Maybe you saw the story in last weekend’s St. Louis Post Dispatch about a school, the Governor French Academy, in Illinois, that has been defrauded by an unscrupulous copier dealer. (If not, you can check it out here.)
As someone who has been in the office supply industry for almost 20 years now, I am sad to say that this kind of problem, while not rampant, is not as uncommon as it should be.
Most of the fraud I have seen like this involves copiers, printers, their toner cartridges and some form of a lease or maintenance contract. So if your organization is considering something like this to manage your fleet of printers how can you make sure you are not going to get ripped off?
Here are a few things to consider before signing a copier lease or printer maintenance agreement:
1. Ask questions. A reputable dealer will welcome questions and provide clear answers. If you sense you are getting the run around on any of your questions, move on.
2. Ask for references. Again, a reputable dealer will provide you as many as you want, and any other information about their business you request. A reputable dealer has nothing to hide.
3. Understand who owns the equipment. this is true especially if you are leasing. Read the contract, especially for what happens at the end.
4. Understand what you are getting for your monthly fee. What does it cover, and more important, what does it not cover.
5. Beware of really long term contracts. Unless you have a really unusual situation, there is no need to sign a contract for more than 1 or 2 years.
Don’t sign anything until you understand fully what you are signing up for.
Ideally, if a maintenance contract is right for your company, and they are not always, you should only sign one like the one Exec offers that only charges you for the product, in this case toner, that is consumed.
We will talk more about that in the next installment, but if you can’t wait and want more information on it, please contact us.
