Service Contracts

[frank]

We recieved a letter the other day from one of our customers asking what our service and maintenance contract covered.
It goes something like this "it would appear that you only come out to service the equipment but we have received unexpected invoices for repairs this year and we are thinking that the service agreement is not really worth the money".

This customer has had the kit installed by us for nearly 9 years and - alas - he lost 2 compressors this summer! - what does he expect! Servicing does not guarantee against mechanical failure. Do you have "difficult" customers? This one is driving me MAD :D

Lets hope that when his car breaks down the garage will get a load of stick!! :p

frank

[rdocwra]

When i worked for Volvo (Many Years Ago) we always used to say that it was easier to sell a £10K car than it was to sell a £200 Service.All customers moan about maintainence costs but the only way to prove it is to not do any for a year and see what happens. All you can do is try to explain the benifits of preventative maintainence and try to should how inconvenient and costly it is for breakdowns. At the end of the day a company who is concerned about the refrigeration will pay for maintainence, Companies who see it as an inconvience won't.
If you get a company who doesnt maintain equipment that then breaks down, STING EM. By this i don't mean BODGE/OVERCHARGE, what i mean is do the job right, do everything that needs doing any present them with the invoice with a smile

[Karl Hofmann]

Servicing protects against PREMATURE failure of the equipment, but everything has a life expectancy, and no matter how much you service an item it will eventually break down and need repair or replacing. Servicing simply ensures that the life expectancy is realised.

[Peter_1]

We make sometimes an all in (labor, spare parts, gas , compressors and so on) contract for 6 to 8% of the total cost of the new installation.
In most cases, we have a 2 year warranty of the manufacturer and these 2 years, we can fill our piggy bank (is this the correct word)
This (6 %) means a depreciation of apr. 16 years.
Thi amount assures our client a well definied annual cost without any surprises for his refr/AC unit.
Peter

[dave]

The word service should not be on a preventative maintenance contract.The word servicecalls should be in bold letters showing rates and charges and explaining the difference between routine maintenance visits and breakdown servicecalls.Then again with some clients - YOU JUST CANT EDUCATE IDIOTS.LOL

[frank]

Dave

My thoughts exactly.

These guys are getting our basic package - cleaning filters, checking operation etc. -BUT they still want gaurantees against failure? is it no wonder that my hair has fallen out?? :D

[rbartlett]

Originally posted by Karl Hofmann
Servicing protects against PREMATURE failure of the equipment, but everything has a life expectancy, and no matter how much you service an item it will eventually break down and need repair or replacing. Servicing simply ensures that the life expectancy is realised.


i would be very careful stating this on any contract or verbally to the customer

'kit' can and does fail before it's 'life expectancy' what ever that is??

it 'helps' protect against premature failure that's all..


and your statement above will get you in court eventually without a leg to stand on..

bit pandatic i know but there was a discussion some time ago (not here) about a company getting sued because their maintenance contract didn't explain correctly this very point..
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=heatscan-2701991026170001%40pm6-20.kalama.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dmaintenance%2Bcontract%2Bsued%2Bgroup:alt.hvac.*%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26group%3Dalt.hvac.*%26selm%3Dheatscan-2701991026170001%2540pm6-20.kalama.com%26rnum%3D1


cheers

richard

[Karl Hofmann]

Originally posted by rbartlett
[
bit pandatic i know but there was a discussion some time ago (not here) about a company getting sued because their maintenance contract didn't explain correctly this very point..
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=heatscan-2701991026170001%40pm6-20.kalama.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dmaintenance%2Bcontract%2Bsued%2Bgroup:alt.hvac.*%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26group%3Dalt.hvac.*%26selm%3Dheatscan-2701991026170001%2540pm6-20.kalama.com%26rnum%3D1


cheers

richard [/B]


This is a good and valid point, and indeed could get a guy in to serious trouble. I would never suggest that a piece of kit would last longer than the manufacturers warranty (And lease arrangement), anything longer is a bonus. I'm sure that we have all seen equipment that should have been put out to pasture long ago and although a twenty year old split unit is a tribute to its manufacturer, is it really cost effective both in terms of running and repair.

[Makeit go Right]

We always include the following para underneath the maintenance price, which helps to describe what our maintenance covers and what it does not cover.

"Please note that whilst the above price relates to two regular maintenance visits in the year, it excludes the cost of any emergency call-outs, spare parts or repairs costs, which might be requested. Should there be a requirement for such works these additional works would be chargeable at the daywork rates listed on the following pages."