Goodbye IKnowOnlyNumbers

[IknowOnlyNumbers]

I started my new job the other day and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my former employer. I couldn't be happier now that I got out of that shithole. No offense to anyone here who works there, but I hope the competition puts them out of business soon. As if Ricoh copiers aren't bad enough, they take used parts to a whole new level. I used to get used drums, used clutches, and worn out shafts worse than the one I wanted to replace. Plus Ricoh don't hold up for shit. They need control panels, developers, motors, clutches, sensors, switches replaced about every 100k.
I knew many, many good techs who worked there. You have my sympathy, I mean you have to be pretty damn good to keep those crappy Ricoh's working and keep your customers happy. They just overload their techs with several hundred pieces of equipment and a couple mil in volume to boot and then expect them to perform miracles with "harvested" parts. My hat is off to anyone who can stand working there, but I'm glad I got out.

[SCREWTAPE]

That's why you become a Canon tech.

Image Runner Advance model's are the best to work on!

[OMD-227]

Nicely put. Sounds like a few years of frustration built up in you......

Where are you working now may I ask?? Are you still in this field of work?

[jonezy999]

Ricohs are great man, We have all of ours running well over PMs. A few minor teething problems with some boxes, mainly customer fault. Dunno what ya mean by used parts, but everything i get is new, packaged well and fast to arrive. I can understand why you would say they are pieces of shit if ya aren't putting quality parts into them though. Either way mate, sounds like ya did the right thing getting outta there. Hope the future is brighter for ya!!

[fixthecopier]

I have never been sent used parts, but I do not care for their tech support. When one of our techs came back from training, I ask her if they were all assholes in person and she said yes.

[Stirton.M]

I suspect the company he worked for itself was the problem, not the brand. From some of what I've seen here and elsewhere, problems like this are not rare and certainly not limited to the copy industry.

[fixthecopier]

Oh I know it has to be the home office. Not all Ricoh's are bad or they would not be in business. How the company treats you that you dispatch from means everything.We are the Ricoh factory service for our area, having taken over for a company that let the machines go. Makes it hard on the tech to deal with an unhappy customer that you had nothing to do with and spend your companies money to bring the machine up to standard. But if you are already having a bad day and you call tech support and get little to no help, it makes it worse. I just love it when the Konica automated system says they are too busy and hang up on you. Then I can look at the customer that Konica gave a contract to, that said it would be fixed or replaced in 8 business hours, that they are screwed, Konica is very busy and can't talk now, and by the way so am I so I have to leave now and do other calls. It does not happen often, but when it does it makes the day special. I guess all companies have things we can bitch about if we try real hard. It is all in what you are used to. I don't work on a lot of Ricohs, but I have learned that if I am removing a lot of screws, I am doing it wrong, these things usually come apart real easy. That is a good point I will give them.

[Stirton.M]

I've yet to encounter problems like that with our tech support. I may be put on hold for a bit, but never had someone tell me they are too busy. Granted, the majority of my calls I am able to resolve, and any others are usually discussed with co-workers long before TS becomes involved. I'll put the team I work with up for high marks in that regard. Of course, not everyone in other companies is fortunate to have a good team locally to pound heads together for solutions to some difficult diagnostics, or even good tech support. I'll always make the effort to make the customer happy in any regard, even if it takes a lot of sweat and tears. I see a few Ricohs here and there, but I have yet to meet a ricoh tech f2f...I've met a few Cannon and Xerox guys out in the field. They seem happy....

[blackcat4866]

I've been there man. I've been out (7) years now. It's the best decision I've ever made. =^..^=

[IknowOnlyNumbers]

I've been there man. I've been out (7) years now. It's the best decision I've ever made. =^..^=

I couldn't agree more. In the short time I haven't worked for I Know Only Numbers I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me.
I am back working on Canon's and loving it. I have only ever worked on Canon and Ricoh but from where I sit Ricoh's are terrible and I think it was a bad idea for them to take on Ricoh's. IknowOnlyNumbers made my job fixing them even harder with their harvest parts program and expecting me to crank out 6 or more calls per day. Seriously, used drums, used duplex guides in worse shape then the one I was trying to replace. They might be the biggest copier dealer out there but lately they are just running themselves into the ground. When I started there was this thing called "customer service", now it just comes down to numbers. The service techs and customers are just annoying details. It's nice to work for a company that actually values their techs and customers for a change.