Has anyone used AltoDigital?

[smalls001]

Hi All,

 

I am in the throws of looking at print Solutions, and AltoDigital have come out with the best price and best solution. Just wondering what experiences other schools have had with this company?

 

Thanks in Advance..

[Matt-A]

Used them at my previous school for just over 5 years with no cause for complaints. Competitive pricing & good support being two important factors. Be wary of 5 year deals though, my experience is that most machines, in a busy school environment, will reach their end of life by about year 4 and you will end up utilising Alto support for replacing knackered parts on a weekly basis!

 

Upgraded all the copiers with them before the summer and they added monitoring software which should order replacement toners & log meter readings automatically - no idea how well that system works as I've left there but it looked good in theory!

[shahidemran]

We have been with Altodigital for more than a year now, so far good customer services and response. Make sure you go for operational lease and read the small print specially 2.1b, 2.1d, 2.1f, 2.3,2.4 and 2.5. Also make sure you discuss about the collection of empty toners.

 

2.1b is about 5% coverage, we have written exemptions because its hard to stick with 5% coverage.

2.1d is for the hardware coverage which is for 12 month, but we negotiated for full period of lease.

2.1f we negotiated optimise software free for full period, not only 12 month

2.3 is eayplan...we negotiated no restrictions.

2.4 we negotiated warranty for the full period not only for 12 months

2.5 We negotiated no price increase.

We negotiated the empty toners to be collected free of charge.

 

Good luck.

Edited November 11, 2013 by shahidemran
added info about empty toners

[Little-Miss]

Yep, just started my second round of a 3 year lease with them.

[Edu-IT]

We're entering the same boat and have a meeting booked with these, so it's great to hear positive things! Thanks for the heads up too. Edited November 11, 2013 by Edu-IT

[captaincharisma]

We have had them for about 2 years now. No complaints, great customer support, offer great solutions without being to pushy. Really like the Kyocera printers too.

[smalls001]

Thanks for all your comments,

[Chunks_]

Sorry to rain on the parade slightly..... we have had issues with them....

 

• We have had the printers in for a year and we are constantly having to call them out to get them fixed.... Originally they came next day although that has become lapse.
  
• If the printer is bust they will do their upmost to fix it to the last final peice they really dont like replacing models that are completely dead.
  
• The kyocera models they have put in our school dont do continuous printing they have to stop to load toner before starting again decreasing dramatically PPM from advertised.
  
• Lastly their toner restock process just doesnt work... its meant to detect when new toner is needed but we often get stupid amounts of one printers toner and then none of another, the process simply doesnt work.
  
• They charge you to take away the empty toner.
  

 

Other than that the engineers are generally nice guys and can be left to get on (except 1 who asked how to login to the MFD). When you phone them up to get the toner thats not come in they are pretty good. Price was a big incentive with us and is why we went with them ....

[Customer]

Oh my god I'm a business manager from a high school and I have to say Altodigital were a good company and for some reason things changed about a year ago. They told me that I was on an old agreement and that I should go on a total volume print plan, all I know is now is that I'm being ripped off and there's nothing I can do. If I go over my contracted print volumes I get hit with a huge excess bill. Please if your a school looking to reduce costs then go for a local dealer and don't use ALtodigital.

[MatthewL]

I'd recommend United Carlton, got a ever growing customer base in and around your area. Was customer for 6 years before I changed job, cannot fault them.

[nikaso]

We looked at Alto when we signed our current agreement but it was far better to go through the Government purchasing framework and get Konica Minolta to provide machines direct, a fair bit cheaper than Alto.

[teejay]

+1 for going through the Government purchasing framework, the deals are good and the contracts have much less of a sting in the tail and can't suddenly be changed.