Advantages & disadvantages of a printer maintenance contract

A printer maintenance contract often gives the customer peace of mind that they know who to call when things go wrong and will have a guarantee of having a printer engineer on site within a specific time period (often a 4 hour or 8 hour response) especially if they have more than 5 printers or have a highly used machine that is essential to the running of their business.

However, many contracts do not include parts or will specify a list of parts that will not be covered under the agreement which they then charge a hefty fee to supply. A lot of maintenance agreements will also charge for a callout and parts if the fault is caused by a consumable (drum, maintenance kit, transfer belt, cartridge, fusers, pickup rollers, imaging unit etc). These are often the most common faults so you could end up paying more than you need too. Make sure you read the small print and ask the questions! For example “my printer needs a new maintenance kit, is this covered? if not how much do you charge to supply and fit this?” you may be surprised at the answer…

A good company will be open and upfront with details of what is covered and what is not and should supply a list of prices for your printers so you can check these are a reasonable rate before you sign