Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

[Ianizer]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

Remarkable.

It's interesting how many people feel it their duty to give their services away, or regard a labor rate at some sort of punishment levied on the customer for having the audacity to call for service. Maybe they resent their companies for making profit, or secretly harbor insecurities about their own abilities... but I wax freudian.

A great deal of time, effort and capital goes into training -- and as importantly -- deploying a field tech. All things considered, it costs a company maybe a third, to half (or more) of what they charge in labor to outfit, dispatch and support a tech. Market standard dictates approximately double (or more) retail what is paid for an item -- So goes labor. $150 is certainly not outlandish. You get a lot.

Further, most companies afford field techs broad latitude (maybe more than they realize) in adjusting their labor charges. Of course it's sometimes best to offer a discount in the best interest of customer service, but a flat labor rate needs to be respected by in large. I've been known to pop in with a simple fix and pop out with a "No charge, ma'am, here's my card," in the interest of fostering customer loyaly. I've certainly no objection to doing a good turn, but my services are for hire. Is that so evil?

-I

[Hemlock]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

An honest rate would be 90 a call plus parts. 15 calls a week you're good for 65k before parts.

Until you take out taxes, vehicle costs, set aside something for retirement, pay for health insurance, pay for business insurance, pay for cell & internet, a landline for faxes, ad space in the yellow pages, ad space on the web, shop space, et cetera.

And then, with the little leftover, try to eke out a living. Homeless & living on ramen comes to mind.

[prntrfxr]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

Why on earth would you slap a customers face with "150 flat rate, take it or leave it!" or "hey get what you pay for pal!"


You have no idea what the G-D problem is!

Reset a fuser error? (10 seconds) replace a feed wheel ? (45 seconds)

I am simply imploring people to charge a fair rate. Your bazillion hours of training mean squat when the problem is simple.

Well, well, well, there are a lot of id...you know what, I'm not going to go down to your level, sir. I'm better than that. To coin an old saying, "TIME IS MONEY." If I have to block off a section of my day to drive out to your site to fix your machine, spend my gas, etc... I am going to charge my standard rate. If I spend 30 min driving out to your site, it doesn't matter if I spent 30 min replacing a maintenance kit on a printer or 5 min plugging the thing back in. The 30 min I could have spent getting to a paying job is being used that I can't get back. (I only charge mileage for travel out of area.) I ask clients to check if the machine is plugged in. If it isn't when I get there that is their fault not mine.

Anything up to an hour is a certain amount, anything between 1 hour and 2 gets rated for 2 hours, and etc... I charge extra for stuff like removing rodents, longer than usual travel, or client issues (watering plant over machine, shipping machine with toner installed, or insulting a tech, for example). However, I have been known to cut time off a long job, such as charging a client less time when a part is really expensive or more for time and less for a part. I always clean the machine inside and out (even if it was for a "plug the machine in call"), and take extra time to train and explain things to the client, if it is required. A "cheap tech" won't do that, because they have to run to the next call in order for their company to make money. Rushing your work means more errors. There is so much extra cost associated with machine repair, that believe me, it evens out. It is a fair rate. Most of the companies I knew that charged 90/hr are no longer in business. There are people who have jobs that require less training that make more than I do. (My sister-in-law is paid $18/hr and she's an administrative assistant.)

If you go to a doctor, you are paying for his training whether or not he does surgery on you. If you call a mechanic and ask what his rate is he will tell you his rate, but when you go and he sees the problem he may decide to charge you less or not at all. The difference is that I come out to you, you go to them there is more than per hour work going on.

[michaelc]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

Well written/put prntrfxr (yes I copy and pasted your name so I didn't spell it wrong)

[Ianizer]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

Well written/put prntrfxr (yes I copy and pasted your name so I didn't spell it wrong)

+1!
My hero...

...Aaaand another thing...

If it's so "easy", why not just fix it yourself?
Why because a qualified tech has the knowlege and the knowhow and the hours and hours of training and years and years of seat time to know precicely which screw to turn or cover to close.

It's got to be a real bummer to pay a buck-fifty to reset a code in 12 seconds, but let's place the ire where it's due, shall we?

Look on the brightside. I'm not without ethics. if you're paying for an hour I'll give you your hour.

-I

[charm5496]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

We charge all of our customers $150 for the first 30 minutes when diong a repair in there office regardless of what the issue is. If it is "2 second fix" then the other 29 minutes and 58 seconds is spent cleaning and checking the equipment for other issues and then filling out paperwork and talking to the customer about future repairs and machine needs. Any time spent past that 30 minutes is billed out in 15 minute intervals at $50 each.

If I am spending time that I do not feel the customer should be charged for because it was my error then I note that on my service ticket as a zero charge. I'm not there to screw the customer over, but I am not going to give my time away either. They called me and requested the service and were given the rates over the phone and agreed to those rates ahead of time.

[prntrfxr]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

We used to give free estimates. We stopped doing that because we'd spend 30-60 min diagnosing a problem we would never get paid for.

[mervyn]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

As previously stated by other techs , $150 is the average price for service . The customer pays for what we know as well as what we do , companies pay good money to train us so why shouldnt they charge what we are worth ?

[Ianizer]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

Agreed.



-I

[JR2ALTA]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

I started the controversy, mainly because I am in instigator,who had some liquid courage.

But I am no socialist, far from it. And, obviously, I am no businessman.


Truly though, I thought I was responding to an independent (read: man and a truck). Like you would check Craigslist for a handyman.

I understand, running a business no cost should go un-recouped. Including gas, time, personnel, benefits etc.

I also understand the bedrock logic of flat-rates.

I also understand I may have an ounce of insecurity as Ianzier astutely put it.

I'm just an average Joe with Christian intentions who hates getting stuck with outrageous bills from mechanics, plumbers, accountants, IT people, banks, meter-maids, etc etc.

I wish everyone a good living and apologize for saying people were jackasses.

[prntrfxr]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

JR2ALTA

I guess this is such a sore point with those of us in the industry. Do you know why I became a tech? I took my VCR to a repairman for cleaning and it ended up in worse shape than when we started. I thought it was pretty crappy the way the tech handled it and dishonest. I decided I could learn to do that and I would be an honest tech. After getting into college for electronics (I found out later I did not have to get a degree to fix TV's and VCR's, but I'm glad I got it), I decided I wanted to get into networking instead. When I graduated, there weren't any positions open, and I found an entry level copier tech job. The rest, as they say, is history. I still keep the same thought about being an honest tech, which by the way there are lots and lots of shysters in the industry. I quit 2 jobs because I didn't like their ethics and the money there was good. Better than what I get now, but it was the principle of the thing. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror and work for those people. So I do understand exactly what you're talking about. Independents have just as much concerns and worries. Mainly, most of them are small and don't always have steady checks coming in. I've worked for both and there are positives to both. What you need to look at is value. What someone offers at $150, someone else doesn't. Go by referrals of others. Yes there is some risk involved. If someone offers you a price that's too good to be true, it probably is. Sites like this are beneficial. It is more difficult for them to "pull a fast one" on an educated client.

[fixthecopier]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

We charge all of our customers $150 for the first 30 minutes when diong a repair in there office regardless of what the issue is. If it is "2 second fix" then the other 29 minutes and 58 seconds is spent cleaning and checking the equipment for other issues and then filling out paperwork and talking to the customer about future repairs and machine needs. Any time spent past that 30 minutes is billed out in 15 minute intervals at $50 each.

If I am spending time that I do not feel the customer should be charged for because it was my error then I note that on my service ticket as a zero charge. I'm not there to screw the customer over, but I am not going to give my time away either. They called me and requested the service and were given the rates over the phone and agreed to those rates ahead of time.

maybe it is my area. I can not believe how much others are getting. If you bring it in to the shop, it is $20 est. or $50 an hour in shop labor. The other field techs charge $70 an hour and I charge $80 for printers and copiers and $100 to $200 for plotters and shredders. I am going to have my girls do a local survey to see what others are charging. My boss has always allowed me the liberty of voiding charges or giving refunds to make customers happy. If I spend any amount of time on something and for whatever reason it does not function at the end, I do not charge labor. I can not take money for something that does not work. I should have done more research or been a better tech and I would not have wasted the time.

What about when the dark streaks on the printer are coming from the cartridge, do you charge to tell them to change it? I do not.

[prntrfxr]

Re: Copier Tech Rate Per Hr.

What about when the dark streaks on the printer are coming from the cartridge, do you charge to tell them to change it? I do not.

No. When calls came in, we tried to fix as much on the phone to save the clients money and ourselves time. We had a tech (usually service manager) answering the calls for service, so that questions about their machine were asked by someone knowledgeable. A ballpark appointment got set. We had a tech work board (covered a 12 foot wall) and 2 tables in front of it. The service orders would get pinned to the board under the tech's name (if it was late and the jobs would be for next am and a midday when some techs came back for 2nd load). The likely parts needed for the calls were put on the table under their name. Techs were not allowed in the parts area (cage around it) and all the parts removed were logged. Each tech carried a container with commonly used parts in it for extra calls. A large map was next to this wall and each tech laid out their own route (if client requested am or there were special instructions it was on the work order). After they loaded up, one-by-one they would radio in to say what their first call was going to be and they were supposed to do that after each call. When a call was finished, they would radio what resolved it so the order could be closed.

We frequently cut clients breaks on labor if there were many parts replaced. We had a charge for estimate, but waived it if they agreed to service. Some clients got a flat rate others were by the hour, but it depended on the contract we had with them. Some had a 2 hour response time, some a 4 hour response time, and the rest within 24 hours. I rarely had a call from anyone that we couldn't turn around within 72 hours (unless the part was on back order). In most cases they didn't know it because within 24 hours it was fixed or we put in a loaner machine. Once a week we would vacuum out machines (contract for some clients) and two clients (big ones) we had dedicated techs onsite who even replaced the toner for clients.