The Complete Guide to Becoming A Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicer and Repairer

This book is exactly what I needed. I'm a high school senior looking at trade schools, and I had no idea what a vending machine repairer actually does all day. Chapter 1 alone sold me on the 'concrete details' promise — it walks you through a Tuesday shift like you're standing there. The salary table in Chapter 4 is worth the price alone; it showed me I could hit $50k in a few years without a degree. Actually saved me from wasting money on a generic electronics certificate.

I've been a delivery driver for six years and I'm done with it. This guide was the first thing I read that treated this career like a real trade, not a fallback. The self-assessment checklist in Chapter 2 was brutally honest — it made me realize I'm patient enough for the troubleshooting, but I need to work on my customer-facing patience. The 'Breaking In' chapter gave me a step-by-step plan I've already started following. Five stars for being real.

It's decent, but I wish it had more depth on the actual mechanical specifics. I'm mechanically inclined, so the hand-holding in Chapter 1 felt a bit slow. That said, the parts about pay and the career ceiling in Chapter 7 were eye-opening — I didn't realize that with some business sense, you could spin this into starting your own route. If you're brand new to the trades, this is a solid starting point, but it's not an advanced manual.

I've been working in warehouse logistics and I'm tired of it, so I picked this up. The 'Day in the Life' chapter (Chapter 6) is the most realistic thing I've read about any job, ever. It captures the mundane parts like the gas station coffee and the route planning, but also the genuine satisfaction of fixing a bill validator that's been jamming for a week. The networking advice in Chapter 5 is actually actionable — I already found a local operator and scheduled a shadow day.

This is the book I wish I had three years ago. As a career-changer from retail, I needed straight answers about how to get in without the military or a degree. The comparison table in Chapter 3 is brilliant — it breaks down the cost and time for every path from apprenticeship to community college. I followed the resume tips in Chapter 5 and got a call within two weeks. If you're serious, this guide will save you months of floundering.

I found the tone a little too casual for my taste, and I think it overestimates how many jobs are out there — I've sent out a dozen applications since reading it and only had one callback. That said, the salary honesty in Chapter 4 is better than anything on the government websites. It's a realistic book, and I do feel more prepared for the interview I have next week. Just don't expect it to hand you a job.

The self-assessment in Chapter 2 really made me pause. I realized that while I love working on my car and fixing stuff at home, the road-heavy nature of this job (often 60% driving) isn't for me. The book didn't try to convince me otherwise — it just laid out the facts. I can't knock it for being honest. It's a well-written guide, but it convinced me to look at more bench-type repair roles instead. Three stars because it did its job, just not the job I wanted.

Solid guide, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn't get deeper into the gaming and amusement side of the coin-op industry. I'm more interested in arcade cabinets and modern e-sports machines, and that section felt a bit thin compared to the vending machine chapters. The chapter on career advancement is spot-on though, and makes sense for someone who wants to grow beyond just turning screws. Worth a read, but not as comprehensive on the amusement side as I hoped.