for cash to token only. I also invested a lot of $$ in token notes. Mars does have a "similar" note or coupon, however, the price is astronomical. I chose to stay with the Hamilton token notes. So far I have not had any major problems with "losing" tokens in the XE machine, but that is attributed to vending tokens only for now. Right now the only glitch in the XE for me is the kicker foot getting hung up when validating a bill. If the kicker foot hangs up too long the validator thinks it's being strung and steals the bill and shuts down the machine. This really hurts on a busy day. Contact a good repair center outside of Hamilton. They usually get the inside info on stringing attempts before Hamilton. Make sure you have the latest updates on the XE's. For me it is a 20-1 ratio on validator reapirs and problems. For every 20 XE reapirs / problems, I have maybe 1 Mars issue.
