printer and fax rants!!!!!!!!!

[brotherman27]

Hello everyone, is there any brother techs. on here? And if so what do you think about the brother MFC's (3420, 5100, ect.) I don't work on the lower end brothers so I dunno how good they are. What does everyone think about the printhead problem (ME41)? I can tell you this, I get sick and tired of having to tell customers that purchased their machines from office depot that it will cost about the same price to fix their machine for what they could buy a new one for. And then the customer bitch** at me!!. Is it just me, or are you all having to endure this to? I could go on for hours about printer and fax problems that I have found. And maby I will, but not right now. Is there anybody out there that experience these same issues????

[dbrownlee]

I've done quite a few ME41 repairs since we became a Brother warranty provider. They have extended the warranty for the printhead for that problem to two years. Pretty simple to change the head. But I agree about telling the customer to replace rather than repair. They never want to blame the factory, just the people in the field.

[Project Warder]

I refuse to sell the Brother machines. Their Faxes are the only things I will recommend to any customers, but that is because i have had little issues with those we have out there.

The cost of repairs is why I don't recommend them. When the machine costs $300 or less, and the parts/service for a problem would cost them well over $200, it's more economical to replace it. Disposable machines are what get sold a lot these days. Something else that people don't do correctly is using the machine for what it's used for.
Medium/Large businesses buy smaller printers/MFCs and use them to run a few thousand a month, when they aren't designed to do so. TBH, i don't think the Brother MFC machines are good for anything besides a paperweight. They look nice, but cannot do what they say they do much good. If you use the machine occaisionally at home, it's fine. But most don't.

It also doesn't help my local customers that the nearest repair agent is an 8hr drive away. So we have to box it up, send it, then get it repaired. Takes too much time and money for that. -.-

[Ctl-Alt-Del]

I've done quite a few ME41 repairs since we became a Brother warranty provider. They have extended the warranty for the printhead for that problem to two years. Pretty simple to change the head. But I agree about telling the customer to replace rather than repair. They never want to blame the factory, just the people in the field.

how does brother compensate the dealer that does the warranty work? do they reimburse you for parts and all your labor or is it a set amount for the labor? Do they credit your account or cut you a check?

[dbrownlee]

If the customer has contacted Brother first, such as in the case of the ME41 error, they refer the customer to us, send us a work order fax, and ship the new printhead. We install the new printhead, flash the firmware, and submit a claim to Brother for the labor. They pay a flat rate labor repair, depending on model, etc. They then send us a check. If the customer is sent here, or contacts us first, we can either order the parts as warranty parts (no charge), or if we use parts that we happen to have in stock, we claim them on the warranty claim. Also, except for certain machines, or unless specifically authorized by Brother, all warranty work is "depot", they have to bring the unit to us. If we have to travel, that is also reimbursed at a flat rate, but they only require a 50 mile radius. The rate for travel is fair, plus you can visit other customers in tha area while you are out. Hopefully they pay faster than Oki does, the one we have done for them took over 3 months. Brother is going through some upgrades to their systems, but they do want to know if anything takes longer than 30 days.

[wagon]

HP are similar too... They don't even supply parts for some models - the offer an 'exchange' or 'upgrade' plan meaning you pay them money to get back another piece of junk. You get what you pay for. There is a lot to be said for having a separate laser printer, fax and photocopier. If one cannot be fixed economically you are not stuck as much.

Kendall.

[TonerMonkey]

It's getting to the stage now where if it's broken you toss it in the bin and buy a new one - how else can we keep China and Taiwan going?

Wish the same was true of some office copiers !