Copier Wars

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One rule of thumb: Service response time of four hours or less after a call for help is excellent. Unless you're in the boondocks, however, anything over a normal business day is unacceptable.

Service, of course, is an area about which a book could be written. At one time or another, just about every copier user has probably been convinced that he owned the biggest lemon ever to come down the pike. There's no doubt that some copier models are more reliable than others, but even the best needs regular service to function properly. Copiers are not like typewriters or pencil sharpeners. They're more like cars; they have a warranty and a need for periodic service. Their toner needs to be replenished, their moving parts cleaned, and, on a regular basis, the master copy drum, which makes the whole thing go, needs to be replaced.

Copiers often break down simply because they're neglected, and they're neglected because, unlike other pieces of office machinery, no one "owns" them. It's hard to establish a central copy shop in your office, but if you can at least find a way to make some individual feel responsible for your copier, you may solve a lot of annoying service problems.

The cost of service -- and the kind of arrangement you have with the vendor -- will depend on whether you rent, lease, or buy. Rental contracts, whether with a manufacturer or with a dealer, always include a "complete" service agreement, since the vendor still owns the machine and is responsible for its upkeep. "Complete" means that parts such as the drum are covered, although "consumables" such as toner and developer may not be.

If you lease, or purchase the machine outright, you'll probably get a separate contract with the vendor. According to John Derrick, this contract, after an initial 90-day warranty period, usually guarantees all nonwearing parts and includes preventive maintenance.

When calculating the per-copy cost, you'll find that the direct-sales organizations charge more than dealers; but those organizations also have a good reputation for quality service.

"Remember above all," warns Derrick, "to make sure that your service contract, if you're getting one, is all-inclusive; in other words, that it covers everything but the drum, toner, and developer."

If you buy your machine, you may want to go on a call-out rather than a contract basis for service. With the call-out, you're charged by the service call, as well as for all the parts. Derrick says most dealers charge about $40 an hour, though some, like IBM, go up to $62 an hour. Some dealers also offer what they call "Copy Kits," which are intended primarily for low-volume users of low-volume machines. With this arrangement, you get a set amount of all supplies, often including paper, for about $250-$300; the kit contains enough supplies to last you about 10,000 copies.

Should you rent, lease, or buy? For most people, and almost all small companies, the answer used to be rental or perhaps a lease. But with falling prices, buying a copier is no longer a life-or-death financial decision. Obviously you'll save money if you pay cash, just as you would buying anything else.

There is one obvious disadvantage to buying your copier outright. With advances in the market coming fast and furious, you might find yourself locked into a machine with fewer features than you could get elsewhere for less money. Conversely, rental always offers you the option of changing machines as prices decline or more options become available. Most of the direct-sales outlets and many dealers will rent you a copier for as short a time as a month or as long as two years. Normally a rental agreement, in addition to covering service, will also specify a monthly "free" copy allowance. Go beyond the monthly allowance and you'll be charged on a sliding scale for each extra copy. It pays to estimate your copy volume carefully, since the overage charges can add up. Generally, a month-to-month rental will cost about 10% more than an annual one, while a two-year rental will cost about 5% less per month than the one-year option.

Leasing, the third option, is less attractive for copiers than for most other pieces of office equipment, primarily because copiers depreciate rapidly -- by as much as 90% over three years. So the buy-out option at the end of a typical three-year lease isn't much of a bargain. All direct-sales companies and most dealers will offer you a leasing plan of either three or five years' duration. Analysis done by copier experts shows that an annual rental tends to cost less per month in most cases than the same charges for a three-year lease, and only slightly more than those for the five-year lease. So if you're shopping at the very high end of the market, the best advice would be to buy or rent.

No article of this length can cover all of the copier landscape. But if you keep the points mentioned above in mind when you shop, you've got a better than even chance of making a good decision. And if nothing else, you'll be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in copier sales pitches, whether you're getting one from an ex-basketball player, an ancient knight, or a salesperson.

CORRECTION-DATE: August, 1982

CORRECTION:

The DATAPRO survey cited in "Copier Wars" (June) reports that 62% of A.B. Dick users would buy the same model again. The percentage was mis-stated in the story. INC. regrets the error.

The survey breaks down as follows: All users of A.B. Dick Models 7200 and 695 would recommend these copiers; 89% would recommend the A.B. Dick 980. Midel 675, which received only a 55% favorable rating, is a coated-paper copier introduced in 1968; it does not have state-of-the-art technology and has been discontinued. Model 901 (43% favorable rating) is obsolete; Model 990 (44%) will be replaced later this year.

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