Service Contracts

[max toby]

Seems I've been out of the loop a bit. I was hoping someone here could send me a copy of their service contract and install agreements. Is everyone giving away hours setting up multifunctions for free. What is the industry standard charge for B&W and Color copies. Whats a standard warranty, how long and what does it cover. Is everyone including toner? What about service calls that are computer related more than copier. What is the customers level of responsisbility for knowing how to use the equipment. Don't mean to sound like a dummy, but am hoping you can shed some light.

Thanks in advance
Max

[Vulkor]

Seems I've been out of the loop a bit. I was hoping someone here could send me a copy of their service contract and install agreements. Is everyone giving away hours setting up multifunctions for free. What is the industry standard charge for B&W and Color copies. Whats a standard warranty, how long and what does it cover. Is everyone including toner? What about service calls that are computer related more than copier. What is the customers level of responsibility for knowing how to use the equipment. Don't mean to sound like a dummy, but am hoping you can shed some light.

Thanks in advance
Max

Can't give you a service contract seeing as I don't see them, but I can tell you a bit.

Is everyone giving away hours setting up multifunctions for free.
No. Very rarely. Setting up a multifunction can take time depending on user needs and how many client pcs. We have a network setup fee that they estimate based on computer x hours or something. If its just 1-2 pc's it is usually free or probably hidden in equipment cost.

Whats a standard warranty, how long and what does it cover.
Really depends on what model machine. Some are more heavy duty. Usually its xx months or xxx copiers whichever comes first. Standard Warranty covers any wear and tear due to normal usage and defects and toner. Does Not cover paper, staples, ABUSE!.

Is everyone including toner?
We prefer to include toner so we know customer use trends and they get Savin/Ricoh brand toner and not off-brand or watered down Refills. If the customer is under maintenance they have several maintenance types to choose from. Full Coverage=All parts, labor, mileage, toner. No staples,paper. Basic Coverage=Labor, Mileage,Toner. Chargeable Parts, staples etc. We even have a Warranty+ and Warranty -. Warranty - = No toner.
Then chargeable= Chargeable for mileage, hours, parts, supplies, toner, everything lo..
What about service calls that are computer related more than copier.
If the service call is due to print driver, scanning, software problems on pc etc then it is chargeable hourly. If it is network related it is Chargeable hourly. The only way it isn't chargeable if its a first time setup at install or predetermined time later or its something mega simple. Now if we drive 2 hours to your office and see you can't print cause some bozo was messing in the network closet you'll get charged mileage as well even if you are under copier maintenance. Waste of tech time to drive all that time for someone else mistakes.


What is the customers level of responsibility for knowing how to use the equipment.
Really gray area here. There are so many functions on these machines they usually can't be asked to remember them all and some they only use once in a great while. We often walk them through things on telephone calls and I ask them to make a list of things they wish to learn or ask the next time a tech is out. The salesperson also does a rushed and generalized demo of the machine that just leaves customers dazzled, but not informed. It also depends on how well your customer manuals explain things. Savin/Ricoh customer manuals are crap and confuse our customers and our techs. We have had situations where we have been to the same customer 5+ times and shown them how to do something or change something and they just keep calling back. I've instituted them righting the instructions down for themselves and demoing their ability to follow their instructions. It has helped some, others I just tell them you've done it before. Go Get em Tiger, I'll get to you soon as we can. I then let them stew figuring out how to do the print or copy feature they need. Usually they figure it out. I call them a few hours later and all is well and they are happier that they figured it out.

One thing I like to mention is our Sales techs will always say you don't have to clean a thing or you'll never have to trouble shoot a thing, just call us if there is a problem. This is a poor selling phrase and a lie. We often call our customers and have them look at their glass or ADF exposure glass & try cleaning them or check how they loaded the paper in the tray, or turn a machine off. This saves us a lot of trips for simple stuff. The customer is sometimes irked and irritable and becomes more-so when we show them the problem that they refused to look for and could have had solved hours or Days before if they had just gotten of their lazy bums.

[fixthecopier]

It is what you make it. My shop has about 30 to 40 different contracts to choose from, depending on how you want to pay and what you want in it. Feel free to make it up as you go along. I sold a bunch of lANIER lp 122 printers by offering a 2 year free labor with them, I told my boss after the fact. He did not mind because it helped me sell them. The free service expired 2 years ago, but I would still do free calls cause most were simple. Well their dumbass IT people could not get them online today, claiming the nic was bad. I picked it up took to shop and proved nothing wrong and charged $80. They got mad, thinking they had a service plan. I explained they did not and offered to sell em a new one at $100 per machine per year. They have 5 machines. On copiers my owner will start at 12 months or 20,000 prints as a minimum amount.

When you talk about giving time away, I am the worlds worst for it. Some techs ride the clock and charge for every minute. I have had many paid printer calls, where I might walk in and see that it is the cartridge. If the machine does not need cleaning, I will tell them to change the cartridge and write no charge on the ticket, and tell them to call when they have a real problem. I can get away with this because they will call back and tell other people about me. I bring in more cash from repairs than any 2 other techs in my shop. I make most of this cash in the middle of my main competitors territory for a large copier contract. I love putting my sticker on the printer next to their copier.

Best advice is "Don't be a dick". We had a computer related call where they had a copier from another dealer. Our guy needed to set the IP on the machine. The other company had the access codes blocked, would not offer any help over the phone, and charged the customer a service call to come out and unblock the code so we could connect it. I am sure a lot of you are thinking you would have done the same thing, and if you are in my town , I would encourage you to do it, because guess who now has a new copier customer.

Find out what your competitors are charging and base your contracts on that. Last full size copier I sold was a government deal so they had to get three bids. She wanted to buy from me, because I was recommended based on my service. I told her we could make it happen quicker if I could see what the other guys bid, so she showed me, and I got the sale.

[Vulkor]

Also true what FixtheCopier says above. Ya just can't put that in WRITING on a Contract. My Service Manager and Boss would flip lips if they new how often I do something simple like fix a scan destination or correct a print driver setting. It takes 5-10 min, but to them its still Network/PC labor. The tech has to use best judgment. One of the reasons I am told that calls can be chargeable if it PC/Network related is cause the customer is the authorizing the tech to work on things and thus is responsible. Its why every work order has to have a Signature and blah blah. LEGAL STUFF. We don't touch other peoples Equipment unless expressly asked the customer signs the service agreement.

[bilyahn]

We have a very simple contract (1 page $.01 BW, $.08 color) with minimum page amounts per month, always includes toner and staples but not paper. Our warrantee is 1 yr for new and refurb machines, parts and labor but we almost always get them onto a maintenance agreement. We have a note in the contract about setup for computer/network issues after initial install at $/hr but we rarely charge for this unless we have to go back multiple times for the same issue. We can normally fix most issues like this over the phone although we do have a couple of customers that call and say there is a problem and won't even do simple troubleshooting (PITA sometimes LOL). We do not charge for mileage on pay calls no matter how far I have to drive. Our hourly rate is pretty low $95/hr for copiers and $75/hr on printers and faxes compared to the other companies in our area and if we can't fix it we don't charge for our time. I do a lot of quick fixes without charging as well.

[Vulkor]

We have a very simple contract (1 page $.01 BW, $.08 color) with minimum page amounts per month, always includes toner and staples but not paper. Our warrantee is 1 yr for new and refurb machines, parts and labor but we almost always get them onto a maintenance agreement. We have a note in the contract about setup for computer/network issues after initial install at $/hr but we rarely charge for this unless we have to go back multiple times for the same issue. We can normally fix most issues like this over the phone although we do have a couple of customers that call and say there is a problem and won't even do simple troubleshooting (PITA sometimes LOL). We do not charge for mileage on pay calls no matter how far I have to drive. Our hourly rate is pretty low $95/hr for copiers and $75/hr on printers and faxes compared to the other companies in our area and if we can't fix it we don't charge for our time. I do a lot of quick fixes without charging as well.

Wow that is incredibly low for what I figure California would charge. Our flat rate is $150 an hour, $99 after the first hour. That's for anything print/fax/scan/network etc.


We have a note in the contract about setup for computer/network issues after initial install at $/hr but we rarely charge for this unless we have to go back multiple times for the same issue.
Problem with this is now after 2-3 calls the customer throws a fit that "SUDDENLY" They are being charged for a service that was free. Doesn't matter if you warn them beforehand that repeat calls for the same network/pc issue will become chargeable.

[bilyahn]

We are very low, about $30 less than the next closest competitor. Haven't changed our prices in years either. That may change in the near future but maybe not.

On the computer issue, we actually have only charged 1 time that I know of since I do all of the computer work.

It works out for us and we do a lot of subcontracting for ITG and other government contracts and out of area copier business's that have contract machines in our area and no service techs, but I don't know what we get for those calls.