At Doc Jams we have not been asking our customers for long term contracts. But why not?  It sure seems like a great idea to lock in your future revenue sources!  Our competitors sure seem to think it’s smart business since many companies we talk to tell us they are obligated to purchase supplies through a certain vendor for months or even years!  Egads!  But ask yourself, “Does that really make sense?”

If a vendor you use is keeping you happy with great service and competitive prices then why would they need to enforce a contract?  Wouldn’t you naturally continue buying from a vendor who is working hard for your business?  And wouldn’t you naturally want the freedom to shop around if you are unsatisfied?

At Doc Jams we work hard to earn your business with great service at reasonable prices.  No contract necessary.  Call us when you get your freedom back!

Office machines haven’t had much of a breakthrough since they have been created in regards to a basic printed page.  Sure they’ve gotten dramatically faster, and the connectivity to your computer or network has gone through some evolutions.  You could even argue that resolutions and overall print quality has improved.  But the basic result of a printed page has seen little in the way of anything a customer would really care about.

Enter Lexmark’s new SmartSolutions option available on many of their all-in-one machines.  Generally speaking we don’t advise people to purchase low end multi-function machines.  The inks are expensive and small, and the build quality is not equal to the higher grade machines available.  One thing that these higher grade machines fail to do is offer you the weather.  Or allow you to purchase stamps directly from them and print that postage on your media of choice.  They don’t even have a calculator on them.  It turns out these new Smart Solutions capable machines can do many things available as apps for modern cell phones all at your fingertips in your office.

This means that you can print out your resume as well as the postage needed to mail it, check the weather before you drop the resume off at the mailbox, and calculate the cost of mailing multiple resumes.  You can do this all from your handy little multi-function Lexmark SmartSolutions printer.  It almost seems clever.

If you find yourself with stamps, a standalone calculator and a window, all of these features may seem pointless.  We’d have to agree with you.  One thing that they do offer is a differentiation in a polluted marketplace of price-point multi-function machines.  The machines that customers typically expect to pay little or nothing for and are brutally surprised by the expense of running them.  But now these machines offer something in return for the gross cost of running them.  Something only offered by TV, internet, your phone, friendly neighbor and a quick peek outside—the weather.  Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?

We recently have been attempting to locate some good software for our business.  The current software was not living up to the tasks we had added to it and the issues were getting tiresome.  Having system upon system that took time and effort to make a smooth flow will kill a day and make your brain hurt.  So we needed to find something better.

After perusing over dozens of offerings from as many companies gave us headaches that no one could have predicted.  After looking at so many options it is clear that software shopping is a difficult and time consuming task.  More importantly is that it is very difficult to compare apples to apples, so to speak.  The wording used by software companies tends to be overly simplistic and vague in order to instill knowledge on the shopper as quickly as possible, or it seems to be filled with pages of documentation explaining everything the software can do.

One thing that seemed to crop up routinely was the idea of the real cost of this software.  At first glance we saw many offerings that included annual fees to essentially lease the software as well as opensource software that was initially free or very low cost.  Free sounds like a great price to pay, but alas, free is not the total on that bill.

Ordering software is like ordering pizza.  Except if you want anything other than or additional to the cheese and pepperoni offered the chef will need to make some updates.  You say you want mushrooms on that pizza?  The chef will need to start from scratch and head to the woods for a few hours.  You want some feta cheese?  Bring in the goats.  This would add extreme time and expense to the implementation of this pizza.  Unfortunately that is exactly how software shopping works.

On top of the initial cost of the software, we need to add a few expenses.  Hardware to operate the software, including necessary backups.  Training of employees on the new software.  Time spent troubleshooting bugs that were not openly apparent when you were shopping for the software.  Setup and installation of the software.  Additional programming needed to cater the software to your business.  Updates and fixes that will forever need to be added to the software.  All of this is needed even for free opensouce software.  Total costs can exceed thousands of dollars.  No wonder new small businesses just grab a $100 copy of brand name software.  The savings in aspirin alone are worth walking away from potentially better software.

This reminds me of customers we run into that have a printer that runs on the lower end of the business class laser printer cost scale.  They feel that instead of repair they should simply buy a new machine.  After all, we live in a disposable society and it is acceptable to toss 30 pounds of electronic waste out the window.  They don’t call them ‘land-empties’.  We need to fill them!  What the customer often fails to recognize is the additional costs of purchasing a different printer.  These costs seemingly run parallel with new software.  The initial purchase, installation, training, downtime, workarounds and discoveries of issues you never saw coming are only a few of the hidden costs with replacement printers.  Add to that the loud shrieking a tree makes when a printer is thrown away and you have a hefty number on the bottom of that bill.  When a simple repair bill equates to a fraction of that cost it seems that no one would ever want to replace a printer.

Alas, it seems we are prone to many of the thoughts and issues that our customers face.  Sometimes the budget for repair may seem high until you consider the true cost of replacement.  I better order a pizza and think about it for a while.

Did you know that your color documents may be able to be traced to your specific printer? This feature has been around for quite some time. Its purpose is to be used by law enforcement to chase down bad guys, or at least their printers. Specifically those bad guys, or rather lawfully challenged individuals, which may be in the counterfeiting business.

For a fun time at the office, switch the yellow and black toner cartridges if you can. You may have to trick the printer a little (if you have trouble figuring it out, just call Doc Jams). Print out a color document. Be amazed at the myriad of tiny black dots that show up in a dazzling pattern of guilt to those who would dare challenge the integrity of the mighty dollar. Typically that feat is saved for the likes of non-paying customers. These dots are not needed for those folks.

These dots are typically printed small and in yellow so they are all but undetectable to the naked eye. These nearly undetectable dots are great for counterfeiting, until you stumble upon a sharp eye. Then the cuffs and accusations come.

This is simply an FYI to those that may be interested in pursuing printing things of illegal intent. Rest assured Doc Jams will be blissfully unaware of the output of your prized laser printer document’s content. We simply get you back to printing.

In the recent past, we have had to help a lot of new customers with toner issues. Toner issues that should have never happened. These issues range from the simple random spots on prints, to the extreme of having piles of toner inside their printer that should be held captive inside their toner cartridge and then inside their printer.

We’ll be the first to confess that toner cartridges sometimes fail. Toner cartridges, like everything else, are unable to make a promise of NEVER failing. What we will also attest to is the use of high quality toner. Whether that toner is remanufactured or the name brand of the machine it works in doesn’t really matter. High quality toner cartridges may fail at times, but those times are few and far between. That leads us to seeing a pattern of failures around our neck of the woods in Madison Wisconsin. Some toner cartridges are not of the high quality mark.

Clearly the companies that offer toner around Madison must realize that like any metro area, many printers are used in offices and homes. Thousands of laser printers work day in and out to bring documents and files to the hands of the people that need them. We are seeing a disturbing trend that what some companies whom offer toner to some of these laser printer users fail to realize is that if they continue to offer a leaking, messy, I-just-bought-this-shirt toner cartridge they will not make the world a better place. Sure a few sweatshops might get to sew a few more shirts, pants and dresses because a toner spill or seven dominated more than a couple tense moments in the copy room. That may trickle down to a little more economic movement somewhere. But we’d like Madison to be a vibrant and bustling city of excellence. That can’t happen when people are embarrassed due to messy clothes from commonplace toner malfunctions.

We here at Doc Jams feel that if we want economic movement, we’ll need to continue to provide the laser printer toner that rarely fails, accompanied with laser printer service that excels in speed. This will simply allow people to do their job, so that everyone else can do their job. That should make the great city of Madison and its surrounding cities great places to live, work and play. Though that may not pan out so well for some clothing manufacturers that exist oceans away.

So if you have a problem with your laser printer toner cartridges that is becoming somewhat of a routine mess, simply call or email Doc Jams and we will take care of you in a hurry.

We’ve been working at hiring a few good techs.  Technicians of the dreamy variety.  Technicians that arrive when they should to a customer’s site, are dressed nice, speak kindly, are able to diagnose and repair a printer and can do it all quickly.  We have had a hard time fulfilling these positions.  Some of the technicians we have tried have even come from competitors.  Maybe our standards are too high.  Or maybe most possible job applicant’s past employers standards are too low.

It seems we live in a world of almost unending unemployment payouts.  Many candidates simply told us the pay does not justify them actually getting a job.  Who knew it was more fulfilling to sit on the couch and watch cartoons all day?  Many applicants were under the impression that they could fix anything if given the chance.  Broken stereo, no problem.  Cracked concrete, no sweat.  Noisy air conditioner, give me 10 minutes.  All was fine right up until we offered up a printer with a jam.  All of a sudden these mechanical gods are brought down to a repair person looking like a tyrannosaurus rex.  You know the kind, a lot of whining and arm flailing with no real repair being done.

After countless interviews we have come to a few distinct conclusions:

1)      Mechanical aptitude is something you are born with.  Many people can fake it for a while, but eventually they’ll get stuck with no mind for how stuff works.

2)      Customer service is something that many people claim they know about.  Still more claim they have high abilities in this regard.  Few actually do.  If you don’t seem nice on the phone, over email or in person, your customer service skills are suspect.

3)      Cleanliness is next to godliness.  As in, if you and your space around you are clean, you are a pretty swell person.  If you are a mess, people don’t trust you and they feel you are better suited somewhere else.  Having your shirt tucked in and hair combed for an interview speaks volumes about how you’ll look at a customer’s site.

4)      Combining all of these rare attributes into one person and have that person looking to you for employment is like finding the perfect specimen.  The only problem beyond this seems to be convincing some individuals that although they think they fit these criteria, their past performance proves they do not.

So we are looking for some advice.  We need to find some individuals to fill service positions that meet our high standards.  If you or someone you know fits that bill, please let us know.  Many office printers in the world need them.

So we just received an email blast from HP, claiming that refilled or remanufactured toner cartridges are not the deal they first appear to be.  To be completely honest, with this broad statement, HP may be correct.

They site 4 reasons why their cartridges are better than the other brands available.  Before we tear apart their reasoning, let’s look at some of the supporting arguments for their claim.

First, a refilled or remanufactured cartridge is only as good as the people, parts and equipment used to make that cartridge.  So if an unskilled worker puts faulty or worn parts in a cartridge in the back of his dusty garage and attempts to sell it as equal to OEM quality, it may be misleading.  Though, presumably those toner cartridges are sold at rock bottom prices.

Secondly, so many companies are now offering alternatives to HP toner cartridges that to make a blanket statement that all of them are unequal is simply too vague to judge.  HP sites a study that compared 7 brands of non-HP toner.  Seven.  We can name seven brands in a 5 mile radius of our fair city.  So from a fair testing perspective, seven represents such a minute number of actual brands, the test seems suspect at best.

Thirdly, HP wants to sell you toner.  Every company needs to sell something to survive, and most printer manufacturers do so by selling consumables such as toner and ink.  The odd thing is that if you read the side of most brands of toner, be it HP or another brand, it states it includes both new and refurbished parts.  So HP seems to be dismissing the very products they make.

So let’s tackle the HP myth busting article:
Myth #1: Refilled or remanufactured cartridges save you money
Truth: Remanufactured cartridges can save you money, if you use a trust worthy brand.  Faulty cartridges can lead to wasted time, money and effort, as well as paper and energy.  This article fails to mention HP has a reported failure rate of around 2%.
Myth #2: Alternative cartridges are just as reliable as Original HP cartridges
Truth: Alternative cartridges can be just as reliable, if not more so.  HP has had a few issues with certain types of cartridges.  The resolutions were found by remanufacturing companies R&D.  Generally speaking, if the brand is trustworthy, the cartridges will be reliable.
Myth #3: Remanufactured cartridge print quality consistently equals that of Original HP cartridges
Truth: Remanufactured print cartridges can have equal print quality in most situations.  Black and white is typically equal, if not better.  Color cartridges do offer a problem when very specific (such as Pantone) colors are needed to be printed.  This is typically not an issue for anyone but people in design fields.  In that case, those designers rarely rely on HP printers.  That’s where Xerox comes in.
Myth #4: Remanufactured cartridges are better for the environment
Truth: Generally speaking remanufactured cartridges are better for the environment.  The argument HP poses is that toner cartridges end up in landfills after they are remanufactured because, “94 percent of remanufactured cartridges sold will ultimately be thrown away due to the remanufacturers’ preference to work with cartridges that have never been remanufactured and the unavailability of recycling for non-usable cartridges and replaced parts”.  This unavailability of recycling for non-usable cartridges is a problem HP has as well.  HP simply fails to tell the reader that little detail.  So if a given toner cartridge is used twice, once as a new HP toner cartridge, and once as a remanufactured cartridge, that leaves 1 toner cartridge carcass out of the landfill for every 2 toner cartridges used.  HP’s way doesn’t allow for that, unless they are remanufacturing their own toner cartridges with the supplied returned toner cartridges sent to them with their return shipping label.  At which point their article is worthless, and ours is a waste of time.
Can’t we all just get along?  And everybody buy Doc Jams toner?

MPS (Managed Print Services) has been hitting the printer and copier market for a while now, with most service companies dabbling in it, and others attempting a full frontal assault on customers in an attempt to utilize the smoke and mirrors that can be common with MPS.  Though MPs can be a very worthwhile endeavor, you should be aware of a few issues.

MPS is basically a fancy way of saying that we have software on our network that watches and records how and when printers and other office machines are being used.  This software can generate reports that indicate many things, including number of prints, toner and supplies usage, and effective costs of using certain office machines.

Since MPS can be a very useful tool for tracking printer and office machine usage, it can then be used to bring costs down based on analysis of the reports that MPS software provides.  So a high-end printer with low operating costs can be in an office that has a lot of printing to do.  Many MPS providers even provide machine swapping, allowing customers to choose from printers with different costs per page based on usage during different times of the year.  For example, a tax accountant from February through April may be printing much more than during the months of May through September.  So a heavy duty printer can be added or used to replace a lesser machine for a few months.

Many MPS companies offer a pay-per-click, or cost-per-page model that allows a customer to have any printer they want with no or little upfront cost.  The cost difference can be made up in a simple cost per page adaptation.

The secret to getting the most out of an MPS contract is to read the contract.  Duration, escape clauses, service times, speediness of delivery and setup are paramount to the smooth running of your business.  Finally, you may want to make sure you are actually saving the promised dollar amount from the time before any MPS system was put in place.  The MPS system is only as good as the software that keeps track of the office machines, and the people and software that analyze the reports the MPS software generates.

Many companies are doing quite well without MPS, thanks to a little homework that was done by themselves, or a reputable company like Doc Jams doing it for them before an office machine was purchased.

If you are unsure whether MPS is an acronym you need nothing to do with, or if MPS could save you some solid cash to make it worth asking a few questions, contact Doc Jams and let them help you decide if you need to pursue this new twist on an old way to count.

We’ve been hearing a lot from people who are stuck in contracts or leases on their current machines.  Many of them have the same thing to say…“We hate it.”.  Hate seems like an awfully strong word to use in any context, but to hate something that you are paying a lot of money for seems almost torturous.

After reviewing a few of these contracts we see that they are typically well written in regards to limiting the options for the lessee to escape the iron grip of poor service.  Like a cell phone contract that states that if your calls drop continuously you are still unable to leave the contract without financial punishment.  So the entire reason you are getting the contract is to make life easier, and now it is clearly (or not) written in the contract that your life may actually be harder due to signing this contract.  Say it isn’t so!

What can a savvy business person do?  Luckily, that is the easy part, if you follow a few simple rules:

1)      Watch what it takes to get out of the contract.  If you need to give more than 30 days notice and after doing so you need to continue to jump through hopes—pass.  Eliminate that wording or adjust it to meet your needs.  30 days is long enough to deal with a troublesome piece of office equipment.

2)      If you need to pay to get out of the contract, barter a clause that states that if the service delivered fails to meet your criteria within a given time frame, that charge is voided.  Be specific in order to be fair.  I’d suggest not allowing more than 3 visits from a technician within a week on most machines.  That is typically much more than most office machines will ever need.  If the salesperson balks at this, ask why?  What are they hiding?  Are their technicians really that poor?

3)      Avoid a service contract altogether.  You may have to be diligent about finding brands that can work with this and local service companies that work with those brands, but that is much easier than you may think.

4)      Find a month to month contract.  Or find a bank of hours to purchase at a discount.  This limits how much you need to stick your neck out.

5)      Watch how pages are counted.  You may be charged a fee per page, or given a page allowance, with excessive pages costing more.  Find out who counts what, and how.  Also find out what to do if descrepencies exist.  Better to find out now than to get an unforeseen bill for a lot of money that you disagree with.

Basically you need to make certain that your machine will work when you need it to, and that it will not cost you too much to ensure this.  A service contract seems like a great way for that to happen, but typically does not do much to guarantee that it will happen.  The best advice we can give is to actually read your contract.  If the contract is more than a few pages, or written in a super small font, be very cautious.

The best way to get out of a contract you don’t want is to not sign one in the first place.

Here at Doc Jams Printer Repair, we are all about speed.  If a printer is down, we need to get there as fast as possible.  If a customer is out of toner, we are there on the double.  Well just for fun, we went to a big box store to see what a distant competitor’s idea of speed is.  We did this for a couple reasons: 1- we need to keep up on what the option of jumping in a car and hitting a store for printers and toner really costs in time and money, and 2- we are often gluttons for punishment, as we will further illustrate.

We went to this big box store with a plan for easy purchasing and exit.  We had the idea of grabbing a simple, small black and white laser printer for $200.  We knew the model number, and the location.  Often the prices on these lower end models are offered cheaper to the general public then they are offered by wholesalers to retailers like us.  Who knows why, I am guessing because retailers like us typically work with durable commercial grade machines, and these machines cost more to ship individually then their true value.  Who knows, and who cares.

Let me tell you how the store purchase went:

10:37am: Drive to big box store and wonder how all radio stations can be playing commercials at the same time.

11:04am: Walk through front doors of this behemoth of bricks and logos.

11:05am: Grab printer, head to checkout.

11:13am:  Ummmm, I’m still waiting to be checked out.  I see one light on a register station, there to indicate that the checkout guy is available to check people out.  He is having an in-depth discussion with some potential customer about the merits of her credit card and how the machine is not agreeing with her interpretation of valid credit.  I see another checkout line at a register with a person running the cash register, but he has no light.  People are not exactly flying through that line, so I patiently wait where I am.  I am almost to the point of offering to pay for the bulletin board the credit-challenged first customer is so desperately trying to barter for.

11:16am: Another register is opened at the service counter to quell this mess of customers.  This poor checkout guy was about to go on break, too.  The people towards the back of the line flock to this kid.  I make my way that direction.  The first customer at the first register is beyond assistance, and I am graying by the second.

11:19am: I finally make it to the register.  I am asked if I have some membership/rewards/perks card.  I just waited in line over 10 minutes and they think I will torture myself enough with that process on such a routine basis that I am willing to carry a card that not only lets people know I belong to this group of zombies, but also am willing to be reminded every time I sit on my card stuffed wallet that this should bring a reward?!?  I tell them I don’t have the card with me.  They say they can look it up by phone number.  I give them my number; I hear a sigh of pain behind me.  It is another customer, hating his life at that moment.  That guy has likely been waiting a few minutes less than I have, and he’ll have to go through the same steps.

11:20am: I am now asked if I considered an extended warranty.  The checkout guy paints a picture of missiles flying and printers blowing up at random and the shock and awe that I will be stuck with if I don’t get the extended warranty.  You can check out my rant on extended warranties later.  I assure him I will kindly decline the extended warranty and go about my day and not lose any sleep.

11:22am: I am asked questions that go down a checklist the checkout guy has in front of him.  Do I need toner?  No.  Do I need any printer cables?  No.  Do I need a different warranty extension?  No.  Do you enjoy being tortured?  No!  I don’t have the card, remember?

11:25am: I am asked for payment.  6 minutes after arriving I am finally asked for payment.  I had one item.  I even put the printer on the counter with the barcode facing the checkout guy.

11:27am: I gather my newly purchased printer, my 4 foot long receipt, and my willpower to move out of the store and head back to the office without congratulating the store on such a fine display of customer service.  Seriously, I’ve made it out of clothing stores with my wife faster than this.  I remember that even though the checkout guy was able to find my membership/rewards/perks card, I have felt no membership, no reward was given, and I feel no more perky.  Arguably, I am much less perky.

12:04pm: I make it to the office with a printer in tow.  Now I need to get it to the customer.  I also get to set it up.  I have smart customers.

To put this is perspective; this is how it works for our smart customers:

1)      They tell us, “Doc Jams Printer Repair, we need a printer.”

2)      We say, “OK.” And go over the details of what they need, want and are willing to pay for.

3)      We get them a printer, and setup the machine where and how they want it setup.

Total time investment on their end can be less than 1 minute.  Total time for them to research and purchase a machine themselves is countless.  We’ll suffice it to say that ‘longer’ is a safe number.

In addition, guess who gets to resolve a problem if the machine is setup incorrectly, or the machines bells and whistles don’t work as the customer thought they would if we picked the machine out for them?  Guess who pays us for that burden if the customer did the research on their own?

Some days, I wish I was my own customer.