Contract "Gotchas"

Other copier competitors have long sold cost-per-page contracts along with equipment sales, that include revenue generating "gotchas" that surprise many customers after the deal is signed.

These usually come in the form of penalty charges, common in copier agreements, when end user volumes are under or over contract specifications.  For example, when a cost-per-page plan is set at 10,000 prints/copies

per month, customers are charged two to three times more if they print more than the contract allocation.  Let's say you are an accountant. This can seriously effect you during and after tax season. Customers think they are paying a single price per page printed, but they may not realize they may be paying for pages not even printed.

Hidden fees for color can be another cost trap.  Be sure that your provider and you agree to the definition of a color page. Employees ofter print out emails that may have an email or website highlighted  in color.  This one line can cause this page to be counted as a color page rather than a black and white page.  Color can be as much as eight times more than the cost of black and white.  Better to go with a contract based on coverage percentages or a contract built around the consumables.

Another thing to look out for is charges to scan a document.  Document management systems can be great for filing electonic documents but be sure to check the bottom line of your contract for these "click" charges.