What to do if Your Current Copier Company Goes Out of Business

Covid has been tricky for some companies to manage, and there are always companies that fail as a natural course of business. Maybe it is bad management or bad luck. The problem is what happens to the clients they leave behind?

If you have been working with a copier company that has gone out of business, we are here to help you get your bearings. There are a few things you will need to work out to ensure this isn’t a bad situation for your company.

Question 1: Who will service the copier?

This answer can normally be found with a simple Google search, where you can put in your city and your brand. If you have a Xerox or Canon copier anywhere in the USA, feel free to give us a call. There are other brands though… and if you have a Ricoh, Copystar, Kyocera, Toshiba, Sharp, or other copier… we cannot help cover those. On those, we would need to figure out how to swap with a brand we do sell. There could, however, be another dealer in the local market who could cover your copier so that you don’t have to double pay for copier leases.

Question 2: What about the lease?

This can be a big deal. Let’s say you are 1 year into a 5 year lease and suddenly, the company you were leasing from goes out of business. This can create issues for you. Especially if the leases were sent out to a bank. This means the copier company already bought and paid for your copier, and they, in turn were already paid for it. The bank makes money by collecting all of the payments. This can be a tricky thing, and normally we would suggest in this situation to find a company who can help you maintain it to the end of the lease. Sometimes the leasing company or the manufacturer will be aware of who can help you maintain the current unit. One of the worst situations would be where there is no one who is able to take care of the copier and you are paying a bank. This would still leave you on the hook to make the payments and figure it out.

This is why it is good to buy brands that more than one company can service. This makes the situation more acceptable because someone else will be able to maintain the copiers. The brands with the best networks seem to be Xerox, HP, Canon, Ricoh and Kyocera. Other brands can sometimes handle the copier from the manufacturer themselves, which could provide another option.

Question 3: What to do next?

When you work through those two question, all that is left is to make sure you don’t run into the same situation again. This means making sure some basics are in place before signing your next lease.

• Can the copier be serviced by more than 1 company?
• If the company you work with turns terrible, can you switch?
• If that company goes under, what is the gameplan? (This is a question that could be answered before leasing the copier)

Fortunately, this problem falls more on the uncommon side of the fence than the common side. If you need help, please let us know. We always love helping people with their copiers!