Reviews

As you do your due diligence on our company you will likely turn to online reviews of people who have started a business with us. As you do so we caution you to remember that the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is the only source that has verified reviews are from actual customers of ours. Google does not verify reviews and anyone can post anything. 94% of customer reviews there are positive and there also non-customers repeating what they read somewhere else and even bogus reviews posted by a competitor. Other “review sites” contain mostly bogus reviews. These bogus reviews were traced to the home of the owner of another healthy vending company. Even though we have labeled some of these reviews as fraudulent and part of a lawsuit against this competitor some are still out there.

While our BBB reviews are mostly positive (20 of 23) there are three negative reviews by actual customers. In addition to learning from the experience of those posting positive reviews we believe you can learn from the negative reviews as well. As you will see in our responses to these reviews you will find a common theme. While we provide franchise level support we do not impose franchise mandates forcing customers to attend training and follow best practices. So, those not working the business will struggle. Here are a few examples of this principle:

Example 1

Location Process

The location process will be slowed down immensely if the new business owner does not work in their own best interest. Specifically they will lose great locations if they:

Don’t attend the scheduled wrap-up meeting with the location decision-maker.
Don’t learn the answers to the basic questions a decision-maker may ask and as a result look unprepared and unprofessional. The questions are very simple and so are the answers. It is all mapped out.
Are not present at the delivery of the machine – a time they set up.
Don’t keep the machine filled with product – even though they can see 24/7, real-time in the cloud exactly what is happening with each machine and when any product in any machine is running low.

Example 2

Income & ROI

Their income and ROI will be slowed down immensely if they:

Fill their machines with the starter product list and then never cycle through different products and flavors. Each machine should be filled with what that location buys the most of. This process is taught in detail at our Healthy YOUniversity training but they have to do the work to follow it. We can’t do that for them.
Don’t identify to us that they have a slow location. If they have followed the process of maximizing revenue and are still not hitting the numbers they are looking for they SHOULD contact us so we can find a new location for them – it is part of our relocation guarantee. But they have to tell us they need it.

Example 3

The Machine

They will struggle with the machine, feeling there are “machine problems” if:

They skip machine training and don’t review the machine operation videos on the support site.
They don’t adjust the drink section properly. An increasing number of healthy drink makers are using glass bottles. We vend these directly from the bottom of the machine so they do not drop from a coil like a typical glass front vending machine. The machine can be easily adjusted to fit the height and weight of a glass bottle for proper delivery. But if that row is then used later for a non-glass bottle, that row must be readjusted or the new can or bottle will not vend properly. The vast majority of “machine problems” are simply a failure to adjust.

Quality Machines

Our machine is made in the US (Illinois) and is the highest quality machine in the healthy vending industry. In fact we provide a lifetime warranty where a one year warranty is the norm. We designed our machine and had our manufacturer, Seaga, build it for us. It is one of the highest quality machines Seaga makes. Seaga will also make machines of lesser quality – because they also build machines for other companies with different requirements – some of which are cost-cutting requirements that can lead to lesser quality machines. There is a big difference in quality between a Toyota Yaris and a Lexus but both are made by the same company. One of our customers who has grown his business to over 100 of our machines said in his BBB review – “I have found the machines to be very dependable and the five machines I started with in 2013 are still in service today, running great.”

Full-time Coaches

We are the only healthy vending company to have full-time coaches working with business owners. They run their own healthy vending businesses on the side as well. Coaching helps business owners with the vast majority of questions they have but business owners also work with other members of our support team like technical support and software support. Our coaches are not “passing the buck” when they enlist technical and software support specialists. We connect an owner with the team member that can best help them with their question.

Pricing

Occasionally we will also hear from someone who feels our machines are overpriced – even though our program is $2,000/machine less than our main competitor. Our program with machines, location assistance, support, coaching, training, software etc. certainly costs more than just machines. We don’t sell machines. We help people start a business with franchise-level support.

History of Success

Over our 24 years in business we have helped many people start their own healthy vending business. With many companies there are typically three times as many negative reviews as positive reviews. This is not the case with our company. Twenty of the 23 BBB reviews are positive and on Google, of the 62 reviews by actual customers, 58 are positive. I am not aware of any franchise or business opportunity that can match that record.

We Work with Entrepreneurs, not Franchisees

We do all we can to coach, help, and even push owners to do things the right way, but we can’t force them to do so. We work with entrepreneurs and not franchisees. We teach best practices – those things that we KNOW will help each owner be more financially successful. But it is up to each person to decide how diligent they will be in THEIR business. We don’t collect royalties like franchises do. Since we only make money again if people expand, and our customers will only expand if they like results we helped them get with their initial investment, we are in fact, even more motivated than a franchise to help our customers succeed. Two way communication there is of course very important.

Signs of Success

It only takes about one hour per week per machine to run a successful healthy vending business we help you develop. How dedicated a person is to their own business success is made clear when they exit the business. People working the business pass their successful business onto their children or grandchildren or they sell the entire business for a profit. People not working the business sell their machines for a loss. Reviews by our customers online are overwhelming positive but it can be concerning to read a negative review by a business owner and unfortunately frustrated people are not always accurate in their review and typically do not accept any responsibility for any of the challenges they may have experienced. We know some of our negative reviews have come from people not engaging our program as we recommend. Others are from non-customers or even a competitor. Let us know if you read something online that concerns you and we will address it specifically.

We will work as hard for your success as you do, and look forward to helping you determine if our non-traditional model is right for you.

Click here to read reviews from Actual HealthyYOU Business Owners.

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