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Customer Service

Warranties de-mystified!

July 25, 2011 in Customer Service by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

Sometimes printers die.  It can be a sad day when the old HP LaserJet 5-plus spews out its last page.  Sometimes a need is born – a company decides to bring marketing in house and needs a good quality color printer, or decides to ditch several old single function machines and consolidate to a new multifunction device.

When someone contacts Reliable looking for a new or refurbished HP machine they are very likely to talk to me.  Some people know exactly what they are looking for – these people did their research and are usually well versed in the printer industry.

Sometimes I have to recommend a printer.  This is easier with the more information I get – how many pages per month, what printer(s) or machines is it replacing or working with, budget constraints, number of users and other variable information.  With so many things to choose from the biggest determinant is usually the budget and page needs.

With nearly every printer quote and comparison I put out there people have questions about how the warranty works.  We have had a lot of experiences here with the whole gamut of warranties.  Care Packs, factory one year warranties, extended warranties, refurbished printer warranties, and out of warranty special claims.

Well, I can’t answer all these questions in a blog post – it would go on for ever and be very, very boring… so I created a PDF for you to download and learn more -  HP and Reliable Warranty.

I’m sure that won’t answer all the questions, but it’s a start.  My other piece of advice is to register your printer – Julian had some great information about how and why here.

Got a question we didn’t answer?  Please ask it here!

Little known online ordering features

June 8, 2011 in Customer Service by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

I like to tell customers that our online ordering system has all the features of the big boxes, with none of the distractions.  It’s a simplified white-lie, however, because it actually has a lot more features than you will find on most other online ordering websites.  I’ll outline just a few of the features you may or may not have heard about.

Admins and Users

Everyone who logs into the system is either an “Admin” or a “User”.  If you are the only person in your organization who logs in to place orders, you are probably an admin.  Admins can change passwords, view all order histories and billing information.  Some organizations have admins approve user orders before the order comes through to fulfillment – this assures PO’s are assigned correctly and that there are less mistakes in ordering.

Purchase Orders, budgets and cost centers

PO’s can be set up as blanket PO’s with a budget amount, or a single new PO number can be entered for each order.  You can also have a budget for a set period of time so that users don’t go over the budgeted amount.  Cost centers give you a way to departmentalize the expense.  These features are all set up by a Reliable employee on the back end only take a few moments to activate.

Order Tracking

Earlier this year we activated tracking order e-mails.  This is an e-mail that notifies you that a tracking number is available and the item(s) are on their way.  If you don’t want this e-mail you can opt out of it in your account settings.

If you would like to learn more about these features or add and of them to your account please give me a call in customer service a call at 800-346-7890 x106.

The customer service roller coaster

May 19, 2011 in Customer Service by Patti Bemis  |  No Comments

Roller CoasterWe love all our referrals!  What business doesn’t?  However, no business can thrive on referrals alone…

Recently we were contacted by a new employee from a business we’ve had the pleasure of working with for many years.  She told us that our regular contact was gone, but that she was given specific instructions by them to order from us.  Wow – that blew my mind!

And that’s not all – several of our customers who moved on to new jobs call us shortly after they start at their new job.  There’s also been several new accounts we started working with recently that are strictly referrals from our current customer base.

There is no greater compliment to a business and its employees than repeat business and referrals!  Knowing the hard work you do plays an important role in your company’s success makes it a joy to go to work every day.  I know it sounds corny, but it really does make you want to whistle while you work!

Now for loop two of the roller coaster.  As many successful companies do, we have continuously evolved and added new solutions to meet customers’ needs.  Smart, right?  You bet, but if we don’t let everyone know what we are up to, we might get off the tracks!  Keeping existing customers informed about all the new products & services we offer isn’t an easy task.

So, what is the best way to keep our customers informed about our ever changing and evolving products and services? The answer was right under our noses.  The  changing technology is what keeps us evolving, so we needed to look at changing how we communicate to fit the times!

We recently implemented a customer outreach program by assigning a dedicated customer service rep to each account. We updated the way we communicate to include not only phone and e-mail, but have added social media like blogging, Facebook and twitter to help keep our precious customers up to date.

I think there is a lot that we can learn about each others business.  As we move towards global content management and the less-paper office our services will continue to evolve and adapt.  Everyone has different ideas and we would  love to hear yours.  Let us know if you have any unique ways to communicate your services, or any ways we can serve you better….

Online ordering Tips and Tricks

May 18, 2011 in Customer Service by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

Our online ordering is different from most others, but once our customers learn how to use it they find it much faster and easier than others. Here are a few things you can do to make it super easy and fast to place your online orders and set up your account.

HP Supplies Finder

HP Supplies Finder Icon
Have trouble finding the right ink or toner cartridge for your machine? Click on the HP Supplies Finder icon in the upper right corner. Either type in your machine model number, or click the printer type and look on the list.

Search for Products

Search
Less is more in the search products field. Do you know you need a “HP 263A” but want the compatible brand?  Type in simply “263A” and both the HP and compatible will come up.  Or, if you are searching for the old part number “Q2612R” skip the R and type just Q2612.  Many of our part numbers have changed, so if you drop the R the product will come up.

Personal Items

Personal itemsItems you order on a regular can be added to a special list for easier finding. Click the “Add to Personal Items” link on the item. Be aware that you have to confirm this an additional click by deciding if you want to create groups or just add the item with no group.

Contract Items

Contract itemsItems listed here are ones you have ordered in the past.  Many times they also have the price locked in for a period of time.  You can decide how many items to show on the screen if you have several pages of them.   If there is an item you know you order on a regular basis that is not in your contracted items, please call customer service to have it added.

Site Tutorials and Suggestion Box

Site TutorialWant to learn more? Click the Site Tutorial in the upper-most right corner of your screen.  If it’s not there call customer service to have this feature activated.  You can also contact customer service via the Suggestion Box.

Check back for more – next I will explain how to use the account and administration features!  Please leave a comment below if you have any other tops you want to see covered!

Register your HP printer!

April 27, 2011 in Customer Service by Julian  |  No Comments

We all do it, actually don’t do it.  I just recently purchased a digital camera and I almost did exactly what I have done as long as I can remember, toss out the registration card.  Something stopped me this time – and that something was HP.

As you may have heard HP has had a lot of main board failures.  I have seen service advisories on the HP LJ M1522n and M2727nf multi function printers (discontinued), as well as the M2727nf multi function printer.  Both are popular MFP models because of their low acquisition price.  The service advisories are for the flat bed scanner and the formatter (main board).

Because of the issues HP has extended technical support and replacement for one additional year on those M1522’s and M2727’s, along with a few other printers.  The problem is – if you didn’t register your product for the basic warranty you may not be eligible for the additional coverage.  When a product is not registered, the warranty start date is the date the product was manufactured – that could be months to a year.

Registration is simple, just complete the post card that comes with your product, or go to this web address within 30 days of purchase: https://register.hp.com/americas/flowPage/registration/index.do?execution=e1s1&cc=US&lang=en

You can also learn more at HP’s Total Care page:  http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/cache/427347-0-0-225-121.html

Reliable Technologies is an Authorized Service Provider and Reseller – we are not HP.  We cannot register products for customers, and if HP denies a claim it is the customers’ responsibility, which is why we sometimes ask for a credit card even if you have a case number from HP.

Keep it in the bank-not the toner closet!

April 13, 2011 in Customer Service by Julian  |  No Comments

I’ve been doing service calls and deliveries lately.  This has given me the opportunity to interact with many of our valued customers face to face.  It has also allowed me to make sure that my technical skills aren’t “desk soft” yet.

With many companies facing cash flow problems it amazes me to go into our customers and see all the toner in the closet.  This happens for many reasons and there are several better options.  Let’s face it, equipment must be upgraded.  With manufacturers constantly coming out with new models and cartridges upgrades can be very expensive.

I often hear customers say “it is good to get the latest model and have a couple spare cartridges”, but I don’t always agree.  Yes the latest model is nice, but if you have a product that your staff is comfortable with, does the job, and you already stock the toner for it, then why not look into a refurbished printer.   They cost about 40 percent less than new printers and help you keep a consistent fleet.  Plus, you don’ t have to add another toner cartridge to that closet- at a cost of 500 dollars or so if it’s a color printer.

If you do like or need to have the latest and greatest model, then I suggest just in time delivery.  It eliminates all toner stock, and Reliable Technologies monitors the devices and sends replacement cartridges when you need them.  Laserwatch2 has proven over and over to be a huge time and money saver for many companies.

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