enx magazine

One of the most popular and volatile topics to talk about and write about in the office equipment industry is leasing. Ask any dealer what aspect of their business causes them the most angst and leasing inevitably jumps to the forefront.

One of the biggest issues with leasing is that it's an unregulated industry. As I've learned when writing about this topic in the past, almost anything goes and sometimes it does.

If you've never had a leasing-related issue, consider yourself lucky. Perhaps you made a wise choice in a leasing partner, or were already aware of some of the pitfalls that have plagued other dealers and lessees like one of Brian McMearty's newest customers.

McMearty is founder and president of Document Essentials LLC, a Baltimore-based office equipment dealership and a witness to the dark side of the leasing industry. His story should serve as a warning to office equipment dealers and lessees, and as a wake-up call to the leasing industry.

McMearty describes Baltimore as a super town for office equipment dealers, and like most major markets, it has many leading office equipment companies serving the community. "Trying to upgrade their existing accounts is nearly impossible until we acquired our seventh small office equipment dealer whose prior owner mentioned a client who was having problems with their mega-dealer copier leasing agreement," recalls McMearty.

As important as it is to team up with the right leasing company, McMearty says that it's sometimes a totally different story when it comes to the relationship between some mega dealers, their leasing agents and their tenured clients.

During the appointment with his new medical center client, McMearty learned that she had a buyout of $29,000 with her mega dealer. She showed McMearty the corresponding leases, letters, and e-mails. Via e-mail correspondence, this client, realizing that something wasn't right, kept complaining to the mega dealer while the mega dealer kept replying in a way that revealed to McMearty how they maintain a steady and secured customer base.

After reading through all of the medical center's correspondences between the mega dealer and the client, McMearty had an epiphany of why it's so difficult to take business away from certain mega dealers. "It's not that they offer excellent service," says

The Dark Side Of Leasing pg1 pg2 pg3 PRINT WORD DOCUMENT

40,000 COPIES MAILED OUT EACH MONTH * FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO IMAGING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS * COMPANY & BUSINESS PROFILE MONTHLY FEATURES