Products and Processes for Addressing a Customer Service Issue

1 . A method comprising:

receiving, from a customer, a request for a product to be dispensed by a vending machine, in which the request indicates a first product;

providing a plurality of selectable menu options, each of which defines at least one customer service issue;

receiving, from the customer, a selection of at least one of the menu options, thereby defining an indication of a customer service issue;

determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue; and

providing, to the customer, an offer for a second product that is not the first product.

2 . The method of claim 1 , in which providing an offer comprises:

providing an offer for one of

the second product, and

a refund.

3 . The method of claim 1 , in which providing an offer for the second product comprises:

determining that a sales velocity of the second product is less than a threshold.

4 . The method of claim 1 , in which determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue comprises:

determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue based on sales velocity of the second product.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the first product is unable to be dispensed from the vending machine; and

disabling the ability to request the first product.

6 . A method comprising:

receiving, from a customer, a request for a product to be dispensed by a vending machine, in which the request indicates a first product;

determining that the vending machine has malfunctioned.

providing a plurality of selectable menu options, each of which defines at least one customer service issue;

receiving, from the customer, a selection of at least one of the menu options, thereby defining an indication of a customer service issue;

determining that a sales velocity of a second product is less than a threshold; and

determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue based on the sales velocity; and

providing, to the customer, a compensation code that is redeemable for the second product.

7 . A method comprising:

receiving, from a customer, a request for a product to be dispensed by a vending machine;

determining that a customer service issue exists;

determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue; and

providing a resolution to the customer, in which the resolution includes providing an offer for a second product other than a first product indicated by the request.

8 . The method of claim 7 , in which determining that a customer service issue exists comprises:

receiving, from the customer, an indication of a customer service issue.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

providing a plurality of selectable menu options, each of which defines at least one customer service issue;

and in which

receiving, from the customer, an indication of a customer service issue comprises:

receiving, from the customer, a selection of at least one of the menu options.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining diagnostic data of the vending machine; and

determining, based of the diagnostic data, at least one of the plurality of selectable menu options.

11 . The method of claim 7 , in which determining that a customer service issue exists comprises:

determining that the vending machine has malfunctioned.

12 . The method of claim 11 , in which

the request includes

an indication of a first product to be dispensed, and in which

determining that the vending machine has malfunctioned comprises:

determining that the vending machine has failed to dispense the first product.

13 . The method of claim 12 , in which

determining that the vending machine has failed to dispense the first product comprises:

determining that the vending machine has dispensed a product that is not the first product.

14 . The method of claim 11 , in which

determining that the vending machine has malfunctioned comprises:

determining that the vending machine has not processed payment correctly.

15 . The method of claim 14 , in which

determining that the vending machine has not processed payment correctly comprises:

determining that the vending machine has not properly credited payment that is tendered by the customer.

16 . The method of claim 14 , in which

determining that the vending machine has not processed payment correctly comprises:

determining that the vending machine has not properly dispensed payment that is due to the customer.

17 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining diagnostic data of the vending machine.

18 . The method of claim 17 , in which determining diagnostic data of the vending machine comprises at least one of:

assessing data in a database;

receiving an indication of a customer service issue from a customer;

generating an image of at least a portion of the vending machine; and

receiving data from a sensor that is operable to sense a condition of the vending machine.

19 . The method of claim 7 , in which providing a resolution to the vending machine customer comprises at least one of:

providing to the customer a product other than a product indicated by the request;

providing the customer with money via the vending machine;

establishing a credit balance of the vending machine;

applying credit toward a customer account of the customer;

providing a compensation code to the customer;

providing to the customer a voucher that is redeemable for a benefit from the vending machine;

providing to the customer a voucher that is redeemable for a benefit from another vending machine; and

providing to the customer a voucher that is redeemable for a product from a retail store.

20 . The method of claim 7 , in which providing an offer for a second product other than a first product indicated by the request comprises:

providing an offer for one of

the second product other than the first product indicated by the request, and a refund.

21 . The method of claim 7 , in which providing an offer for a second product other than a first product indicated by the request comprises:

determining that a sales velocity of the second product is less than a threshold; and

providing an offer for the second product.

22 . The method of claim 7 , in which determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue comprises:

determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue based on coin inventory.

23 . The method of claim 7 , in which determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue comprises:

determining whether to provide a resolution to the customer service issue based on sales velocity of a product.

24 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining that a third product is unable to be dispensed from the vending machine; and

disabling the ability of a customer to request the third product.

25 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

recording data associated with the customer service issue; and

determining a unique identifier for the customer service issue.

26 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

determining a resolution based on the recorded data; and

communicating an indication of the determined to the customer.

27 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

receiving information which identifies the customer.

28 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

outputting, to the customer, the unique. Identifier.

29 . The method of claim 25 , in which outputting, to the customer, the unique identifier comprises:

displaying an alphanumeric code.

30 . The method of claim 7 , in which recording data associated with the customer service issue comprises:

determining diagnostic data of the vending machine;

recording the diagnostic data.