JCC beginning to charge for techl support

[Greg Pack]

Just got an email from my distributor. Beginning February 15th, The Coleman factory will charge 55.00 per hour to operators for tech support calls for equipment that is out of warranty. You have one more day to get free factory phone support, so make the most of it......

 

[Andyjmyr]

that's pretty dissapointing...

That's just too bad that operators spend thousands for a machine provided by JCC and it can't even provide free tech support for its equipment. I'd probably guess that someone has bad money management over there....What I want to know is if I call and only need help for 5 minutes, do I still get charged $55? Or what if the problem fixes itself? What happens if the service I get from tech support is a bunch of hogwash and they keep me on for 2+ hours?

 

[wisheewashee]

This is going to kill their business. I will never recommend Coleman equipment to anyone again

 

[Andyjmyr]

Did some digging

I've talked to a technician from our distributor and this is what he had to say when I asked him about JCC charging for tech support.

"Jim Coleman for years offered free tech support for anyone who needed it at any time. Until recently some operators have been using 3rd party techs to fix their equipment. Whenever they would mess something up they would call JCC for help. They would literally tie up the phones and tech support personnel for hours at a time for a mistake they made without the proper knowledge to fix JCC equipment. The decision to charge for tech support was made in hopes that operators would use their distributor for technical work on their equipment."

I'm a little disappointed that Jim Coleman decided to start charging for tech support. I'm a huge tech guru in the sense that I love technology and I'm always buying and using computers....I hate it when there is no free support. However, after considering the facts I heard, I respect and favor JCC for the decision they made.

Anyhow, I hope this is factual information that I've provided. If anyone else has any information on this, please tell.

-Andy

 

[wisheewashee]

I have no problem with using a distributor. However I don't have any within 450 miles of my location. So it would cost me a fortune just to fix a simple problem.

 

[wisheewashee]

I did find out today that the $55 for the hour is cumulative. That means if you call and are on the line for just 10 minutes, you still have 50 minutes left for subsequent calls.

I am sure that Coleman switched to this after all of the fall out. Otherwise nobody would have been bitchin

 

[Buzzie8]

When I researched car wash equipment four years ago, I thought Coleman was on the leading edge of technology and had the best product (and service) to go along with it. My current perception is that Coleman is out of touch with their customers, the market place, and their technology. This new policy only proves my point further. Maybe they should get out of the water cooler business and get back to their core offering.

 

[MEP001]

I've been around Coleman stuff for years. Their first and foremost concern is to sell equipment.

Another "proof" that they don't have good after-sale support is that they don't monitor this forum.

 

[Andyjmyr]

I went to the JCC "College of Knowledge" a few years ago where the "why don't you have a forum?" topic was brought up. The instructors immediately said, "it's just a place for complainers to go."

 

[troysaffell]

Use Your Distributors

Jim Coleman has some outstanding distributors and they will be just as capable of helping you with your problems and they should have the parts you need to keep your machine running and most of the time cheaper than the MSRP you pay at the factory, plus its closer so shipping or same day pick up is possible. If you don't have a good distributor go on Colemans website and start calling distributors in the neighboring states until you find a good one who can support your equipment. One of the main problems with the tech support was that customers were going around their distributors for tech support simply because they owed their distributor money, thus tieing up tech support with basic trouble shooting questions that all distributors should know.

 

[wisheewashee]

I am guessing that you missed the thread that indicated that I have no distributors within 400 miles of me. That is a $250-$300 "trip charge' just to arrive before they start on the clock. Also I have never seen a distributor who sold parts cheaper then the factory. Unless the part themselves they are getting them from the same place as we do.

 

[rbhellyer]

coleman charges

I just ran into this last week and was told that the charge is like per problem plus if it takes more than an hour then also you get hit 55.00 more for each hour on top of the first hour. It is not like you can talk 10 min. and week later another problem and it is all in that first hour charge they won't allow that.
I was in process of buying another WW e-fusion but told them I am changing to Ryko. It was bad enough they didn't have service dept for the last few years here in Houston. They have lost me as a customer.

 

[wtrwzrd]

Good move for JCC, now I wish they would stop selling parts direct to the operators, so the distibutors can finally get thier justice!

 

[Buzzie8]

We'll see how good of a move it is for JCC. I feel that I have a great JCC distributor but when I want to to call JCC direct I do not expect to get charged for it. As mentioned before, with some of the decision making being made at a JCC, I would never consider buying off them again. I already spent close to a million with them and they will not see anymore.

 

[Greg Pack]

I have not been impressed with the water wizard phone support offered by Coleman, and unless it has improved I am not willing to pay for it unless I am backed in a corner.

I too have spent many dollars with Coleman too and this action gives me pause before I purchase again. I am blessed to have a good local distributor with a knowledgeable tech. I also have the skills to fix the vast majority of problems I encounter. But if my distributor closes shop I will be in the same shape as wisheewashee, and I will cross Coleman off my potential purchase list.

I think it could be years before this decision really catches up with Coleman. Some operators will just begin to look for other options as their machines age and need reloading. But if other manufacturers follow suit then what do you do? BTW, I believe specialty charged a friend of mine over $500 to give him a code to enable the aftermarket dryers he bought. The only local guy I know that has Mark VII feels the distributor has him by the gonads, so what are better options? Autec, PDQ, Ryko? Don't all these companies have parts pricing and support policies designed to favor distributors? Or maybe I just buy one of them thar' oval track designs that has like three moving parts and doesn't size the car? No tech support needed, right?

Trying to look at it in a fair light. I understand Coleman's predicament and wish they could find a better way to resolve the third party thing, especially with operators without local support. When you set up a system like this a good network of local distributors is crucial. Gaps in distributor coverage of 100 miles plus (with $100 plus trip charges) seems vulnerable.

Coleman could probably diffuse a lot of this with better written support. Bellanger sent me a flip chart reference for the vector that was outstanding.

 

[Greg Pack]

I was in process of buying another WW e-fusion but told them I am changing to Ryko. It was bad enough they didn't have service dept for the last few years here in Houston. They have lost me as a customer.

You might want to price some replacement parts from Ryko before you make the decision.

 

[MikeV]

At one time Specialty did charge for access codes to activate third party dryers, but they haven't done that for years. Their new Impulse IBA and Horizon s.s. equipment is state of the art and easy for the layperson to work on with minimal proprietary parts.

 

[dirty harry]

I have thought about this issue many times over the years, and have been on both sides of the fence. If you bought an automobile, could you call the factory and have a trained technician walk you through how to diagnose and repair your vehicle? I cannot think of any other industry where this happens. Not to mention, did you know that most car wash distributors are forced to absorb most (if not all) of the cost of warranty issues?

 

[Greg Pack]

Since this post has been brought up to the top I thought I would add that Coleman has ceased charging for tech support was short-lived and they stopped charging a while back. I guess I haven't called them in several years, perhaps someone who has can validate that.

 

[Buzzie8]

That is true. They did quit charging for phone support.