How low can you go?

**fixthecopier** · 05-22-2012

Boss found out that our competitor is putting copiers in our hospital and we did not get to bid. Found out the competition put new Konicas in and the maintenance cost they are charging is .003 cents. Each copy is one third of a penny. Any thoughts?

**nmfaxman** · 05-22-2012

They are going to get what they pay for. Generic toner, non oem parts and techs that don't know what they are doing.
Give it time and they will be calling you back.

**ZOOTECH** · 05-23-2012

Is it an independent dealer or a direct dealership? I've heard the directs are pretty much giving away machines/maintenance just to get in the door.

**Tonerbomb** · 05-23-2012

Those F&^% Konica Branches are doing this everywhere. And yes they customer gets what they pay for. They're buying base at everyone else's loss!!!! It sucks but they have sales reps that are ready to drop their pants and bend over to get the deal !! Those of us that work for a profit can't do this.........

**nmfaxman** · 05-23-2012

Konica has deep pockets with Danka methods.
Sound familiar? Ricoh\Ikon.
I am glad to be an independent.
I offer quality equipment at a fair price backed up by 30 years in everything that moves paper.
I spent 10K in training on networks 12 years ago and applied it to what I knew about office equipment.
I am worth more than $20 an hour and am proving it.

**mojorolla** · 05-23-2012

Originally Posted by Tonerbomb

It sucks but they have sales reps that are ready to drop their pants and bend over to get the deal !!

Our reps do not even bother to wear pants anymore; they were given break away basketball pants to close deals faster last January.

I was involved in a deal 2 weeks ago and the cpc for COLOR, NOT B/W, was 4 cents....for fu$%^&g color! I see B/W rates at .006 or lower all the time.

**fixthecopier** · 05-23-2012

The dealer that took the contract is across several states. The owner is a millionaire and can back the hardware cost out of pocket. That is how he took most of the military contract. He put machines out to the customer on base for free. No monthly charge or minimum. A straight 4 cents a page for b/w. He is also a Ricoh dealer like us. The hospital already had Ricoh's and he heard Ricoh was going to bid the contract and cut out the local dealers, and hire direct techs. So he cut him in the back and put Kinoca's in. Word out there is that he is trying to build up his MIF to attract a buyer.

**igi** · 05-23-2012

Originally Posted by fixthecopier

Boss found out that our competitor is putting copiers in our hospital and we did not get to bid. Found out the competition put new Konicas in and the maintenance cost they are charging is .003 cents. Each copy is one third of a penny. Any thoughts?

Hi
i feel for you buddy
we had the same problems with konica-monica.

good luck

**Shadow1** · 05-23-2012

Copiers are a commodity now - get used to it. I think the recession helped thin the herd , but also kept the prices down. I'd like to think companies who do that sort of thing will drive themselves out of business pretty quick, but there always seems to be some unsuspecting consumers who are willing subsidize such bad behavior and then have the nerve to complain about it but still do it again and again.

Part of the problem, at least at my company, is for the past few years the bean counter catch phrase has been "revenue," which only means how much money you have coming in. It seems they really are so short sighted all they see is how much is coming in the door and ignore how much flies out the window to get it.

We need to ping them in the head with a big hammer until they start counting profit again. It's a simple matter to ask how much is it going to cost me to bring it in.