When it comes to the care of your refrigeration or HVAC systems, it can be tempting to opt for the cheapest maintenance contract available - but there are several reasons why this is likely to prove a false economy.
Before you sign on the dotted line take some time to consider a contract, not from a price point perspective, but in terms of value. To help you do that, here’s a closer look at why you should prioritise quality over cost.
This insight comes from our years of experience, and we’ve seen first hand how the wrong decision on a maintenance contract can lead to greater expense further down the line.
Works completed to a lesser standard
This is the most obvious consequence of taking the cheaper option - you get what you pay for after all. The price of a maintenance contract is typically calculated by multiplying the amount of work required by labour costs, so if you’re paying under the odds chances are you’ll get a substandard service as a result.
‘Savings’ are lost in the cost of ongoing repairs
You can really come unstuck here if you’ve not read the small print, or your chosen contractor has failed to be transparent when it comes to additional costs. A quote may seem competitive on the surface, but steep repair bills can come back to bite you. Combine this with the fact that substandard maintenance can lead to increased equipment failure, and you’ve got an expensive recipe for disaster.
Faults incorrectly diagnosed
This all comes down to a lack of understanding. Take a process cooling plant for example. In order to competently diagnose any given issue, the engineer in question needs to look at the process as a whole, not assess component parts in isolation. When you opt for a cheap contract, it's highly unlikely that the contractor has taken the time to understand your cooling process and plant, and as such lacks the knowledge to accurately identify the source of a problem. Instead, parts are replaced at random in a vain attempt to fix the issue - and all at your expense.
You find the contractor unresponsive
In many business settings, the equipment in question is critical to operation. With output and quality control dependent on these systems working effectively, downtime can have costly consequences. It’s therefore imperative that, in cases of emergency, you get a fast, responsive service. The problem is, if you’ve taken out a cheap contract, you won’t sit high up on the priorities list.
So what should you be looking for when comparing Planned Preventative Maintenance contracts? Price is, of course, a consideration and the ongoing cost should fall within your budget. But more importantly, your maintenance contractor should:
Essentially, a good contractor should act as an extension of your business. They should be a partner you can rely on to fulfil their duties to the highest possible standard, and keep your critical systems working at maximum efficiency. That’s where the value lies, and why you should always focus on quality over cost.
