How does our job measure up?

[JR2ALTA]

Customers think copy machines should be like refrigerators. Never need maintenance, just run and run.

But, where do you think working on a copier ranks with the average repairman's job?

I consider them to be a miniature car, drives, clutches, computers, gears, etc. But way beyond an appliance technician's scope.

Are we overpaid toner donkeys or under appreciated jack-of-all tradesman?

[vigour]

We are under appreciated tradesmen.
Most customers think a copier is a couple gears and motors.
When the comments really get on my nerves , I take the back panel off and say "Look at all those wires, I have to know what each one does". Then they go holy S--- , walk away and never bother me again.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

How do our job measure up?

The photocopier business or trade " invaded " this part of the globe where I live, in the early 1990s, and lo ! it was really one of those highly respectable business & profession, a booming business. Our country was just undergoing an economic recovery after a long civil war.
And for us the professionals, the technicians who were offering the tech support, (and here we were very very few then), our services were in the greatest demand ever. We were, so to speak a highly respected member of the society. Being a "new" technology the customers regraded these machines with awe & mystery; and therefore the few of us who were able to rip open "the intestines" of these machines and "sew" it back in place ready to work again, were considered to be a sort of geniuses. We earned the respect of the customers & society in which we lived then.
All these is now history ! As more and more QUACK technicians joined the trade, ( we call them "JUA KALIS" a SWAHILI language term for artisans who work in the hot sun,) and with increased usage , these machines began to be DE-MYSTIFIED,AND so did our reputation and respect began to disappear. BUT now,Thanks to the introduction of the DIGITAL COPIERS in the market, our lost glory seems to be returning, as the new technology is beginning to push these quack techs out of the market once again.

[fixthecopier]

I just had a call on an HP 9200 Digital Sender. It was leaving a line on the scanned documents. I walked in and changed a mylar, correcting the problem in the first 5 minutes. When the customer commented on how quick I fixed it, I first mentioned that I will order the rest of the maintenance kit and clean the machine, but more important I made sure they knew that they were not paying for 5 minutes of my time, they were paying for my knowledge of what to do to repair it. I drove the point home by asking how long it had been that way. A week they said. That's why you paid me $80.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Very interesting world we live in! The human species have indeed same characteristics. Frankly speaking, fixthecopier, I've always taken it for granted that, that type of COMMENT from the customers is LIMITED to those in the third-world here where I live. What I mean brothers is this: Based on our wealth of experience, sometimes we very quickly diagnose a machine's problem and offer a quick solution (fix it). And instead of a customer appreciating your knowledge & skillls, u instead hear unsettling comments LIKE: " Eeh.. so it was something small eeh..", OR, " How can u charge me so much for something so small?", WHAT did you really do?, you spent only 10minutes on the machine, it was a small thing, how do charge so much? These comments really tends to drain life out of me.
The good news is that,"over the years we have developed ' thick- skin' along the way, for we know that at the end of the day it comes with a territory".(Borrowed words from Mrs. Michelle Obama).
Here, technicians now apply the AFRICAN ( Nigerian ) proverb which says: " When man learnt to shoot without missing, the birds learnt to fly without perching ". In short " Quick fix, Little pay; Slow fix, Better pay ". For it seems that is what customers cherish most, a technician to sweat a bit on the machine to prove that it was a tough job fixing the machine, 'a toil -to- earn' principle.

[blackcat4866]

Well said DAG. It creates too much controversy with billable clients to do that 10 minute fix. Especially in situations like this, they're paying for the whole hour, and will get the best cleaning that their money will buy from me.

The contract customers are a different story. They would like to see me gone as quickly as possible, and the machine back up. Since most of our machines now are MFPs with copying, printing, scanning, and faxing, I usually do not have to devote too much time to final testing. When I think that it's fixed I just restore the network connection and let it print for the next 30 to 45 minutes. Nobody stops sending print jobs just because the printer isn't working. An interesting consequence is that the endusers often give me dirty looks, and ask "why isn't it printing?" when the machine is disassembled all over the worktable. " ... maybe because it is taken apart?". "... or maybe because this network cable is disconnected?"

I've found that it's nearly impossible to complete a color calibration without somebody sending a print job in the middle. Then complaining that the color registration isn't very good. " ... maybe if you'd let me finish my work, it would look better?"

As a rule, I disconnect the network connection during service, then plug it in when I've completed the work to avoid these problems. The dirty looks I don't much notice any more. =^..^=

[V-P]

A friend of mine has a nice story:

A customer's HDD had some issues. My friend goes, flashes the firmware from the notebook. Altogether = 5 min.
One more min to write the bill.
The lady's face when she saw the bill was redish like a red tomato. Than she asked : 70 USD for a quick fix ????

My friend replied: No madam ! It is 16 years of education + 5 min of quick fix !

I love this kinda answer...

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Yes, your observation is right blackcat. It is usually the billable clients as opposed to contract clients who complain.
V-P, your friend,s story made my day, it sent me laughing my 'silly' head off. I have heard similar experiences when hired to flash firmwares by other technicians; 5mins and the job is done and i demand for cash down! I have now learnt from your friend's reply, what to say, when handlling such complains.