Roland Tech service quote $$ Are you serious?? $$

[dsignerchic]

I just got a quote to service my Roland SP 300..
Replace 2 caps, 1 pump, encoder strip. Diagnose print/cut misalignment, repair wiper. I purchased the parts for $225. The tech wants to charge me 4 hours of labor to complete the above at $195/ hr and 3 hrs of travel for $75/hr. Total $1,005??!! The average Doctor doesn't even make this much an hour, is he ripping me off or is this what people pay these techs? Maybe I should think of a carrer change?

 

[Andy D]

Seems about right.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Seems in line. We charge almost that per hour for bucket work. Some doctors make much more $ than that per hour. Book two hours with a dentist and your over a grand easy. If that $ hurts you, then do all that yourself...its not that hard

 

[GAC05]

Ask them if that is US or Canadian. If he is coming 3 hours down from the border that's only about $800.00 CAD.

 

[ikarasu]

I just got a quote to service my Roland SP 300..
Replace 2 caps, 1 pump, encoder strip. Diagnose print/cut misalignment, repair wiper. I purchased the parts for $225. The tech wants to charge me 4 hours of labor to complete the above at $195/ hr and 3 hrs of travel for $75/hr. Total $1,005??!! The average Doctor doesn't even make this much an hour, is he ripping me off or is this what people pay these techs? Maybe I should think of a carrer change?

$200 an hour seems insane to you? Ours is $150...but thats in Canada, you guys pay better down south.

The tech likely doesnt make $200 an hour - The company the tech works for likely makes $200 an hour, and he gets paid $50 an hour. The tech isnt busy 8 hours a day every day...so some of the companies $150 an hour proffit goes into subsidizing the time he's not working... otherwise they cant afford to keep him on, and you have no tech.

It's the same when you sell a sign for $100 and it costs you $10 in vinyl and alupanel to make it. I'm sure some of your customers think you're a rip off... but you know what it takes to make said sign... And now you're learning about equipment upkeep, and why you charge so much... So that when you need $1000 of repair on a $25,000 machine, you have the cash to do it.

Plus...with your own supplied parts, you may be paying a premium. My car mechanic charges me more per hour working on my vehicle if I buy the parts myself because he cant mark it up and make a proffit on it. Hourly labor doesnt make companies $$$, its charging you $1200 for the $225 in parts you just paid for that makes them money.... so it wouldnt surprise me if their hourly rate went up because it's customer supplied parts.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Océ charges us AUD$300/hr or part thereof. We had an ink solenoid fail two weeks back. Diagnosed the entire problem ourselves. Logged the call, they sent the tech out with the part we requested. 15 minutes later it was installed with an invoice for $300 + parts. It's an inevitable part of our industry and should be accounted for in budgets.

 

[Andy D]

With our gandi flatbed, we had to fly the tech in and pay for the hotel.
Ended up being 4-5K everytime....

 

[Andy D]

If that $ hurts you, then do all that yourself...its not that hard

I was amazed how easy it was to switch out my Rolands capping, it took less than 5 minutes. Seems like the pump would be easy too, but I never switched out the encoder strip, is that pretty easy?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I was amazed how easy it was to switch out my Rolands capping, it took less than 5 minutes. Seems like the pump would be easy too, but I never switched out the encoder strip, is that pretty easy?

It's not bad. I think I remember it taking me about 30 mins on a SP540

 

[dsignerchic]

Thanks all for your insight. I actually have replaced the encoder strip myself once and it wasnt too bad. Because of the age of the machine I'm hesitant to try these tasks on my own in fear of breaking something I won't be able to find parts for. The tech had told me to order the parts myself so I don't think he marked up his costs based on that. This machine has made me a boatload of money so I don't mind putting money back into it but I wanted to make sure I wasn't being taken advantage of. I can rest easier knowing these fees are the norm i suppose.

 

[dsignerchic]

With our gandi flatbed, we had to fly the tech in and pay for the hotel.
Ended up being 4-5K everytime....

Yikes!

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Get the roland service manual, it is very good for these machines. It literally gives you step by step instructions with illustrations for fixing and adjusting pretty much anything with these printers.

 

[Lauren-R]

For newer machines, a service manual can cost $10, but literally gives you visual/verbal directions on replacing parts, this is what I always recommend especially if your being asked to source the parts yourself.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Buy the parts from us and we'll talk to you over the phone if you get stuck or have any questions. The SP series is one of the easiest machines to work on. As long as you unplug the machine and wait 5 minutes before working on it, there isn't much damage you can do that can't be reversed.

Also, we charge $80/hr for travel and $160 per hour for service. $200 does seem high to me especially for an SP series. We work on large flatbed machines that require much more expertise and knowledge. Guess we need to up the pricing!

 

[Mantaworld]

This machine is fairly easy to work on yourself...Tech rates can be between $100 and $200 per hour plus the travel time.A lot of people think that the older Sp-300, SP-300V and the Sp=540V are hard to find parts for...this is NOT the case and you can find any part for these printers!
If you want me to provide you with a link to a service manual for your machine...let me know your email

cheers

 

[Andy D]

We work on large flatbed machines that require much more expertise and knowledge. Guess we need to up the pricing!

Maybe - maybe not.
This was around 12-15 years ago & the Gandy Jeti was just about the only option (I think) so they had us by the short and curlies, I think all their techs were based in Canada.

 

[Grizzly]

I just got a quote to service my Roland SP 300..
Replace 2 caps, 1 pump, encoder strip. Diagnose print/cut misalignment, repair wiper. I purchased the parts for $225. The tech wants to charge me 4 hours of labor to complete the above at $195/ hr and 3 hrs of travel for $75/hr. Total $1,005??!! The average Doctor doesn't even make this much an hour, is he ripping me off or is this what people pay these techs? Maybe I should think of a carrer change?

Océ charges us AUD$300/hr or part thereof. We had an ink solenoid fail two weeks back. Diagnosed the entire problem ourselves. Logged the call, they sent the tech out with the part we requested. 15 minutes later it was installed with an invoice for $300 + parts. It's an inevitable part of our industry and should be accounted for in budgets.

AGFA is $1500 flat travel fee and $275 an hour. OCE has local techs but if you're not on a service agreement they are $315 an hour. I agree it's too expensive, especially when they seem to tinker trying to figure out the problem.
We do all the service ourselves on the AGFA machines. The Colorado is alot harder due to the way Canon requires a dumb security key.

 

[ewded]

I may sound an assh*le but if you can afford the luxury to not know how to change basic stuff on your printer you should not complain about the price. Everything on your list is explained on YouTube and labour shouldn't take more than an afternoon.

 

[buggyjr12]

I just got a quote to service my Roland SP 300..
Replace 2 caps, 1 pump, encoder strip. Diagnose print/cut misalignment, repair wiper. I purchased the parts for $225. The tech wants to charge me 4 hours of labor to complete the above at $195/ hr and 3 hrs of travel for $75/hr. Total $1,005??!! The average Doctor doesn't even make this much an hour, is he ripping me off or is this what people pay these techs? Maybe I should think of a carrer change?

I paid $1,000 for new cap tops, dampers, wipers, sponge kit, encoder strip, encoder reader, ink line flush, new ink waste lines, head alignment and adjust, cut carriage cable, cleaning, calibration, travel, and five hours of labor on my SP-540V.

Ewded is correct, there's nothing super difficult about any of it if you follow the instructions in the manual, but sometimes it's worth saving the time and aggravation to just get it done and get it done right. Especially if you're up to your ears in other stuff. Plus, there's information to be gleaned out of five hours of conversation with a tech.

 

[dsignerchic]

I may sound an assh*le but if you can afford the luxury to not know how to change basic stuff on your printer you should not complain about the price. Everything on your list is explained on YouTube and labour shouldn't take more than an afternoon.

I have replaced the scan motor and pinch rollers myself, that's gotta count for something?