After I dropped my data collector into the river (previous post-fell about 30 feet, hit a steel beam and a concrete wall on the way down, and it took about 30 minutes to get boat, go through lock, and fish it out). I was able to get the data file off, but the keyboard was not acting right.
The second DC was hardly ever used. So, I figured we could swap the radio off the "wet" one and put it in the "almost new" one. I took it and my other one in to the dealer for repair. Turns out both had cracks in the cases (probably from using the pole clamp, they said, which we don't do much). So, despite the fact that they are IPX7, water got in. Not surprising, the DC was 6 years old, and has of course been dropped, etc.
The estimates came back to swap the radio, and replace the case, etc on the damaged one. The radio had to be dried out and cleaned as well. I told them to go ahead and fix them both, as we need the one with the radio all the time, and the other we need for the infrequent occasion when we use two for RTK. They gave us a "loaner" to use while the units were in the shop.
They called last week (2+ weeks after dropping it off) and said "your TSC2 is ready". So we went to pick them up, only one was ready, they are waiting for the parts for the damaged one. Two hours of labor to clean the radio, swap it out, and test it. Sounds fair to me. But, I then got a bill for the rental of the "loaner", which I thought was just that, a loaner. When I take my car in for repair, they give me a loaner at no charge. They didn't tell me it was a rental, but then again I didn't ask.
It took two weeks to do this not because they were waiting for parts, just because they were backed up, I guess. Is this fair to charge a rental fee while the unit sits in their shop waiting for them to get to it? Do other dealers charge rental for a loaner while a unit is being repaired.
Not a large amount of money, I will pay it, just wondering if this is standard practice. I understand it costs money to have equipment sitting around available for use while another is being repaired, maybe it came from their rental pool. But, in the case of the auto dealer, they build that into the cost. And maybe if they weren't charging rental, they would have done the work much quicker?
I have had things go both ways. I'd say there a number of considerations:
- How valuable is the loaner and are they losing money from someone else because you have it.
- How big and frequent a customer are you.
- How loyal a customer are you. Do you do all your business there without quibling over a few dollars? Or are you always shopping around for a deal?
And finally, think about your own clients. At what moment does the clock start running on their timesheet? The first ring of a phone call? Or do you "give" time to answer questions?
etc etc
Well, I am not a big client, but I am a LOYAL client. Never ever shop around. I have one employee (so there are two of us), and I have 5 Trimble dual frequency recievers (one used), 2 TSC2's, 1 S6, and a GX scanner (50%, owned with another company). Like I said, not so much the money, just that I wasn't expecting that.
And yes, unfortunately for me, I am the type of person that always gives free advice to anyone, including to them (the dealer). But they generally treat me well, always give a bit of discount. I would not change dealers because of this, just wondering if it is SOP.
John,
I inquired about some rental radios for my robot while I had some repaired. They said that it would be maybe a few dollars a day, just to make sure that they got them back, and that was for radio repairs that they were not performing. I was going to have to send out the radios to the manufacturer for repair.
They should have specified that the "loaner" was actually a rental unit, but then again, I might would have asked also. Having said that, I am like you, and would just pay, and move forward, especially if you do most of you business with them. Sounds like a misunderstanding.
Hope it works out.
Jimmy
I've had excellent dealer care through the years. In fact, the last instance involved the need for a new battery. After a couple of days of having problems getting the battery from their supplier, they sent me a loaner that I thought was the new one. About two weeks later the new battery arrives. I'm thinking, wow, two for the price of one. Then they called and asked me to ship back the loaner that I didn't even realize was a loaner.
> They gave us a "loaner" to use while the units were in the shop.
They should have mentioned at that time the nature of the agreement, free of charge or rental.
I know where you are coming from. It’s not the money, it’s the fact you have enjoyed a good relationship and feel they have taken advantage of you and it hurts your feelings. And that kind of sucks. I’d just chalk it up to the cost of business. The next time I was in there I would, during a candid relaxed conversation, slip in a comment such as ‘hey, what’s up with this charging for a loaner business?’. If anything, it will at least alert them to the fact of your concern.
“Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug” ( Mark Knopfler)
Have a great week!
Our dealer charges us everytime we borrow any type of equipment. The last thing was a radio he "loaned" to us while we were cycling our radios through in order to get them narrow banded. The kicker is that by the time all the radios were done and I shipped the loaner back the bill was big enough I could of just bought an extra radio as a spare. I now carefully weigh all options before getting loaner anything from my dealer.
If I were the dealer it would depend on what kind of customer you were, John. If you are the sort that only buys once in a long while and then shops me on price when you do, I'd charge you for the loaner. If you buy or upgrade fairly regularly and are loyal to my shop then I'd write the rental off.
In business terms, my policy would be to charge rental for a loaner, then discount the rental for my good customers.
After I posted I looked at the bill, which I hadn't seen yet, as I didn't pick it up from the shop. We had the rental for two weeks, they charged us for a month, but discounted it 50% (because it was a loaner, I guess).
> If I were the dealer it would depend on what kind of customer you were, John. If you are the sort that only buys once in a long while and then shops me on price when you do, I'd charge you for the loaner. If you buy or upgrade fairly regularly and are loyal to my shop then I'd write the rental off.
>
> In business terms, my policy would be to charge rental for a loaner, then discount the rental for my good customers.
I disagree on this one. What's a good customer? Where is the line drawn? Two good customers sitting together having a beer might find that one of the two is "gooder" than the other.
There should be a clear policy on rentals of loaners. In this here case, the gentleman who wrote the original post would have known from the beginning the nature of the agreement; "what the deal of the dealer was."
Bottom line is if you are paying for it, it's not a loaner anymore. So dealers should have a clear policy /this is the way we do business.
we had one in the shop for months (FC-250)
they had to wait for some special silicon from Japan that was hazmat
they charged us for a one week rental of a better DC (FC-2500)
then once they fixed ours, they charged us for parts but not the labor
they wanted the smaller DC and offered us an even trade for the better DC...
works for me
Unless you signed a rental agreement, you had a "loaner" and not a "rental".
It's just bad business for a dealer to operate this way. Without a rental agreement, they have no way of collecting the rent because there is no contract to enforce.
Of course the better dealers will offer a free loaner in various situations, but in my experience a rental agreement should still be required even for a free or one dollar rental. If you think about it, it spells out the obligations for both parties with no surprises left at the end.
I guess that since I have lived and worked in BFE for so long, I am always happy to have replacement equipment to keep us going when our own equipment fails and I should be more conscientious about what it costs me. I sometimes hate to have to pay it, but I do, otherwise I would be dead in the water with employees standing around looking for a paddle. Maybe the dealer should have made it very clear to you that there would be charges for the loaner equipment and hopefully they next time they will. Certainly not to belittle your plight, but how much could the rental bill be? About the same as being stuck in the mud on a tract and having to pay a tow truck, or maybe a rainout on a job an hour away, or surveying the wrong lot because someone gave you the lot number and block number reversed or having a washout because someone forgot the gun, the DC, a battery went dead? Try to look at it as just another one of those things that bite the business owner in the behind on a regular basis - I know that you are no stranger to that, because it happens to us all. Live to fight another day...
I'm not thrilled with my dealer. I sent a GPS unit to them that was acting up. I sent very carefully worded explanation of what it was doing it and how to duplicate the issue. They had the unit for two weeks before I got it back. "We can't duplicate your problem" was their response. I followed the steps that I had sent them and presto, the problem appeared.
Purchased some marking paint from this same dealer. I specified that I wanted "survey pink" paint. They sent me orange. Called them to get get a RMA. They said call salesman "X". I called and he said he would be by Friday or Monday to pick up the paint. I am in the office by myself so if I know someone is coming by, I have to stick around even if I have field work to do. Well, long story short, he has yet to show and I wasted two days sitting in the office waiting for him when I had field work that I needed to do.
Time to find a new supplier.
