Quick Response: Break ins/burglary with coleman 12x18 SS metal doors

[John_Thomas]

Ok guys,

I get broken into about once a year. The thieves use a crowbar and punch through the bill accepter to get leverage and pull door open every time. It used to be a single bay but now they are hitting multiple bays. My question is would it be better to just not have bill acceptors and just take quarters? Has anyone done ths and if so has it helped any? Every time is hundreds of dollars to order new doors, locks, and stickers. All opinions would be appreciated. I got hit ;ast night and now have to figure out what is best in fixing the damage so a quick response would be helpful

John

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

It used to be a single bay but now they are hitting multiple bays.

I interpret this to mean that the thief is now completely comfortable robbing you, and will be back, so IMO anything you do short of either catching him or scaring him off will not stop him.
I'd put in cameras and big "24 hour surveillance" signs.
Specifically regarding the bill accepters in the bays, I think concensus is that they can be finicky but are worthwhile. Well, thats my opinion anyway.

FYI I got robbed last year, they cut open my ER door with power tools. Now I have cameras.

 

[Randy]

We’ve had the same problem. We no longer repair or replace the validators in the bays. As they go bad we block the validator hole. Having bill validators in the bays is nice but they are also a prime target for the thieves. We also pull the money from the vaults more often, every other day, the vac’s we pull every day. I know some operators who only pull there coin vaults once or twice a month, when they get hit it’s a big payday for the thieves. You’d think they’d learn and pull the money more often, nope they keep doing the same thing. We had them try to burn a lock off on Saturday night with a torch. There was only about 75 dollar tokens and $25 in quarters in the coin vault.

 

[John_Thomas]

Paul, I have 14 cameras on my site and maybe I wasnt clear enough in my post. They are not the same people over and over again. I actually bought a license plate recognition camera the last time it happened and I happen to have gotten their plate number from last night.

The thing Im concerned with is If I go without validators is if it will cause more problems or if it helps any. I get broken into about once a year.

Thanks for feedback so far!

 

[MEP001]

IMO you might lose a very small amount of revenue from the people who overpay with larger bills, but I doubt you'd lose enough to really notice. Obviously your changer use will go up so you ought to prepare for that, if you have a double changer maybe switch one side to tokens with a small bonus at $10 or $20 or dispense dollar coins to not have to handle as many quarters.