Fuel Surcharge...

[kdw75]

Our Ricoh machines are now charging us $10 fuel surcharges for ever service visit and every toner order. They came to rebuild parts and even charged $10 for that.

I thought the point of a contract was to have reliable expenses.

 

[DYP]

You don't want them to go broke do you. Then who will fix your machines.

I wonder if Xerox is going to do the same thing? There us a lot more that I could so if they start this I do most of the maintenance myself.

 

[kslight]

Yeah, the accommodation for this has always been in every contract I’ve seen.

Ironically, my tech drives an EV.

Fortunately tech visits have been very rare for me so I do not see this being a huge expense relative to everything else right now (ie: paper).

 

[gregbatch]

Our Ricoh machines are now charging us $10 fuel surcharges for ever service visit and every toner order. They came to rebuild parts and even charged $10 for that.

I thought the point of a contract was to have reliable expenses.

That's a steep surcharge. Are they driving Hummers?

 

[Shawnd]

What gets me is you get the $5 order charge twice when an item is on backorder and they ship it later. I even had one order that they billed me $12.50 for?? I have been heard of them charging for sending a wrong toner, then charging you the extra fee to ship it back.

 

[Shawnd]

You don't want them to go broke do you. Then who will fix your machines.

I wonder if Xerox is going to do the same thing? There us a lot more that I could so if they start this I do most of the maintenance myself.

Just like UPS/FEDEX, if one starts doing it, the others will follow if it sticks.

 

[kdw75]

Makes ordering larger quantities of toner more important. If we try to order more than a two week supply of toner, it harps about us ordering too much and wants a written explanation, even though it sees every cartridge put in or out of the machines.

 

[jwheeler]

Makes ordering larger quantities of toner more important. If we try to order more than a two week supply of toner, it harps about us ordering too much and wants a written explanation, even though it sees every cartridge put in or out of the machines.

That's frustrating...you try to save on the surcharge by ordering large amounts, then they won't let you order large amounts?!

Regarding the service calls, what if the tech has to return a couple of times to fix the same problem? Often our tech will come to assess the issue, then discover he needs some part(s) to complete the repair and has to come back another day. Or they run out of time and have to come back to finish the next day. Other issues have stumped our tech and they have to come back again with a specialist. Do they charge you each visit, regardless if it's the same original issue?

 

[kdw75]

That's frustrating...you try to save on the surcharge by ordering large amounts, then they won't let you order large amounts?!

Regarding the service calls, what if the tech has to return a couple of times to fix the same problem? Often our tech will come to assess the issue, then discover he needs some part(s) to complete the repair and has to come back another day. Or they run out of time and have to come back to finish the next day. Other issues have stumped our tech and they have to come back again with a specialist. Do they charge you each visit, regardless if it's the same original issue?

We had that a couple days ago. The tech came by and rebuild some parts, but didn't have what they needed to rebuild the fuser and returned a second time. We got two fuel surcharges. If fuel prices had gone down to 50 cents a gallon, would we be getting cheaper click rates? I seriously doubt it.

 

[Shawnd]

I haven't seen my tech since the new fuel charge went into effect, I had him in here just before to get everything rebuilt. I didn't get a chance to ask him if he actually saw anything from the charges, next time I see him I hopefully will remember to ask.

I hope Ricoh is compensating the techs and not just pocketing the money.

 

[namelessentity]

A $10 charge is certainly not actually covering their costs anyway. Gas here is $6/gallon, and I know my techs are driving 120 miles round trip since we're so far away from the service center.

 

[gregbatch]

A surcharge is only meant to be supplemental. So, if you cap your cost at $3 a gallon, the surcharge is meant to cover the difference. The national average is about $5, so $10 covers the difference for about 5 gallons. If you get at least 20 mpg that's 100 miles worth of surcharge. Long distance should be highway mpg so closer to 120-125 miles. Less than that and I'm not responsible for your poor choice of vehicles for the task.