Coke sues ex-vending machine partner
Oh crud!
By Christopher Seward
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Updated: 6:57 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, 2014 | Posted: 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014
A court battle is under way between Coca-Cola and a company that makes it possible for you to use a debit or credit to buy a soft drink out of a vending machine.
Coca-Cola Refreshments wants USA Technologies Inc. to return nearly $1 million in fees collected from Coke vending machines after the two parted ways two years ago, according to a lawsuit filed recently in federal court in Atlanta.
CCR, the U.S. bottling and fountain operations of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, said Malvern, Pa.-based USA Technologies failed to disconnect its card-reading devices on Coke vending machines and continued to collect monthly fees as if it were still servicing the devices and processing transactions.
Coca-Cola’s website says the beverage giant has “hundreds of thousands” of vending machines, including tens of thousands that are in the process of being outfitted with credit/debit card readers.
The extent of CCR’s agreement with USA Technologies was not available, including the number of vending machines under USA Technologies’ control.
While the lawsuit does not provide a dollar figure for the original agreement, it says USA Technologies received 5 percent of a vending machine’s monthly proceeds as a service fee and then “a percentage” for processing transactions after soft drinks were purchased. The remainder of the “cash-free revenue” was turned over to CCR, the suit says.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit doesn’t say why CCR began terminating USA Technologies’ services in late 2012.
CCR said it has repeatedly demanded its money, and it wants a jury to decide the case.
USA Technologies has not responded to a request for comment.
