What a copier service agreement should cover

A good copier service agreement includes all toner, fuser assemblies, drum units and developer, feed and separation rollers, waste toner containers, all labor, travel within the service area, and preventive maintenance visits. If a proposal does not name fuser, drum, and developer explicitly, ask. A dealer who will not put it in writing has told you something.

The four parts that decide whether an agreement is real

Fuser assemblies, drum units, developer, and waste toner containers. These are the four parts that fail with age and volume, and they are the four parts that dealers most often reclassify as consumables to exclude them from coverage.

A fuser is the part that bonds toner to paper with heat and pressure. It fails every 100,000 to 300,000 pages depending on the machine. A fuser replacement costs hundreds of dollars. If your agreement excludes fusers, you are paying for coverage that does not cover the part most likely to fail.

Drum units and developer are the parts that create the image. They fade with age and need replacement every 200,000 to 500,000 pages. If your agreement excludes them, you are paying for labor and toner but not the parts that actually wear out.

Waste toner containers fill up and need replacement. They are cheap, but if your agreement excludes them, you are buying them retail and paying more than you should.

If a proposal names these four parts explicitly, the agreement is real. If it does not, the agreement is labor and toner with a fancy name, and you will pay for the expensive parts separately.

The exclusions to look for

Dealers exclude things. That is not inherently dishonest, but the exclusions that matter are the ones buried in fine print. Look for these four:

Fuser reclassified as a consumable. Some dealers list fuser as a consumable, not a part, which means it is not covered. Ask specifically: is the fuser included? Get the answer in writing.

Travel charges outside an unstated radius. Some agreements include travel only within a radius that is never stated in the proposal. If your office is 25 miles from the dealer and the radius is 20, you pay a travel charge on every service call. Ask what the radius is and whether your office is inside it.

Overage billed at a multiple of base rate. Some agreements bill overage pages at two or three times the base rate. If your base rate is $0.011 per page and overage is billed at $0.022, you are paying double for every page over your minimum. Ask what the overage rate is and how it compares to the base.

Annual escalators buried on page four. Annual escalators of 5 to 10 percent are common. They are also the clause that catches people, because they are rarely mentioned in the sales conversation and usually buried in the fine print.

Travel and response radius

Travel is included in most agreements, but only within a stated radius. If the radius is not in the proposal, ask. If your office is outside the radius, you pay a travel charge on every service call, and that charge can add $50 to $150 to every repair.

Response time is different from travel. Response time is how long it takes the technician to arrive. Travel is whether you pay for the drive. Both should be in the contract. If response time is not guaranteed, ask what happens if the dealer misses it. A dealer who will not commit to a response window in writing is telling you something.

Overage and escalator clauses

Overage is what you pay for pages above your minimum volume. Some dealers bill overage at the base rate. Others bill it at a multiple. Ask what the overage rate is and compare it to the base. If overage is double the base, you are being penalized for printing more than you estimated, and the penalty is steep.

Escalators are annual increases to the per-page rate. An agreement starting at $0.011 per page escalating 8 percent annually reaches $0.015 by year four. That is a 36 percent increase over the term. On 5,000 pages a month, that is $20 a month more in year four than year one, or $240 a year.

The escalator is the clause that catches people because it compounds. Ask for the percentage in writing before you sign, and do not accept "standard industry rate" as an answer.

Five questions, and what a straight answer sounds like

1. Are fuser, drum, and developer included? A straight answer is "yes, all three, and it is in the contract on page X." A non-answer is "we cover all major parts."

2. What is the travel radius, and is my office inside it? A straight answer is "the radius is X miles, your office is Y miles away, and travel is included." A non-answer is "travel is included in most areas."

3. What is the overage rate, and how does it compare to the base? A straight answer is "overage is billed at the base rate" or "overage is billed at 1.5 times base." A non-answer is "overage is competitive."

4. What is the guaranteed response time, and what happens if you miss it? A straight answer is "same-day response, and if we miss it, the service call is free." A non-answer is "we respond as quickly as possible."

5. What is the annual escalator? A straight answer is "the escalator is X percent per year." A non-answer is "the rate is fixed for the term" when it is not, or "standard industry rate" when it is 8 percent.

If you get five straight answers, the agreement is probably honest. If you get five non-answers, the agreement is probably not. Walk.

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