Service contracts are similar to an insurance policy. They may or may not save you money. Your costs are fixed so you will know how much per year you will spend instead of hoping that it won’t break down too much HF Tent Welding Machine or have a serious or expensive repair during the year. There are many ways of paying for a service contract. Most service companies will bill you monthly, quarterly or annually.

If you choose to be billed monthly, your service company will call at the end of each month and gather your meter reading. Then they will multiply the amount of copies by your cost per copy. Some copiers can also be equipped with a device that can send in the meter reading automatically each month and eliminate this part of the procedure. If you don’t make many copies I would choose an annual or a quarterly billing. This is because most service companies charge a monthly billing minimum and you might end up paying more. Another reason to choose quarterly or annually would be the job of having to write a check each month and deal with getting the meter readings. On an annual contract make sure that you keep an eye on how many copies you produce or you will be paying for copies that you don’t use or you may have to renew too soon.

Cost per copy

Cost per copy is the most common way of determining the price for service contracts. Each time you make a copy the meter clicks just like the odometer on your car. Many shoppers buy their machine according to the price of the cost per copy, since the service contract costs can often exceed the price of the copier. An average cost per copy is around 1.5 cents per copy. This could be lower or higher depending upon some variables. •How many copies you make per month. •What type and age of machine that is being covered. •Environment plays a part because if it is in a dirty environment it will need twice as much service than a machine that is in a clean environment.

Figuring copies per month or per year

Determining the amount of copies per month is the most important information you will need when shopping for a service contract. If you have an existing copier that has been on a contract for awhile then this will be easy. Just look at your history. You need to also take in account for any slow downs or increases in copying that your company is experiencing. If you do not have a history there is a way of estimating. If you know how many reams of paper that you use per month you can multiply by 500 because there are 500 sheets of paper in a ream of paper. This will get you in the ball park.

Coverage

Understanding what is covered and what is not covered is very important to find out before you purchase a service contract. Many service contracts do not cover Staples, Paper and document feeder belts and there may be some others so check with your service provider. Does the contract include supplies? Some supply items are toner, developer, heat rollers and drums. Find out what the hours they are available and days of the week that they operate. Which holidays do they take off? What is the response time? Is their four hour response time more expensive than their next day service? Most service contracts do not cover abuse or neglect. So be cautious with those paper clips and staples as they can cause an expensive repair and it probably won’t be covered. Get all of this in writing then there will not be any surprises.