The Surprising ROI Behind Customer Service in Vending
What businesses are learning
Greg Elisara
Improving customer service in unattended is one of the most reliable ways for operators boost revenue, work more efficiently, and strengthen client relationships. This article explores the real ROI drivers behind better customer communication, using lessons from Trolley House Refreshments to illustrate how small operational improvements can create meaningful business impact.
Sticky notes, handwritten complaints (and angry phone messages): how customer feedback used to reach operators before tools like ZippyAssist streamlined the process.
In unattended retail, Return on Investment doesn’t always come from sweeping operational changes or big capital investments. Often it’s the simple, structural improvements — the ones that tighten communication, reduce friction, and give teams better visibility — that shift a business forward.
ZippyAssist sits squarely in that category. Yes, it helps customers report issues and request refunds. But the real impact shows up deeper in the business: in faster awareness of problems, clearer workflows, fewer unnecessary refunds, stronger account relationships, and a customer experience that just feels better.
Recently, the team at Trolley House Refreshments in Virginia talked about how these improvements have played out in their operation. Their comments mirrored what we see across hundreds of operators — and serve as helpful real-world examples of the ROI themes that consistently emerge.
Let’s break those down.
Check out our ROI page for Return on Investment details and calculations.
1. Faster reporting = less lost revenue
Even with today’s equipment tech, when something stops working you may not know right away. In the meantime, your business is silently losing sales: product sits, coolers warm up, machines stay out of service longer than necessary.
A big part of ROI is simply reducing the reporting delay — giving customers an easy, direct way to say: “Hey, something’s wrong over here.”
Most customers using unattended retail accept that instant fixes aren’t usually possible. But they do expect to be heard when they experience a problem. Trolley House described how this used to go: after-hours voicemails, paper notes taped to machines, unclear messages that sometimes didn’t reach the right person.
Once they added ZippyAssist, the reporting gap tightened dramatically. Customers who needed help could reach the team in seconds. And because issues were logged immediately — and visible to everyone — service calls were dispatched faster and equipment downtime dropped.
As Austin from their team put it:
“In the past, the only time we got a review, it was negative. Now, the feedback we get — I’d say 90% of the time — is, ‘This was so helpful.’”
Across operators, reducing reporting delays typically translates into a 50–75% reduction in lost revenue. The math is simple: the sooner you know, the sooner you can fix an issue so sales keep flowing..
Across operators, reducing reporting delays typically translates into a 50–75% reduction in lost revenue. The math is simple: the sooner you know, the sooner you can fix an issue so sales keep flowing..
2. Better service efficiency = more time for the work that matters
Every operator has a version of the same story: things come flying at you all day, every day — calls, emails, texts, internal messages, customer complaints. The friction isn’t just the volume; it’s the fragmentation.
ROI appears quickly when you centralize that flow.
For Trolley House, this was immediate. A notification comes in — and the whole team sees it. Account managers, service techs, route managers, operations… everyone has the same information, in the same place, at the same time.
Jason put it simply:
“I can open the dashboard in the morning and get a clear picture of everything — complaints, refunds, follow-ups, all in one view.”
This reduces the time wasted checking voicemail boxes, updating spreadsheets, relaying messages, or manually piecing together what happened. Across operators, the impact commonly shows up as 25–75% less time spent supporting customers, and more time available for strategic work.
It also improves internal coordination. As Wendy shared:
“Before, someone had to listen to voicemails, then re-enter the information. Now the whole team is looped in instantly.”
Centralization isn’t glamorous, but it’s powerful.
3. A more structured refund process reduces refunds (and improves decision-making)
Refunds aren’t just a cost issue — they’re a clarity issue. When the process is messy or undocumented, two things happen:
Customers default to asking for refunds even when they’re not needed, and
Operators don’t have enough information to confidently approve or deny requests.
A structured system changes that dynamic completely.
One immediate benefit is handling temporary card holds. Customers often mistake these for charges, but when ZippyAssist explains them clearly and sends automatic reminders, most of those requests disappear. As Trolley House put it:
“The pre-auth explanation alone wipes out half — sometimes more — of our refund requests.”
But the impact goes further.
Because every refund request is logged and visible, operators suddenly have real accountability and better data. You can spot recurring patterns, identify customers who request refunds frequently, and make more informed decisions on the spot. This isn’t about being strict — it’s about being accurate.
Jason summed it up well:
“Before, people could take advantage of the situation because we didn’t have the full picture. Now we get the actual information.”
Customers feel that shift too. When there’s a structured process — not a voicemail, not a handwritten note on a machine — they’re less likely to submit questionable requests. The transparency itself reduces noise.
All of this adds up to a much healthier workflow:
Fewer unnecessary refunds to begin with
Faster decisions when refunds are needed
Clear explanations for customers
A documented trail that supports good service and protects against abuse
Across operators we typically see a 30–60% drop in refund volume — not because service becomes less generous, but because the entire process becomes clearer, fairer, and harder to misuse.
4. Stronger client relationships (and a better sales story)
Good communication is the foundation of strong account relationships. And strong account relationships are the insurance policy against churn.
When issues are documented, resolved quickly, and visible to both sides, trust builds. Account managers can see trends, spot problems early, and walk into client conversations backed by data rather than anecdotes.
Neil, on the sales side of the Trolley House discussion, put it plainly:
“There are so many situations where you lose a customer because of lack of communication.”
An organized system turns that around. Instead of defensively reacting to complaints, operators can be proactive: Here’s what happened. Here’s when we knew. Here’s what we did.
This transparency doesn’t just protect accounts — it helps win new ones too. Prospects respond well to operators who demonstrate a visible, repeatable process for customer care. It’s a differentiator in RFPs and pitches, and we regularly hear operators say ZippyAssist helped them land quality new accounts where previously they’d struggled — it gave them a key differentiator based on service rather than price.
When you show how issues are handled — not just promise it — the trust equation changes.
Across businesses on ZippyAssist, we commonly see:
25–50% improvement in new account win rate, and
Higher account retention, especially in competitive markets
The takeaway: ROI shows up in more places than you expect
The real value of smarter customer support isn’t just cleaner data or fewer refunds. It’s the way these small improvements compound across an operation:
Less downtime
Fewer administrative loops
Better communication between teams
A smoother customer experience
Happier clients
Less noise
And a clearer, more confident workflow for everyone
Trolley House’s experience is one example, but their comments echo what we hear across the industry. When communication becomes structured, visible, and easy for both sides, the business moves forward — in ways that are measurable, and in ways that simply make work feel lighter.
That’s the ROI story: steady, practical improvements that add up quickly and stick around.
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