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  1. #11
    Field Supervisor 500+ Posts
    HIT AND RUN service calls

    Lawrence's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    I fix my machines by the book. 90% of my machines go PM to PM. When the customer calls it's never a rush to get there, i can ask them what time is convinient for the machine to be down.

    If i do get a call before a PM ill check the counters, if things look good i might roll the m-counter back 10-20k to steal some extra copies. I don't reset counters when a PM call was placed. Do the work, customer is happy.

    It's sad when your manager tells you to stop doing a good job because it's costing to much on parts.
    Evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
    Its all shits and giggles until some body giggles and shits...

  2. #12
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    I had a service manager that constantly harped at the techs for parts cost. On the machines i worked on the normal wear and tear pm stuff was considered a part in the system. OIL roller units Dev units, etc. I hit my $1500 limit in the first week of month. I then took my usage list and went thru it.....Feed tires and fuser roller type parts were only $450 of the total. We had a major discussion on this when it got brought up. Sometimes you just have to prove them wrong, no matter how many times they are wrong!

  3. #13
    Trusted Tech 50+ Posts mervyn's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    I worked for a company that sent me to repair other techs machines which they didnt want to go back to .The machines were generally in a crappy state because parts hadnt been changed .The company worked a bonus scheme based on BEI figures so these techs got fantastic bonuses because they didnt replace parts .I however had to fit parts so my costs were too high for the company and I eventually got fired for being too expensive to keep . Best thing the could have done . I got a job with a much larger company who take a totall different approach . If you arent happy then get out . There are good companies arround .

  4. #14
    Junior Member sim22's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    Quote Originally Posted by d7guitar View Post
    Sometime the amount of calls you have may make you feel that you have to get to as many clients as possible in one day!
    Everyone is down, or maybe a tech called in sick, or you maybe are covering two territories.
    Whatever the case may be we all have had days where we run in, fix it, clean quickly and move on.
    Sometimes scoring the 7+ calls in one day.
    Other times the last tech missed something simple and the machine is in great shape and doesn't require you to spend the hour+ you normally would.
    Or, maybe, you have eAutomate and are trying to hit the bonus multipliers by touching as many machines per day as possible to get your copies managed as high as possible.

    I've had days where i see trouble machines and get to maybe two calls in a day and others where i see 7 machines.
    But, i was trained 15 years to treat the machine as though it's your MOTHERS copier and if ANY parts need to be replaced in the near future, DO IT NOW!

    Paradigm shift... I spend more on parts monthly than almost everyone else in my company. 3RD out of 56 techs. OUCH!!!!
    My last review was okay but my service manager told me to STOP replacing parts too early!!!

    Okay, since then i have been seeing 6 to 7 machines everyday. I repair, clean them, and test all functions before i leave. I also feel like i am on amphetamines while working and crash hard when i get home... It's like a race to see how much i can personally get done.

    I feel as though i am Performing "hit and run" service calls. My gut feelings are contradicting the "new" way i am working.
    I see the counts are past 100%, but no jams or ill effects so i leave it alone and move on. But my morales are telling me i am not doing the "job" as good as i should.
    Is it just a contradictory feeling?

    I know some parts can be Stretched to achieve maximum life, but i am working now as "if it's not broke, don't fix it". I am hoping this doesn't come back to haunt me.

    Going from one extreme to another.
    Hoping to re-invent myself.
    And that has me feeling very uneasy.

    Anyone else went through this wormhole??
    Welcome to my world !!!

  5. #15
    Service Manager 250+ Posts Ianizer's Avatar
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    I think you're probably on the right track, d7. Both in that you're trying to reduce costs and that you're concerned about your quality of service. But either school taken to the extreme will come back round to bite you where you sit.

    Our work ethic dictates we walk a fine line between the "lick & a prayer" visit vs. "excessive fastidiousness". We do our customer a disservice by throwing money at a machine that is running well and to spec, with no expectation of failure in the near future; likewise we do them no service by playing fireman every day, racking up those gross calls that puts our leadership in that delightful mood we all enjoy so much.

    They key word being "gross calls"... If the machine is left gross, you're sure to get another call...

    It ain't easy, walking that tightrope between "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and what Dad always said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing right!"

    So, at the end of the day (or all through it) we just have to make some judgement calls. You've been doing this gig long enough to know some tricks of the trade -- siping or rotating rollers, guaging cust. expectations, clean/lube, patch it, tape it, glue it -- to eek out a little more life. But when your gut is telling you it's Done, you have to Listen.

    I'd say, from a perspective of balance, maybe you could say you service a machine as if it's your mother's -- and your mother is paying the bill.

    -I
    My name Peggy.
    You got problem?

  6. #16
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts
    HIT AND RUN service calls


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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    I see it as cyclical. Service managers should only give tech reports monthly or quarterly. PITA PMs and quickies have a way of evening out.

    The best way to hit 5,6,7 calls on average is to have a dispatcher who knows the city! (we don't have territories, so it's especially important for us)

  7. #17
    Service Manager 250+ Posts Ianizer's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    ... Or to have good techs self-managing their own territories, JR.

    Thanks for the Like, d7.
    Ironically enough, if enough field grunts continue to refuse to take personally the success of the great big company handing out the paychecks, revenue will decline so that Mother will be paying the bill when we all move back home...

    Lol... Okay, that was a stretch.

    Or was it?

    -I
    My name Peggy.
    You got problem?

  8. #18
    ALIEN OVERLORD 2,500+ Posts fixthecopier's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    I may be the master of the hit and run service call, but I have good reason. If you take my 300 plus military machines as an example, I have only a small handful that are used to their full extent.I have 3 and a half year old Bizhub 600's that have not reached their 250,000 pm mark. I have Bizhub 250's and 350's that are not to the 100,000 mark yet. Calls are usually simple stuff, or it is really broke and needs a power supply, but only has 20 or 30 thousand copies on it. Now let me state that no one uses more parts than I do, year after year. People will comment that the machine has not had a PM since it was new, and I will reply the Bizhub 350 only has 45,000 on it, and it is still like new.Aside from knocking the dust off the outside, what else would you do. Now when I am off base I seem to be following techs who love to zero counters without changing parts, and that is one way I run up my parts usage. I do have a Bizhub 600 that does 5000 every day and every 500,000 I do a complete rebuild. 3,000,000 copies and it runs like a top. So aside from dusting it, how do you guys and ladies handle service on copiers that will never reach their first drum change?
    The greatest enemy of knowledge isn't ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. Stephen Hawking

  9. #19
    Service Manager 250+ Posts Hemlock's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawrence View Post
    90% of my machines go PM to PM.
    Ever notice how every tech says this?

  10. #20
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts
    HIT AND RUN service calls

    prntrfxr's Avatar
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    Re: HIT AND RUN service calls

    I'd say, from a perspective of balance, maybe you could say you service a machine as if it's your mother's -- and your mother is paying the bill.
    Great perspective and in most cases it probably would work when we're speaking of caring. Be balanced and care about the client, is basically what you're trying to say. In my case, "If you had to pay for the repair, would you do it?" would be a better perspective.

    If I was working on my mother's machine it would have to look new by the time I was done. If I worked on my dad's, he would ask me if it was going to cost him extra for cleaning the exterior, because if it did, I should leave the dirt right where it is.

    Growing up at my house, I, my mom was the one who always said, "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all..." followed by a couple of phrases to the fact that anyone who can't do it right was a useless excuse for a human being and no use to society at all. She taught us that we don't do a MacGuyver, we buy the appropriate part and fix it right the first time. She taught me to take pains and have pride in my work. It is a work ethic that has served me well throughout the years.

    My dad, on the other hand, was the one who taught us, "if it's not broke, don't fix it" (we're yankees so ain't was not in his vocabulary) followed by, "that's good enough", "got any duct tape?", and "if you jiggle it a bit you can get it to work, see?" My dad was king of the MacGyver technique.

    He sent me to get a Sunday paper at the store and gave me 50 cents. He didn't believe me when I told him it was over a dollar. My mom asked him for a dime once and he asked her, "what do you need it for?" (Think about your wives for a minute and you know that turned into an argument. ) Until I met my boss, I believed he was the cheapest man in the world. But I learned that, you can fix things for the short term using a variety of tricks and sometimes these fixes can last a long time. This has helped me get clients up an running, until parts could be ordered. I have impressed a few clients, who like my dad, didn't want to put that much money on their machine, but didn't want to buy a new one either.

    The problem is that no matter where I go or what I do, I have one of them on each of my shoulders critiquing my work. It is sometimes difficult keeping them both happy. I can't tell you how many times I've elected to do the quick fix or not to replace something and I hear my mother's voice all the way home. "You know you should have changed that part. You're going to be right back here next week. The client is going to think you don't know what you're doing. How can you look at yourself in the mirror, knowing you didn't change that part." or I hear my dad's voice when I've changed some things before it was their time, "That was just wasteful. You didn't need to change it. Too expensive."

    It is one of the fun parts of our job. It will always be, so just deal with it. Perfect balance is impossible. Some waste will happen and some errors in judgement of how long something will last will too. The main rule of thumb is: If you change a pick-up roller, change the feed and sep roller too. If you change a roller that has a sep pad up against it, change the roller and the pad at the same time. If you're changing rollers and the fuser looks good but you're near PM time, bring to the client. Tell them what you're doing if you leave it. If they say, no go ahead and change it or that's okay leave it, it is their decision. You did your job of letting them know, so they can't come back and complain later. Mark it on your service sheet. (Example: "Fuser looks good but near PM count by 1,000 pages. notified client. Client chose to wait for failure. Replaced rollers. Tested Good") When the client signs, you have a copy that they agreed to decline the extra stuff. (Sorry for the book, but I'm never short of words.)
    Last edited by prntrfxr; 10-05-2011 at 02:02 PM. Reason: Grammatical
    Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Coke in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!".

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