Some remanufacturers that are also Lexmark-authorized service providers recently have received notice of the termination of their agreements to provide warranty service for Lexmark printers.
LaserEquipment and LaserCycle, both based in Kansas, each reported receiving a letter giving the respective companies three months' notice that their "Authorized Servicer Agreement" with Lexmark will be terminated.
"It was a surprise to us," said Darrel Ochs, CEO of LaserEquipment. "We've been a Lexmark-authorized service provider for seven years."
LaserEquipment is also an authorized reseller for brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, RICOH, Xerox, Canon and Okidata. Ochs said he hasn't received any notice terminating his resale agreement with Lexmark, though.
"They (Lexmark representatives) came by to visit us; then it wasn't much later that we got this letter," Ochs said. Although the letter says that the agreement was terminated "without cause," Ochs reports that his service manager at Lexmark indicated that LaserEquipment's sale of remanufactured cartridges may be an issue, as it competed with Lexmark's cartridge sales. "He reiterated on the phone that it was a factor," Ochs said.
"We never hid the fact that we were rechargers," said Ochs. "It's only a small percentage of our business, anyway. It just means we can't do warranty work. Lexmark doesn't account for more than 15 percent of our service business, and warranty work is an even smaller percentage."
Brad Roderick, vice president of marketing for LaserCycle, confirmed that the company also received a letter terminating its Authorized Servicer agreement with Lexmark. He noted that reducing the number of companies that provide Lexmark-authorized service "further limits the consumers' ability to choose who does their warranty work."
Ochs added, "It just doesn't make sense" for Lexmark to terminate servicer agreements. "It looks like Lexmark has taken it up another step."
Lexmark was contacted for this story, but did not respond to requests for information.
If you have further information concerning this issue or have received a similar letter, contact Recharger Magazine at megan@rechargermagazine.com.
