Leasing Computers - Opinions and experiences? Stone Group in particular.

[ben604]

We have both outright purchase and leasing quotes for the same gear and we're trying to weigh up the best option for the school.

 

The costs are similar, but there are advantages and disadvantages of both - mainly from a stock holding/financial planning point of view.

 

Does anyone have any experience of leasing from Stone? If so how did you find it?

 

Ta,

Ben

[glennda]

Not leased kit from them but my last place had about 800 desktops from them - couldn't fault them!!

[LukeC]

Im in the same situation do i lease or do i Purchase, but this is for Laptops for staff

[glennda]

Im in the same situation do i lease or do i Purchase, but this is for Laptops for staff

 

All depends on the type of lease and the funds available. If you have the funds buy if not then you have to look at leasing. But only look at Operating leases not Purchase leasing (i.e after 4 years you give the items back). Otherwise you will run into all sorts of headaches.

[ben604]

All depends on the type of lease and the funds available. If you have the funds buy if not then you have to look at leasing. But only look at Operating leases not Purchase leasing (i.e after 4 years you give the items back). Otherwise you will run into all sorts of headaches.

 

These are the potential headaches we would like to know about!

[glennda]

These are the potential headaches we would like to know about!

 

Probably best to speak with your Local Authority and there will be many rules and restrictions regarding leasing equipment.

[old_n07]

We've just had a quote from Dell and the leasing cost over three years was only £40 per unit less than outright purchase so it wasn't worth it in that case

[localzuk]

Schools are only legally allowed to do an Operating Lease. If you're in an LEA, your LEA will have to authorise this - and you need to check with your bursar too - the 2 in my schools both won't touch leases...

[plexer]

I believe but you'll have to check that schools are not allowed to enter into purchase lease arangements only operating leases.

 

Youre business manager/bursar should know that.

 

Ben

[ben604]

Our bursar is heavily involved, we're at the point where we need to know if we're going to get stung when we give them back!

[Haptic]

That is correct with Schools but do you know if the same applies to Academies?

 

 

Chris

[localzuk]

That is correct with Schools but do you know if the same applies to Academies?

 

Academies are still schools, and are covered by the Education Act 2002. Basically, the law states schools can only borrow with permission of the secretary of state. An 'operating lease' is not technically borrowing, it is more 'hiring'. A purchase lease is borrowing, as you're not hiring the item, you're buying it over time.

 

So, it still applies.

[ben604]

Sorry guys, can we keep this to actual opinions of the leasing and end of lease return-the-equipment procedures!

 

We've had the go-ahead to lease if we want, we just need to know what we can expect when returning the equipment.

 

Thanks for your input so far.

[Heebeejeebee]

I'm actively looking at the moment too (still) and Dell, for example, will give you an operating lease that expires whenever but you either give the kit back or you pay for an 'indefinite' hire period which includes the right to dispose of the equipment yourself when you no longer need it. Effectively you then own it.

 

I'm not looking at leasing from a cost point of view really but from a refresh view. Historically kit here gets used far beyond its shelf life and this is the only way we can get a refresh into the budget.

 

HBJB

Edited June 27, 2012 by Heebeejeebee

[LukeC]

yes i agree with them all we are only looking into operating leases just to keep our refreshes up to date.

[localzuk]

Sorry guys, can we keep this to actual opinions of the leasing and end of lease return-the-equipment procedures!

 

We've had the go-ahead to lease if we want, we just need to know what we can expect when returning the equipment.

 

Thanks for your input so far.

 

I don't think you can really get a crowd-sourced opinion on this sort of thing. You *really* need to pass any lease documents through a lawyer before signing them to make sure they won't sting you. Someone might have signed a lease with company x last week, and you go to sign one next week but the lease terms may be entirely different.

[glennda]

I don't think you can really get a crowd-sourced opinion on this sort of thing. You *really* need to pass any lease documents through a lawyer before signing them to make sure they won't sting you. Someone might have signed a lease with company x last week, and you go to sign one next week but the lease terms may be entirely different.

 

Your LEA will have a legal team who you probably have an SLA with - they will deal with reading the contracts etc beforehand if needs be.

[GrumbleDook]

This is not a comment on any suppliers mentioned in this thread already (in fact I am pretty sure that some of the areas below are not too much of a concern with those mentioned.

 

The areas that need careful checking on any agreement include (but are not limited to)

• penalties due to the condition of the equipment - things affecting this can include cosmetic, external damage; the use of security marking (including etching, tamper proof labels, paint / nail varnish / smart water), internal damage (including unauthorised repairs, changes of hardware, dust), screen burn, etc
  
• cost of shipping equipment back to lease owner
  
• insurance cover - ie the level of cover, the amount the equipment is covered for, whether depreciation is allowed on the value of assets under the cover, etc
  
• agreed maintenance - you may find that the lease arrangement also requires an additional support arrangement which might be able to be met by the school using existing staff or support arrangement, but might also be able to be met by the lease owner or an associated company ... if you have to agree a level of support or maintenance just make sure that you can meet it and document it as you go along otherwise they might claim damage penalties as you have reduced the resale value.
  
• who owns the lease should the lease owner go under (liability of passed on debts), who can call in the debt (ie the banks, parent companies, etc) and who can initiate the break of the lease at an earlier period (ie can you get out early, can the firm the kit is from pull it all back in and at what notice ... and can the financer / bank cut the lease early)
  

 

Not a complete list but some of the most common areas to have a look at. Most of the above gets covered when LA / Academy finance folk look at the lease arrangement.

The operational stuff (damage / maintenance / etc) is stuff you need to be aware of though ... if your school policy is to use tamper-proof labels or etching to security mark and the lease arrangement doesn't allow this you have to make an assessment about whether the damage penalty per machine is more than the increased insurance premium you might get for not marking them.