It's all the same set of charges packaged differently. One way or another
the vendor must recover all costs from intake to return, and make a profit.
They can do that by having a single monthly fee that covers everything, or
by parsing it out into separate fees along the way, in a great variety of
different packages. If they do it the first way, the monthly fee will be
higher. If they parse it out into separate fees, the monthly storage charge
is typically very low, and the money gets made somewhere else.
In order to figure out if the perm out fees are worth it, you have to factor
in pricing for everything else, estimate the period of time the boxes will
reside at the facility at those low monthly fees before being destroyed and
reduce everything to present value so you can compare various pricing plans
from different vendors. If the other numbers and factors are right, it
could be a good deal, perm out fees and all. If the other numbers are bad,
you can take a hit every month on delivery costs, etc., regardless of perm
out fees.
It's been my experience that the reason perm out fees turn out to be a bad
deal is because the person signing the contract didn't figure them in --
they were concentrating on the low monthly storage charge. As always, read
the fine print and negotiate hard.
John Montaņa
General Counsel
Cunningham & Montaņa, Inc.
29 Parsons Road
Landenberg PA 19350
610-255-1588
610-255-1558 fax
484-832-3260 mobile
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Was "Performance" Now "Hostage Fees"
Seems to me that the cost of de-accessioning should be built into the
monthly
storage charge. At least to pull the boxes and put them on the dock for the
client to pick up. If the client wanted other services, such as
palletizing,
shrink-wrapping, delivery, etc. then I wouldn't have a problem with the
vendor
charging extra for that.
Gary Vocks
Quoting "Link, Gary M." <[log in to unmask]>:
> I do not work for a records storage vendor, and I never have. But I
> have a question re: "hostage fees." When a vendor de-accessions your
> boxes from their system and removes your boxes from their shelves, do
> they not incur labor and administrative costs for these tasks? Should
> they not charge the client for these, just as they would any other
> activity they do for their records?
>
> I don't want to cause an uproar or even a debate. I just want to know
> why these activities alone are expected to be free, apart from all
> the other activities a vendor performs re: your records. I guess the
> info will help me evaluate one vendor over the other.
>
> Thanks,
> Gary
>
> Gary Link, CRM
> Corporate Records Manager
> Astorino
> 227 Fort Pitt Boulevard
> Pittsburgh, PA 15222
> 412.765.1700
> 412.765.1711 Fax
> www.astorino.com
>
> We operate on the half day principle, as well. We too do not have perm out
> fees, close account fees, hidden fees, hostage fees, fuel charge fees,
> administration fees, transportation handling fees, report fees,
> departmentalized billing fees, etc, etc, etc. If a client wants to cease
> doing business with us for any reason at any time, even during the term of
> the agreement, all that have to do is give us 30 days written notice. Too
> many times over the past two decades, I have heard people say they are
> "stuck" with their current vendor because they cannot afford to pay the
> hostage fees to get out of a bad situation and/or they still have some
years
> left on their agreement. We do not ever want a client to have that
terrible
> feeling that they are "stuck" with us.
>
> John Peden
> Director of Business Development
> Pioneer Records & Information Management
> 713/464-5024
> [log in to unmask]
> Houston, Texas
>
> List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
> Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
>
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
|
