Cost of Repair VS. Service Plans

Friday, September 25, 2009 by Peter Clarke

Two weeks ago, Jae Jin talked about the need for regular preventative maintenance on your audio and video systems.  But what if the maintenance of your system is beyond your technical ability? Or just beyond the amount of time you are able to commit yourself?  Well, here’s the good news:  There’s likely a maintenance or service plan that’s just right for you.  Service plans can include anything from simply cleaning your projector filters for you once a month, to servicing everything in the system and re-tuning or optimizing it once per year.  These simple and cost effective solutions can save your organization thousands of dollars.  Service plans are set up to include the cost of the work (usually at a discounted rate) and any travel expenses (up front) for the number of visits required to maintain your system each year.  This can be especially important as your system moves out of warranty.

One major system malfunction can cost you thousands of dollars.  And it often happens that when a major malfunction occurs in your system, you will find it at a critical time.  At this point you will have to hire an AV contractor to come fix it at emergency rates rather than the discounted rates you would have had if you were under a service plan. Let’s be honest, everything in the business world costs money. The question is, are you getting the most value out of your investment? Here’s the way I look at it:  Spend a little now and spend less later.  Or spend nothing now but spend a lot later.