Tech Fees

[Robert M]

Video

Would you let a customer film you making a sign so he could start making his own signs?
Dealers pay to have their techs trained, they have the cost of commercial auto insurance, overhead,health ins, etc. I do know some dealers have two service rates, one for current customers and one for others. I know I take care of my good customers before the random call in.

 

[signage]

If I was making the sign in his facility I do not think I could keep him from filming it! I only wish I could get $500.00 travel time for my bucket truck push the fee tp repair the sign!

 

[Gino]

If I was making the sign in his facility I do not think I could keep him from filming it! I only wish I could get $500.00 travel time for my bucket truck push the fee tp repair the sign!

Well, you could pack your printer up and take it to them to fix and when it's finished, you could mossy on down, pay for it and bring it home. That would eliminate the travel costs.

You can get $500 a pop to do various things with your truck. We have in the relatively short time we've had ours. Problem is.... you don't get as many and you seem to see more people shopping around or doing it themselves...... just like in the sign business with all of our customers.

Brain..... would you want to get 2 jobs a week for $500 each..... or 8 jobs a week for $350 each ?? Ya might have more hours involved, but if you're getting paid your worth, why be greedy and want what really isn't deservedly yours ??

 

[signage]

Gino I didn't say $500 for the job I said just for the travel time, like some of these distributors charge for the techs travel time on top of the time to do the work!

 

[Gino]

Yeah, me too. I didn't get the truck just to take on little things. If I take it out, I'm gonna get paid well for it, but not so much I lose every job coming down the pike. Some, but not all.

 

[Jim Hill]

Well the tech showed today right on time and really need a first class job of installing a new ribbon cable while explaining to me just what he was doing and why.

Really a very nice guy who also checked over the entire printer and changed the following parts, scraper, cutting knife blade, wipers and adjusted a number of things that were out of adjustment on the printer.

Two hours plus parts and trip fee $448.00 dollars and I must admit I was very happy with the service and the guy answered every question and was really very helpful.

I would use him again if there is something I cannot fix myself.

After watching him replace the ribbon cable it is really not that hard to do yourself.

Jim Hill

 

[Gino]

Again, I'm sorry, but I forget, this is a brand new unit and you have to pay for tech service ?? Why/How is that ??

 

[MikePro]

that's awesome you had a great tech. experience.

I was about to chime-in that most techs love talking about what they do and, as long as you're not in his way, you should expect to at least gain a little bit more knowledge about what is being done just by simply asking.

replacing a ribbon cable is easy.... but knowing what to NOT do while doing so, to avoid further damage to an expensive piece of equipment, is why they're worth the big bucks

 

[Mike F]

Again, I'm sorry, but I forget, this is a brand new unit and you have to pay for tech service ?? Why/How is that ??

Don't think he ever said it was new, and judging from the model number, there's no way it could be unless he left an "i" or a "v" off the end. Pretty sure Roland stopped making the original SP-300 models awhile back after they introduced the 300i and 300v models. Forget what the "i" stands for but pretty sure the "v" was for Versaworks. After looking it up just now cause it was bugging me it appears the "i" stands for the "Intelligent Pass Control" feature, but I could be wrong on that one. I'm assuming the "v" series came before the "i" series since all I see on the Roland site is the "i" series and it includes Versaworks.

Either way, original SP-300 = almost definitely not even close to being a new unit.

 

[Gino]

Don't think he ever said it was new, and judging from the model number, there's no way it could be unless he left an "i" or a "v" off the end. Pretty sure Roland stopped making the original SP-300 models awhile back after they introduced the 300i and 300v models. Forget what the "i" stands for but pretty sure the "v" was for Versaworks. After looking it up just now cause it was bugging me it appears the "i" stands for the "Intelligent Pass Control" feature, but I could be wrong on that one. I'm assuming the "v" series came before the "i" series since all I see on the Roland site is the "i" series and it includes Versaworks.

Either way, original SP-300 = almost definitely not even close to being a new unit.

Yeah, my bad. I think I had this confused with some other member who recently bought a printer and is having some serous problems without good results. Many of these posts just become a blur sometimes. :Oops:

 

[signworldusinc]

Here at Signworld, we provide a printer diagnosis check free of charge. We charge $140/hr for our techs to service printers here in Chino, CA. There is a 2 hour minimum if you require us to drive out to you and the transit time is added to the hourly rate. However, most of our clients like to bring their printers to our location; in this case, we will perform a free courtesy diagnosis check and there is no minimum hour required. Most repairs are done within the hour and the rate can be discounted if the customer wishes to buy some printing media.

Hope this help shed additional light on the rates to service printers.

Warm regards,
-Signworld Team

 

[Jim Hill]

My printer is an SP-300 which was new in 2003 but after talking with the tech he told me something I did not know unless I understood him wrong he said you can still purchase an SP-300 from Roland new which I did not know!! I thought they were discontinued along with the VP models in favor of the newer IP models.

We got talking about the differences between the SP-300 and the VP and IP printers and he explained all the pro's and con's of each printer in great detail.

He also explained the process to convert from using ColorRip software to Versa Works software and why they made the change.

I explained to him that I have never had one problem using ColorRip and he told me that if it works fine don't change it. He said Versa Works is easier to use but if I am happy with ColorRip just keep using it.

I personally like the two headed printer better then the four head printer which also uses the DX 5 heads instead of the DX 4 old style head.

For the type of work I do speed is not a big concern as my printer only runs about one hour a day so having a four headed machine that is much faster is not a big deal for me.

Talking to a knowledgeable tech sometimes can be worth it weight in gold and he really appeared to know what he was talking about.

Jim Hill

 

[trimitbyrich]

I've done a ribbon cable replacement on that machine. It sucks. Took me almost a whole day.

 

[splizaat]

Our tech here charges $0.50 a mile, $120 an hour and can bust out a head cable on an sp300 in one and a half hours I believe.

Half hour minimum.

 

[splizaat]

However, most of our clients like to bring their printers to our location; in this case, we will perform a free courtesy diagnosis check and there is no minimum hour required.

I don't know of one shop in or/wa that would load their printer up and bring it down to the tech - and even then our local shop will pick it up (I'm fairly sure)...after going through all that trouble I'd hope you would provide a free diagnosis check hahaha

 

[signworldusinc]

I don't know of one shop in or/wa that would load their printer up and bring it down to the tech - and even then our local shop will pick it up (I'm fairly sure)...after going through all that trouble I'd hope you would provide a free diagnosis check hahaha

Surprisingly enough, most of our clients prefer to just drop off their printers at our warehouse to save on some expenses. Mostly 48" printers that are fairly easy to load/unload so mobility is not much of an issue.

Regards,
SIgnworld Team

 

[Dorothy M]

I'm questioning the service tech charge also. I'm having the caps replaced and this is the service charge. $145 per hour, $30 per cap, $2.50 per mile (to and from) I'm an hour away. So minimum, $145 hourly rate $120 parts and $300 mileage. Pretty handy myself, should I change caps myself? Watched the webinar from Roland and it doesn't seem that difficult.

 

[amw]

I'm questioning the service tech charge also. I'm having the caps replaced and this is the service charge. $145 per hour, $30 per cap, $2.50 per mile (to and from) I'm an hour away. So minimum, $145 hourly rate $120 parts and $300 mileage. Pretty handy myself, should I change caps myself? Watched the webinar from Roland and it doesn't seem that difficult.

Cap tops are easy, and will need to be replaced many times.
If you can do them you will save yourself a ton of cash over the years.
Think we pay about $25 per captop and it only takes maybe 15 mins.

Good Luck!

Marsha