Emergency service call / out of toner

[copymon]

We have all seen it many times, customer runs their machine out of toner then calls and says "It's an emergency, we have to get these documents printed ASAP"
Just call the customer back and tell them you were on your way to them with their emergency order of toner but your car ran out of gas. Oh I wish I could do that!!

[Shadow1]

Billable Service Call - puts a stop to that kind of nonsense real quick

[Guest]

We used to make the Salesman who had their account deliver "emergency toner" as payback for all the times they assured customers that the machine would never jam, never need service, do functions that do not exist on that particular machine, etc.

[Raymondd]

Ha had one of those this morning...

[mjarbar]

Yep - it's always "it's jamming" or "it's not printing" then slip in at the end the classic "Oh, could he bring some toner with him as well..."

Fortunatlly our eng's are on the road most of the time and don't carry toner with them, the customer catches on real quick not to let the machines run dry.

[TheOwl]

We do one of three things.

1. Charge for the call out
2. Make the customer come in and pick it up
3. Send it out with the courier as per normal

After a while they seem to get the idea.

[Cipher]

Easy money.

If the customer phones up and tells us they have run out of toner then we apply a same day urgent delivery charge if they cannot wait for normal delivery. (not so bad).
If they fail to notice or admit they have just run out of toner and it's logged as a service call then normal callout and service charges apply. (ouch how much?)

[LNorris]

so what do you bill for this "emergency"?

[fixthecopier]

You guys are lucky. I have over 1000 contract copiers in my area, and I must keep them all up. All of the 35ppm machines get 2 bottles and instructions to call when the last bottle is put in. Only 5% will work it that way. One out of every three that says they are waiting on me has toner in the drawer or cabinet, but did not think to look there. The color machine with the booklet finisher will run out 10 min before quitting time, but the job must be completed by morning. When I get there he machine is usually calling for an IU. When I am having a rough day, I will give them directions to the shop and tell them that if the copier is down, they were not doing much anyway. I have a few that have broke the machine putting toner in, and I have said ugly things to them. This will cause me to get a call from someone who will say something like "My machine is out of toner and I have some but there is a nasty worded sign that says I have to call you to put it in." To which I reply "step away from the toner bottle, I'll be there soon."
Sometimes I must be the toner police. If I see odd toners laying around the customer must show me the machine it goes in or I will take it. The reason is that the soldiers I work for will crack open another toner and pour it in my bottle. I have busted them 36 times for this. I charge a minimum of $500 for this, if it is toner they put in. They have put old Savin liquid, water and charcoal from a water filter in some. Keeps me on my toes. TRUST NO ONE!


As if to prove my point, 2 hours after writing this, I get a phone call at home that goes like this..."This is the MP desk on post and there is a message on the screen that says "Please add toner"... What does that mean, and is it something I can fix? I do not Know what to do." I replied "Do not touch it, step away from the copier, and call me in the morning" When I go in the morning, I will hang a photo of my truck over the machine with a note that says "Don't fuck with this guy, you really need him"

[copymon]

Yep, beware of offices that have different toner laying around, I have experienced customers going to "great desperate lengths" to add any toner they find, which included taking apart toner canisters to get the "black powder" in. They always say "isn't all toner the same? The more things change, the more they stay the same...

[FRIDGEMAGNET]

[prntrfxr]

We do one of three things.

1. Charge for the call out
2. Make the customer come in and pick it up
3. Send it out with the courier as per normal

After a while they seem to get the idea.

we used to do this and we kept a delivery driver instead of using a courier, kept our costs down and worked very well. Also was better than tying up our techs to make a delivery. I had one company that had copiers and printers, that did it so often I kept a driver going there 2 times a day and we taught him to install it. Later I taught him how to inspect the printers he was adding toner to, clean machines with a vacuum and to install printer maintenance kits. i would send a tech when it was a serious problem. Result: kept customer happy, better response time and we made lots of money.