(Submitted by Gareth Stevenson)
In last week’s blog we covered the (5) additional costs of administrative fees, transitional billing, property tax, toner shipping fees, and insurance costs. In this week’s blog, we are going to cover (5) additional costs that you may see on your contract when leasing a copier or multifunction device (MFD).
Those additional charges may include:
- Contract Overages
- Name Change Fee
- Remote Support Billing
- Staples
- Additional Billing for Service
1. Contract Overages
Typically, when you agree to a contract for a copier, this contract includes a service proviso for the leased or purchased device and includes a contracted base amount of copies, either monochrome, color, or both.
When you exceed this contracted base amount, then you can expect to pay overages. The overage charges can vary dependent on the age of your device, promotional deals, etc.
There are ways to use rules and reporting to assist with managing overages, such as:
- Account Codes – These codes can be used to limit the amount of color prints allowed or to provide reporting of prints, whether color or monochrome.
- 3rd Party Print Management Tools – Ex. Papercut.
2. Name Change Fee
Some leasing providers charge a small fee for any business name changes. This fee can range from free up to $100.00.
3. Remote Support Billing
Remote support for assistance with print drivers, scanning issues, etc. is more often than not included in your contract, but could have yearly limits on use.
If you don’t have remote support included in your contract, then you will receive an additional bill with a per-hour charge for any service calls that you place. The per-hour charges can vary from $150.00 – $250 per hour, depending on the provider.
4. Staples
Staples are not typically included in most contracts, apart from some government contracts. In commercial contracts, if they are not included in the contract, then they are added as a chargeable item. In those cases, the price for this add-on can vary from $50.00 – $100.00 per box of 10,000 staples.
5. Additional Billing for Service
Some organizations offer different types of service contracts, but the most common contract is an “All-Inclusive Contract” that includes everything except the paper and staples. Other contracts, like those listed below, may incur additional charges to the customer.
- A. Basic Contract:
- Includes parts and supplies only
- No toner, developer, or drum included
- Other additional charges may apply
- B. Mono Toner:
- Monochromatic toner and all monochromatic toner parts and supplies are included
- Additional charges for color toner
- C. No Service Contract:
- Service calls are billed on a per-call basis with charges ranging from $150 per hour plus the cost of parts, labor, and travel time
If you have any additional questions regarding contract charges, please let us know. We would be happy to assist you!
