Has anyone used these guys??

[Ltransam]

 I Just Want To Say I reserve the Right to Bite my Tongue !!

   I can Forgive !   But NOT FORGET !!!  And I know Others . That Cant Either . And I know People that Were saying the samething untill NOW

[BrianB]

I was just relaying the facts, just the facts.

I'm not in the business of bad mouthing people just for the sake of bad mouthing, period. If I have had a negative customer service experience and an individual asks an open ended question in reference to the service provided, I will relay my experience. This all happend in 2004.

Do I dislike Alan or Antiquities Vending? No. Alan seems like a great guy. Did I dislike the service I received at the time? Yes. Did Alan work with me on the phone toward a viable solution? Yes. Did that solution work? No.

So, there you have it. I paid for a service, it wasn't done satisfactorily and the follow up customer service was lacking. When you ship a deck and have all expectations of receiving:

#1 - A working deck (My deck need a filter and a recharge)
When I got it back it no longer worked even with the cut lines resoldered and a new line filter. Was there any testing done?

#2 - A deck that wasn't damaged in shipping due to poor return packaging
I sent my deck mounted to a piece of 3/4" plywood and it was boxed to the max. I received in return a box that looked like it had been through some serious stuff. Granted that could be a function of poor handling. But...... The deck wasn't bolted to the plywood anymore and it was loosely packed in foam peanuts which caused the 30lb metal deck to slosh around in the box and damage the refrigerant lines, and the thermostat and related capillary sensor tube.

#3 - A deck that wasn't cosmetically beat-up
I shipped it in a cosmetically "restored" state. The deck, compressor and shrouding had been stripped down and repainted, copper tubing polished. Everything looked really sweet. When I got it back it was scratched up, dinged up and the shrouding was dented. Not normal handling damage at all.

I worked on the phone with Alan and he was very apologetic about the condition of the deck and even overnight shipped me a new thermostat at no cost to fix that problem. I thanked him for that. But, as to the inadequate packaging and serious damage to the other lines. There was no answer, just a "sorry".

I ended up having to ship the deck to another business and they took care of me on target and on time with 0% defects. Sure, I may have paid a little bit more but I would rather have something done right the first time that I know will work 100% of the time barring a true accident. Poor/rough handling, shoddy workmanship and poor shipping techniques aren't an accident or an anomaly. They are 100% controllable items.

Alan,  I truly appreciate the offer you extended to me for the W-44SK mishap. Unfortunately, I do not own that machine anymore. If I still owned the machine and it hadn't been repaired by another company, I would have definitely taken you up on that offer, thanks.

[TECHHI]

Just a comment on Alan.

My family visited Alan's shop a couple winters ago.  We found him working on a restoration.  He was nice enough to stop what he was doing and show us his collection, which is second to none.  Since then I have called him a few times just to ask a question.  He has never made me feel like I was wasting his time.
This guy is truly 1st Class.
James
 

[antiquevending]

 Brian B - ? (unknown name)  Again I am sorry that you had a bad experience and that you have had this on your mind for the past 6 years - I cannot recall any of this nor can I ever recall refusing any service to a customer especially to repair a damaged unit from shipping or whatever the reason.  I usually go out of my way for each and every customer. I just last month re restored a V-39 coin door for a customer for free that his youngest child scratched around the crank handle while playing in the basement. I cannot recall any instance where I would have shipped a refrigeration system that was exposed to the worm type packaging - I have received unrestored systems packed with the white worm packaging and it is a nightmare.  The worms get hung in the coil work and are impossible for me to remove all the traces of them without removing the coil work and using a high pressure sprayer. I cannot recall a time when a system was returned to a customer packaged like this - however -  I have had a few problems in the past with UPS repacking something they have damaged in shipping. I once had a vintage mountain dew sign repacked and run over with a fork lift. UPS told me they did not use fork lifts and my reply to them was "neither do I" , the sign was in perfect condition when it left my hands. UPS paid me 400.00 dollars for the sign and I was satisfied but hated to see the sign damaged. The complaints I have about UPS have been minor compaired to the great number of units I ship with them each week. Damage happens sometimes and I try to be understanding with them.

6 years is a long time and I cannot possibly turn in a claim to UPS for the repair or restoration of your system - however - I need to make some sort of am-mends with you so you and I can be satisfied. I feel bad that this has been unresolved and this is on your mind. I in no way mean to defraud you in anyway nor can I gain anything by doing such. You obviously are still doing soda machines since you are here on www.soda-machines.com with this complaint about me.

Consider this a coupon for two free restorations on two vintage soda machines you are restoring for yourself. Please feel free to contact me at anytime and let me know who you are. Send me the unrestored vintage units you need to have restored. I will restore both of these units FREE ( myself - not and never farmed out ) and return them to you with a two year warranty - Free of Charge! I hope this takes care of you.

I send money to Jim for www.soda-machines.com to keep this website going and if you are not satisfied and in turn you make this effort to report badly of me in this forum - it makes it hard for me to make the money I am sending to Jim to keep this site alive - if you know what I mean.  Sponsers are few far between for this site. I will continue to send my support to this forum and soda-machines.com and hope that one day you may have a nice word to say in regards to me. Again I am really sorry about all of this. I hope you and I can move foward and you will take this olive branch with two free restorations attached!

Alan Huffman www.antiquevending.com 828-962-9783

[Crazzy Canuck]

Holy crap!!!  I don't know you Brian nor Alan but wow! That is customer satisfaction if ya ask me.
Hopefully you 2 can come to some type of conclusion.

[cokecolaman]

Alan,

I wouldn't mind having a coupon!!!

[antiquevending]

That is the best looking original VMC 88 in your photo - I have ever seen in my life. I have an original VMC 88 in the museum - nothing like that. That machine of yours is amazing. I found a coin operated Deep Freeze about 1 month ago - I have been meaning to send photos to Jim so he can post on the site along with the Mills 98 - I need to do that Friday. 

[antiquevending]

 and thank you everyone for the positive postings.

[BrianB]

Alan,

First, I want to say thank you for your very gracious offer.

Honestly, I haven't been thinking about this over the years, it was just re-kindled a few days from the original post on this topic. I am all about moving on and putting issues behind me.  (I thought I already had!!)

Part of the reason I didn't escalate this problem when this all happened was because I was pretty angry and instead of having a blow out with you I figured it would be easier just to "move on" so to speak.

I've always loved your website and the pictures of the machines in your museum. You are truly dedicated to "The Cause"! I am also happy to hear that you have a lot of satisfied customers that are also members here at SMC.

If you don't mind, I will give you a call tomorrow. Thanks, Alan.

Brian

[SIGNGUY]

I just feel all warm and fuzzy now.. AHHHHHH
I just love Happy Endings...