Complaint Review: SODA ROUTES USA - Lenexa Kansas

Contrary to the person who posted her bad experience with Soda Routes, mine was the exact opposite. They did what they said they were going to do and delivered the service on time. I operated my route for about a year, then sold it. Some machines did great, some machines were poor performers. And, yes, the product expires, so the trick for new owners is to understand the demand for individual machines and stock the machine to that demand -- such are the strategic decisons of owning your own business. Soda routes delivers on their commitments, then it's up to the owner to ensure their new business is operating to it's fullest potential. I think it's unfair of this person to characterize Soda Routes as a scam when the crux of her argument is ultimately rooted in poor management on her end.

All machines are still in place, we are still successfully making $5 or $10 a week.  Every word I said is true, and if I have any chance to save another mother from getting ripped off, because she wanted to help her son to start a business and used all she had, I am happy.  Just do your math.  

  Our program was represented correctly and we performed as promised. Routes we build will usually require 0-2 replacements. Standard procedure is 3 months to supply new locations to give them a chance to perform which includes trying several different options to increase sales. In this case we began giving replacements after 30 days because of pressure from the client. We requested meter readings on several occasions to try to gauge the sales since we did not believe what they were reporting and without meter readings we have no way of knowing how much the machines are actually making. The client refused to give us the readings, which makes us believe the claims they make of earning $100.00 a month seem very untrue. After supplying the client all 10 locations, we sent an additional 4 locations for replacements, of the 14 sent several were of larger size requiring snack machines which were approved by the client then later declined, putting their locations in jeopardy. We also received several emails from their locations where the machines were placed complaining about the service they were receiving including empty machines, rude responses when refunds were requested, not trying suggested new products to replace the slower sellers and becoming very combative when approached with any questions or comments. Expired product is also a mystery as new product has a shelf life of 5 months (diet) and 10 months (regular drinks) and they only had their routes for a couple of months. The clients showed zero interest in putting out any effort to try to make this route successful and with any business it is necessary to give 100%, especially in the beginning stages. Some people are clearly not meant to own/operate their own business, you have to be flexible and willing to please your customers. We believe that the clients thought running a vending route would be very easy and after a couple of weeks when they realized how much effort would be required they decided to throw in the towel and claim they were treated unfairly and ask for a refund. A small commission is paid to the locations, this is clearly stated on our website and also on the location agreements that were provided to the client prior to install, the vend price is raised slightly to compensate for this expense. The clients received all of the phone conversations and email correspondence they wanted/needed, and for them to say our attitudes changed after the sale is ridiculous, we are a professional company with hundreds of satisfied customers, this accusation is totally untrue.

We originally worked with Tatyana's son in the beginning, with no problems and we were making good progress, after a short time Tatyana entered the picture with a very hostile attitude and her own ideas and demands with disregard to our suggestions of how to make her business successful. We exhausted every effort to please the clients, they would not accept our help or suggestions on what they should be doing to make their route successful and we continued to offer support and unlimited replacements (if proven they were under-performing) right up until this report was filed. It is discouraging for our office to work so hard to get good locations and promise the businesses great service only to have them contact us later to report bad service from the client, and there is not anything we can do because our hands are tied and our reputation damaged because the client provided terrible service. It is clearly stated in the purchase agreement that the client will provide. adequate service so as not to damage the reputation of our company. Tatyana would not listen to any of our instructions, she felt doing things her way would be better, we tried to offer suggestions and she didn't want our help. We warned her that they would lose their locations with the attitude she was displaying, but she didn't listen.