Cola wars!

[MinisterofDOOM]

Not Pepsi vs Coke, though (though that's a valid topic).

Vending machine wars.

There's a vending machine downstairs from my office. I drink a lot of coke, so I use the vending machine pretty often. Since I started working here years ago, the drinks (cans thank goodness) have always been $0.50.

Again, I drink a LOT of coke. I buy anywhere from 1-6 cans a night.

A while back everyone at the office got an email asking if they'd like to see variety increased. No details as to what the new variety would be, though. They also noted that prices might have to increase if they were to broaden the choices in the machine. I said no. I only care about coke and want it cheap.

Several months after the letter, a new machine appears downstairs one night. (Magic!)

The first thing I notice is that the machine is BRIGHT.The second thing I noticed is that it sounds like Mother, the ship's computer onboard the Nostromo in Alien. You know the scene where Ripley goes into the many-sided room with tons of flashy lights and finds out why they're at the planet? The computer makes all these awesome sci-fi chucka-clicka-thunka-whirra-knocka-chucka-chucka noises while it's thinking. That's EXACTLY what this vending machine sounds like.It obviously has some belt delivery system inside that makes all the noise. It also takes ages to actually deliver the drink after you press the button.

But onto the third thing I noticed:Cans of coke are now $0.65. ARG. What a stupid price. Now I have to have nickels on me. And more irritating, I can't get two cokes for a buck.

I thought of the letter's note that prices might go up with new variety. So I checked out the new drinks. A bunch of those "fitness" water drinks and crap. But the asinine thing is that they all cost $1.25. So why am I paying more for them to pay more for drinks I'm not buying? WTF?

Anyway, I fully expect profits from the vending machine to plummet now. I've started keeping a case of coke in my office. I stick a couple in the fridge every night. That's 1-6 cans of coke per day the vending machine won't be selling. Try having your omelette now, Denver!

[Razi]

Good thing I don't buy soft drinks.

[ADDirishboy]

YEA! You stick it to those coke machine nazi bastards!

[Ilvemynissan]

I would just go down there a couple times a day and unplug it.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I would just go down there a couple times a day and unplug it.

Hmmm...interesting idea.

[Beancooker]

Chris, you rock.

[Jesda]

Do they permit a mini-fridge on your desk at work?

[Razi]

I used to steal drinks from soda machines :\.I stopped doing it ever since I stopped drinking them.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Do they permit a mini-fridge on your desk at work?

Nope. We do, however, have a kitchen with a full-size fridge right in the next room, so that works nicely.

[bmike818]

If you moved up to 2 liter bottles imagine how much more money you can save.

Seriuosly its the cost of the new machine. Just remember if the sodas don't sell and you ran out of coke, and gave in and got a coke from the machine it might be past the drink by date. I hate it when it happens to me. I don't drink or eat anything after the best before date.

[fun240]

Well apparently with all that "Reveune" theygot from you buying cokes THE COMPANY decided "Oh, Lets stick this here and raise the price." I've noticed over the years, people tend to spend as less money as they can while at work - Having a family and all. So, Now that the price has increased, i'm sure the old machine will have its glory one day. Or the machine will be removed all together, maybe a price drop? Wait till March. Bet it'll be gone.

6pack on it.

[jdansmith]

Ah yes, boy cot you say? Speak with your dollar! We had a food machine at work that had crappy food, over priced and out of date a lot of the time. This machine was the only one that would take a dollar and it also made chance for a five. The problem with said machine was it gave the gold dollar as change and none of the other machines would take them. One day a guy got a sandwich that was so moldy it looked like it had hair!! I unplugged the machine, called the company and left a message for them to see me when they came in. After two weeks of waiting and leaving messages and being avoided plus having the machine filled on a shift other than mine I broke the prongs off the plug in. I called the home office for the company I worked for and told the story, sent pics. of the hairy sandwich and they voided the contract for the vending company.

[Axel Grungy]

1-6 cans a night??!! say hello to diabetes for me, or diabeetus

[MinisterofDOOM]

I buy up to 6 cans a night. I don't DRINK that many.

[krimsonviper]

So why do you buy that many a night then?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Like I said, there's a fridge. Sometimes I stick a couple in for later. When the cans were 50 cents a dollar bought 2. Dollar bill=2 cokes. Buy two now, save a trip later. Also, a lot of times one of us will buy cokes for other person in the office, so sometimes I'd grab 3 and 4 at a time. Since it's only 50 cents, none of us are too worried about paying for each other's drinks...it all comes back around. I said 1-6 and not just 6 for a reason: 6 is the extreme.

[krimsonviper]

Sharing? This does not sound very DOOM like of you. What happened, I'm worried?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Being nice to people requires so much less effort. I've always said you should let everyone think they're your friend. It greatly simplifies life. Even some of my most notable enemies consider me to be a good friend. I do nothing to change that perspective. An enemy who who ignores you is less troublesome than an enemy who is confrontational. Plus I now have the upper hand should I wish to put anything into motion against them.And especially when you're talking about the workplace, where tolerability depends entirely upon coexistence, maintaining a workable relationship with coworkers is key. Even if I hated someone I worked with, I'd make sure they saw me as a friend. It would make my life at work easier and more enjoyable.

Despite the above, the dude I work with most of the week is a (real, not strategic) friend, so I don't have to worry about any of that at work, really.

[krimsonviper]

<('.'<) ^('.')^ (>'.')>~(I FARTED)
Modified by krimsonviper at 5:28 AM 12/4/2008

[D-Maxima]

The one at my work has given me two cokes for one the last two times I've been there. I was quite pleased!

[marlin29311]

Like I said, there's a fridge. Sometimes I stick a couple in for later. When the cans were 50 cents a dollar bought 2. Dollar bill=2 cokes. Buy two now, save a trip later. Also, a lot of times one of us will buy cokes for other person in the office, so sometimes I'd grab 3 and 4 at a time. Since it's only 50 cents, none of us are too worried about paying for each other's drinks...it all comes back around. I said 1-6 and not just 6 for a reason: 6 is the extreme.

The local supermarket is your friend....just buy a fridge pack and chuck it in the fridge - ooo the savings!

[drksolest]

If you moved up to 2 liter bottles imagine how much more money you can save.

[dusred]

When you said up to 6 cans of Coke a day I thought of that commercial where to dude pounds down a Pepsi and then pepsi starts coming out of his piercings all over his face. LOL

[MinisterofDOOM]

If you moved up to 2 liter bottles imagine how much more money you can save.

Plastic containers are not an option.

The local supermarket is your friend....just buy a fridge pack and chuck it in the fridge - ooo the savings!

Not enough room in the fridge. It's a company fridge, everyone uses it. It's FULLLLLL. But I do keep 12 packs at my desk and throw a can or 2 at a time in the fridge.

[S133P3R]

To boycott the new prices in your machine, I recommend making it impossible for anyone else to receive change from above said coke machine. To do this you will need to buy some cokes and you will end up with a ton of change (great for snack machines).... buy a few cokes using $5 bills and you will receive the full change amount in coins, the machine will start either rounding the price up or stop vending till the coins are refilled. Get a Piggy Bank.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Eh, I'm not really concerned with boycotting. It just came up as a potential nice side-effect of me saving money not using the machine anymore. Plus I HATE coin currency, so that's probably the biggest thing. If I can't pay with a bill, screw it.

[IanS]

This happened to me as well.

about 2 years ago they raised the price of 20oz bottles from the pepsi machine in the shop from $1 to $1.25. We all bitched and moaned, but we continued to buy soda. Two months ago, when they came to fill the machine, they hung up a notice saying machine prices would be raising. Less then a week later, there it was, $1.50 for a 20oz bottle. This was the last straw, everyone in the shop decided to boycott the machine.

Last week, right before I moved to a new shop, they came and removed the machine from the premises. Apparently they were tired of throwing out expired pop.

Where were we getting our fix of caffeine you ask? The Kennedy Transmission next door has a can machine that still only charges 50 cents a can. 24oz of surgar for $1 instead of 20oz for a $1.50.

The vending company really shot themselves in the foot, that machine was moving at least 10 bottles a day.

[weird240]

with working at a shop with agas station attached to it is ok, the soda is still over priced so i just make a friendly trip over to the rainbow behind the station and grab my self a 24 pack with a coupon 4 5.99 of dew!

bring it back to the shop and load up the minnie fridge on my box!

[hachiroku781]

i know how to hack the new glass coke bottle machines. two coke 20oz for 1 dollar for the win. one time i had an epic fail and spent 3 dollars on 1 coke though

[Bronze MFP]

coke habits are expensive, get off the junk