There is a lot of pain on this thread. A lot more than 23,000 bucks worth. The down-time, aggravation and "managerial dilution" (to use an old Mack Clark phrase) are beyond a price.
Let me be clear on one thing. It is inexcusable and so very sad when ANY business does not honor its word. (Not too mention very short-sighted in this Internet day of instant and very public customer service feed-back. Witness this thread.)
However, we (carpet cleaners) sometimes can be our own worst enemies when it comes to choosing our equipment. I don't know of another industry where the profit potential is so great and the cost of the equipment is so low AND meanwhile the end-users obsess over literally pennies per hour of capitalized machine use. (This is just my general ruminating and not directed specifically at anyone on this thread.)
Please listen carefully here. There are issues soooooo much greater than the selling price of the machine. Here is what I came up with after many years of grief and stupid decisions. Learn from my bone-headed mistakes and wow did I make a lot of them!
1. Reliability- This above all else. It is no fun desperately trying to get a machine running halfway through a job while the customer is glaring suspiciously from her doorway. Been there- done that. (It is even worse at 2 AM in the morning on a half done restaurant! Especially when it is 10 degrees outside and snowing. Ahhh yes ... the memories!)
2. Service- Local if possible- easily performed by you if not. Plus you don't want to run it in to the distributor for every little thing anyway- so make it easily serviced. Since I lived 200 miles from the nearest distributor of anything I was stuck being my own mechanic. I found 90% of TM problems were related to how things were connected. Wiring connections, pulleys, belts, etc. Vibration is your enemy with TM's.
3. Performance- Almost all truck mounts will do a good job on short run residential but more power is always better. (I have to throw this in for the V-cult!)
4. Warranty- It all gets back to trust, decency and serving the customer over the long term. Remember that your distributor is the key on warranty. Unfortunately, you as an end-user have little influence with a grudging manufacturer. Your distributor has lots of power ... IF they will step up to the plate.
5. Noise- Some localities are getting finicky on noise pollution and on late night commercial work ticked off neighbors are always a negative Moment of Truth. Not to mention that I only have 50% hearing in one ear- at least partially due to TM's. (Shooting guns without ear protection didn't help either.)
6. Fuel savings- This one is starting to get my attention in the era of 3.00 and up per gallon gas.
7. Appearance- All other things being equal it is nice if they look good.
8. Price- I don't want to do a Dennis Miller style rant here but WHY would anyone want to entrust their livelihood to a machine that does not meet the above criteria? (And some of the marginal machines profiled lately here on this board do not remotely come close. In this capitalistic system of things you usually do get what you pay for)
9. Resale value- Frankly after 5,000 hours I didn't care a whole lot about this one. (See my PS below.) But name brand machines will sell more quickly. My second tier TM mistakes usually wound up going to the landfill.
When you are considering prices don't focus on the total price of a quality, name brand machine. Instead, look at the difference between it and a low-ball competitor. Let's say you are undecided on a 8K second-tier unit or a quality 20K machine. Do the math on the difference assuming you will sell it with 6,000 hours on the meter. It works out literally to pennies per hour. (And the quality machine will bring more when you sell it too.) But meanwhile- the reliability, service and power, not too mention lower blood pressure for you? PRICELESS!
My two cents,
Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
PS Let me stress that I am not dissing any specific machine/ brand and/or company here. My duties with Jon-Don have nothing to do with equipment sales. In fact, I don't even make specific machine/ brand recommendations anymore to our
SFS members simply because my product knowledge is so hopelessly out of date. But I do believe the principles listed above are timeless.
NOTE: In an industry with a revolving door bunch of start-ups there are some quality used truckmounts out there with very low hours. If initial budget was a serious concern for me (remember, we are talking pennies per hour here over the life of the machine) I would be looking at some of these lightly used units instead of a new machine by a manufacturer or distributor with a dubious reputation.
I would also add that most carpet cleaners wait too long to add a second truck ... even if they don't have employees. ALL machines have down times- even the best ones. The security of having a back-up machine available is- you guessed it- PRICELESS! (Think about how many jobs you need to do per month to justify the overhead costs of a back-up unit. My guess is not many.)
I usually sold my TM/ trucks when they hit 5,000-6,000 hours. Even back in the 1980's I calculated that at this point a unit had produced over half a million dollars for me. Not a bad return and therefore why would I replace it with anything less than the most reliable unit out there?
Just like a marriage mate, you and your TM are going to be spending a lot of time together. And splitting up will involve a lot of grief and expense. So choose wisely and go with quality. Speaking of which Sioux is calling. Gotta go ...
BTW, like Ken Snow I would never pay 100% up-front. On the other hand, I would try to never do business with any company where I was afraid to pay 100% up-front! Trust, honor, competence, service. That is what you are all providing your customers. (And they pay for this quality.) Expect the same from your supplier ... and be willing to pay for it.
Sutley Word Counter: 1,111 words. (Dang. I gotta start charging Jon-Don by the word for this stuff. Heck, I should just start charging. Believe it or not this is on my own time!)