KeepItPrinting.com

[richk]

Here is one from the other side. I have a kip2000 that was streaking my prints so I called the tech and he came out and said that I needed a new developer kit and it would cost over 2G. After he left I downloaded the parts manual and pulled the thing apart, cleaned the scraper blade and now it works like a charm. Oh yeah, he still charged me $400 for the service call!

[phan6622]

Can you elaborate on "streaking your prints"

[richk]

The drum was building up toner which naturally resulted in black toner lines on the documents. I've printed several hundred lf now without a problem.

[phan6622]

Yep.. your probably right, he could have rebuilt the dev unit with the components that were in it. My only question is how many feet are on the supply and dev rollers... if it is a ton, I would have recommended one of the kits as well as you will have more problems soon if they are super old.

[richk]

The unit is a few years old obviously but it only has 1,500lf on it. I'm just hoping that the rest of you guys try harder!

[KIPDOCTOR]

Some techs in this biz are sometimes too quick point the finger at bad parts. This is true in the auto service biz also. Happens all the time. The thing to consider here is, yes, he could have done exactly what you did and it could have worked fine for while. The real issue here is standing behind our work. As professional service people we carry with us the responsibility to make sure our work is 100%. We have to garrantee that also. Our job is not done when we walk out that door. Most in this biz will garrantee thier work for 30 days. So what happens when that "band aid" repair fails again in a couple of weeks? You would call us back and insist that we didn't fix it the first time so now we have to fix it on our dime. And most here would do just that because we are professionals.

When you go to the doctor would you also second guess them so you could save some money? They are looking out for your best interests and want to do the right thing.

In this world there are always at least two ways to do something. The cheap easy way and the correct more expensive way. In the end it is always your decision. I most often go the correct more expensive way. It is hard enough to find the time to do something once, let alone do it twice.
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What we have gained in technology, we have lost in humanity.

[p51d007]

"new" techs always point the finger it seems, at parts, to fix the problem.
Why? Because they don't know how to troubleshoot. I've been in the (small) format since 81 and wide since 07. Before that, I worked for several years in a tv repair shop, and was taught there, and electronic school how to trouble shoot. Today, with all the microprocessor controlled, laptop wired world we live in, we don't really "teach" troubleshooting. Personally, I don't think you really can "teach" it. You either have it, or you don't.
I get calls from other techs working on a small format machine and usually the first thing out of their mouth is "I think it is the logic board". My standard reply is did you go through the troubleshooting steps in the book?
Usually, no is the answer. Knowing HOW something works, is the key to troubleshooting. I've gotten rid of countless techs, because all they want to do is throw parts at a problem, when fixing a broken wire, caused by a wire bundle being clamped too tight would have fixed it. At times, I will second guess myself when replacing an electronic board, because they just don't go bad enough. Unless hit by lightning, they "usually" don't go back after 90 days in the field.
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39 years in the small format business, large format since 2009. Toshiba D.A.T.E. trainer.

[mark in vegas]

P51 you hit it out of the park. Logical, thoughtful troubleshooting is in short supply today. But you can lay the cause of that to several factors. In my never to be humble opinion, it begins with initial training. First learned, most remembered. I still practice skills I learned in flight training, electronics school and hand holding by senior technicians. I also see it as a society issue; few feel that paying your dues in life is a normal way to proceed. I want it all now and I deserve it now is the general mindset. Sorry if this seems like the ramblings of an old man but it is.....
_________________
Regards,
Mark
RVN 68-69
It's so nice to be insane
No one asks you to explain

[REPRODOGGIE]

"Parts Monkey's" is what we call them.

Commission driven techs are the worst thing for a company's long-term health. They are only human and if you give them an incentive to sell parts, then they cease to be honest brokers of information both both the customer AND your company.

Believe me, customers are leery of anything resembling a sales pitch. The way to keep your techs honest is to let them be honest.

Pay them a fair wage to begin with, and you won't have this problem.

You can shear a sheep many times, you only get to skin him once.

There are no shortcuts.

PS: I am not a tech.

[mark in vegas]

I was unaware that there are some techs depending on commission for a paycheck. What a conflict of interest. And what sort of dimwit would run a service department that way. I can understand commissions on toner/developer but not parts. Guess I've led a sheltered life up to this point.
_________________
Regards,
Mark
RVN 68-69
It's so nice to be insane
No one asks you to explain

[cmwade77]

Man, I have to say that I love our techs, they come out and fix the machine and it will run right for at least 6 months (even when all they end up doing is cleaning the machine). Our techs also charge us a minimum rate of about $125 and if they have to come back out on a follow up, they don't charge us at all. We have also had instances where paper got jammed in a location that we couldn't (or shouldn't in some cases) get to, they have been known to come in and get it out and not charge us anything. Of course one of their guys lives basically around the corner from our office and we buy all of paper and toner for our KIPs from them and all of our paper for our HP 1050C as well.

[mark in vegas]

Sounds like you have a good situation. I still don't agree with techs on parts commission. As long as you're happy that's the important thing.
_________________
Regards,
Mark
RVN 68-69
It's so nice to be insane
No one asks you to explain

[cmwade77]

I don't think ours are on commission, they try to avoid selling us parts whenever possible. They will refurbish anything they can.

They also sell us generic toner (quality is better than KIP's toner and the cost is less than 1/2 that of the cheapest price we can find for KIP toner and if there is another bottle that doesn't work, they replace it free of charge. It caused one minor issue with some sensors once, but they fixed that for us for free as I recall)

Really, they are great, so we use them for as much as we can.

[mark in vegas]

Any technician that has a customer as satisfied as you are is doing exactly what they should be doing.
_________________
Regards,
Mark
RVN 68-69
It's so nice to be insane
No one asks you to explain

[cmwade77]

Yep, granted we take care of as much as we can first and if it is something that we can fix by them giving us instructions over the phone, they do so as well. Their owner is a bit strange, but that's just his personality, other than that, I can't say anything off about them.