Photocopier advice and help...: Panorama Copier dealer expose
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Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Panorama Copier dealer expose
There will be a second programme from Panorama covering copiers and copier dealers very soon I understand...
However, Panorama will have their work cut out trying to understand the complexity and subtlety that creates the profits for copier sales people and their Directors. Then of course they have to broadcast a programme that doesn`t lose the viewers attention which I suspect is the biggest problem they face and why copier dealers have never been successfully exposed previously. Watchdog tried and failed 20 years ago. I have already spent a couple of hours trying to explain the systems they use to Matthew Chapman, the Panorama producer, so lets see what happens when the next programme is aired in October...
www.buyersbuddy.org
However, Panorama will have their work cut out trying to understand the complexity and subtlety that creates the profits for copier sales people and their Directors. Then of course they have to broadcast a programme that doesn`t lose the viewers attention which I suspect is the biggest problem they face and why copier dealers have never been successfully exposed previously. Watchdog tried and failed 20 years ago. I have already spent a couple of hours trying to explain the systems they use to Matthew Chapman, the Panorama producer, so lets see what happens when the next programme is aired in October...
www.buyersbuddy.org
Monday, 24 September 2012
Panorama Copier and lap top Scams and cons
At least 169 schools across the UK have fallen victim to a rip-off that has seen them massively overcharged for IT equipment and left with debts of up to £1.9m. More than 70,000 students are affected.
Some schools have been left on the verge of closure as a result of cutbacks required to meet the payments.
While some schools fell victim to mis-selling companies, others just paid grossly inflated prices for their equipment leases.
Paul Kenyon from the BBC's Panorama programme met with an school IT leasing expert to get a sense of what some of the technology that schools have bought - from photocopiers to computers to printers - should actually have cost.
Panorama: Reading, Writing and Rip-offs, BBC One, Monday, 24 September at 20:30 BST and then available in the UK on theBBC iPlayer.
www.buyersbuddy.org
Panorama Photocopier Rip-offs
A High Street bank has agreed to write off millions of pounds in debts owed by 27 schools that fell victim to a large-scale equipment leasing rip-off.
The BBC's Panorama programme found that at least 169 schools fell for the elaborate scheme.
At least 10 head teachers have been suspended or have resigned after being duped by mis-selling companies.
Some schools signed deals that saw them paying as much as 10 times the going rates for computers and photocopiers.
Clydesdale Bank told the programme that as an act of goodwill, it would forgive the debts of the 27 schools which signed deals with the the bank involving two firms, called LTM and DTS.
'Moral responsibility'
Both companies, which operated out of the same premises in Hertfordshire, collapsed with combined debts of £30m.
But it was the schools themselves that were left to make repayments under the deals that LTM and DTS had arranged.
The debts that schools across the country were left to pay has put some in danger of closing. Other schools have been left with hefty bills to pay for equipment that in some instances did not arrive and in other cases was damaged or substandard.
In total, more than 70,000 pupils have been affected.
Margaret Hodge MP, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said that while banks and other financing companies might not be legally required to examine whether the deals offered value for the public money being spent by the schools, she felt there was a "moral responsibility".
"I think if I was sitting in a major bank knowing that these supply companies were fleecing our schools, I would accept my moral imperative to intervene on behalf of the education sector," she said.
'Colossal scam'
A spokesman for Clydesdale Bank said that it had no involvement in selecting the suppliers, or the equipment prices agreed by the schools, but was taking a sympathetic view of the situation.
The bank, which called in the police to investigate the actions of both LTM and DTS, said: "As a gesture of goodwill, we will be writing to all 27 schools that financed their equipment with us to provide them with reassurance that the bank will support them by writing off the outstanding principal debt associated with these agreements.
"Those schools will also be able to retain the equipment. We hope this will provide the schools and their communities with a great deal of comfort."
But Stephen Sklaroff, of the Finance and Leasing Association, speaking on behalf of the industry, said it was up to the schools - not the financing companies such as banks - to make sure they were not signing bad deals.
"Value for money is something that the school has to take account of in making the purchase in the first place," he said.
The BBC has discovered that the banks have huge sums invested in school leases - about £300m across the UK.
Liz Steel, former head of Glemsford Primary School in Suffolk, was one of the victims of mis-selling firms.
Her school was left owing more than £500,000 for 125 laptops.
She said: "When the auditor came in, supposedly to count the equipment, he just sat down and told us that it was a colossal scam. And it was like my world had just fallen apart."
Ms Steel had signed the deal after being told the school could lease as many laptops as necessary and, because of corporate sponsorship, would not have to pay for them.
DTS initially paid the lease instalments to the bank but when it then went into administration the school was left to pick up the repayment schedule. She only realised what had happened when Clydesdale Bank's auditor arrived to count the equipment.
Ms Steel was suspended immediately by the local authority and eventually resigned.
Panorama: Reading, Writing and Rip-offs, BBC One, Monday, 24 September at 20:30 BST and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.
www.buyersbuddy.org
Friday, 2 October 2009
Sunday, 13 September 2009
60 months of misery- but only for you !
To alot of you readers out there I think this blog will make lots of sense because it has happened to you!It may be happening to you now.
Let me ask you a question.What is the best way to get yourself unreliable copiers with the obvious exception of using a sledge hammer?! The answer is very simple and slightly less violent...all you have to do is use a pen and sign a 5 year lease and a matching 5 year service agreement.Yes it is that easy and guess what, your friendly copier dealer is happy to oblige.Why? Because he is then able to squeeze every last ounce of profit from your account and you stand by powerless and watch it happen...just great!(for them)
Here is how it works...for those that are reliving their own horror stories by reading this please stay strong!!!
You sign a photocopier lease and service agreement for 60 months.The equipment doesn`t last for 60 months because it generally doesn`t. It doesn`t last for 60 months because the supplier isn`t incentivised for it to do so! I will explain...
There are good reasons for this.One is that if you have signed a 60 month service agreement, complete with double digit copy cost increases every year and an outrageous cancellation clause entitling the copier dealer to anything up to 90% of your historical volume for the unexpired term, you are basically going nowhere in the future! You are trapped because you don`t want to pay thousands of pounds to cancel a maintenance contract that would involve paying for service,parts and toner you will never receive.The unscrupulous salesman and his company know this.So what happens? Well because there is no need to provide fantastic service or much point in fitting the parts required to achieve reliability-they don`t!! Remember you are going nowhere. Plus the salesman earns commission every time he changes your lease/equipment and his company makes more profit too.Thats why poor service is good news for them as the equipment is in need of changing or upgrading as they call it much earlier. Even worse- You want to change it too because you are fed up with all the in house complaints.So lets say you are 3 years into your 5 year lease and service agreement and everyone is in agreement that the copier/s have to go! Now you have a choice but not a great one!! You pay off the lease, or build it in as they do and also pay off the cancellation charges of the service agreement and find another supplier(thats fun too.) Or you sign again with the old supplier, who has just failed to do the job properly, because it appears easier and cheaper.It will be neither as the whole thing is repeated time and time again until your costs become so ludicrously high that you snap.Eventually this will happen but it will be painful and expensive. Any thoughts...? Apart from snap early!!!!
Let me ask you a question.What is the best way to get yourself unreliable copiers with the obvious exception of using a sledge hammer?! The answer is very simple and slightly less violent...all you have to do is use a pen and sign a 5 year lease and a matching 5 year service agreement.Yes it is that easy and guess what, your friendly copier dealer is happy to oblige.Why? Because he is then able to squeeze every last ounce of profit from your account and you stand by powerless and watch it happen...just great!(for them)
Here is how it works...for those that are reliving their own horror stories by reading this please stay strong!!!
You sign a photocopier lease and service agreement for 60 months.The equipment doesn`t last for 60 months because it generally doesn`t. It doesn`t last for 60 months because the supplier isn`t incentivised for it to do so! I will explain...
There are good reasons for this.One is that if you have signed a 60 month service agreement, complete with double digit copy cost increases every year and an outrageous cancellation clause entitling the copier dealer to anything up to 90% of your historical volume for the unexpired term, you are basically going nowhere in the future! You are trapped because you don`t want to pay thousands of pounds to cancel a maintenance contract that would involve paying for service,parts and toner you will never receive.The unscrupulous salesman and his company know this.So what happens? Well because there is no need to provide fantastic service or much point in fitting the parts required to achieve reliability-they don`t!! Remember you are going nowhere. Plus the salesman earns commission every time he changes your lease/equipment and his company makes more profit too.Thats why poor service is good news for them as the equipment is in need of changing or upgrading as they call it much earlier. Even worse- You want to change it too because you are fed up with all the in house complaints.So lets say you are 3 years into your 5 year lease and service agreement and everyone is in agreement that the copier/s have to go! Now you have a choice but not a great one!! You pay off the lease, or build it in as they do and also pay off the cancellation charges of the service agreement and find another supplier(thats fun too.) Or you sign again with the old supplier, who has just failed to do the job properly, because it appears easier and cheaper.It will be neither as the whole thing is repeated time and time again until your costs become so ludicrously high that you snap.Eventually this will happen but it will be painful and expensive. Any thoughts...? Apart from snap early!!!!
Friday, 11 September 2009
Teaching schools a lesson not to be copied...
Imagine a school paying £305,000 for 6 copiers!! I know one that is!! Lease a copier and you should be given a Ferrari free of charge but nope they also get a service contract that causes the poor bursar or these days, school business manager, another massive headache.How could even the most unscrupulous copier salesman do this! It`s the kids that suffer because, after all, that copier profit comes from the budget and into a fat cat salesmans pocket...what disgraceful practices some photocopier dealers are guilty of.He has tried to extract himself but was quoted a huge termination penalty that was also 5 figures for what? I find the whole thing absurd,why isn`t it illegal.If you find yourself in a similar position then tell the world here what to look for when buying copiers or leasing them.This has to stop,as you can tell I have a real passion for this!!
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www.buyersbuddy.org
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