Free Advice to Xerox: Get in front of the toner shortage thing. Today would be good.

I apologize to the folks at Printweek.com. for the copy and paste below. I could have done snippets, but the article is just too tightly written. I highly recommend Printweek.com to anyone interested in staying abreast of what's going on in not-the United States.

Meanwhile I mostly love everything I see that come out of Xerox UK, but clearly some system broke down someplace. Too much unneccesary brand damage that comes from stuff like:

According to director Neil Winstanley, there has been little useful contact from the manufacturer and it took a week of phone calls to establish that the order "should be completed next week".

Printers speak out over Xerox toner shortage
Adam Hooker, printweek.com, 11 December 2009

Printers have said they will seek reimbursement from Xerox after a toner shortage forced a number of companies to cease production.

Digital press manufacturer Xerox said the toner shortage was due to high levels of demand. Toner for the Xerox 700 press is understood to be the most affected and some customers are having to wait up to ten days for deliveries.

The scale of the problem is currently unclear. However, all six Xerox 700 users that PrintWeek spoke to had experienced some disruption to supply of Xerox's wax-based toner, with many having lost income as a result.

Xerox declined to comment on the scale of problem, but said that it was "doing its best" to address any customer concerns.

"We want to make sure we help as much as we can and we are working very, very hard. If customers want to contact with any concerns we will do our best to answer any questions," a spokesman said.

However, printers faced with lost earnings have told PrintWeek that they will be pursuing Xerox for compensation.

Martin Whetton, managing director at Pro DM Solutions in Ripley, said that his company placed an order on 24 November and received two toners on 9 December, when it required 10 to complete a large monthly job.

He estimated that the problem has lost his company around £5,000 worth of work.

He said: "I would consider going after Xerox to cover our losses. I would hope that Xerox would offer compensation without the need for legal action."

Eslewhere, Digital Studio in St Albans launched a new calendar and gift website specifically timed to coincide with Christmas.

Paul Warren, director, said: "We spent £14,000 on this website. If we don't get any toner in we will be doing a lot of refunding. I have pulled adverts off of Google because I don't want to be known as the Moonpig wannabe that couldn't deliver.

"We pay £10,000 a quarter for service, so in a sense we have paid for the toner, it's part of the package. We will be going to Xerox and we hope to prove the orders we have received and then lost as a result, as we stand to lose about £20,000 because of this."

Minuteman in Bristol has also experienced problems with toner deliveries in the past. In October this year, it had to taxi toner from other printers to keep its 700 running.

Managing director Peter Wise said: "We ended up paying for taxis to pick up toner from other printers and charging Xerox. They paid after we provided them with all receipts. We will do that again if we have to."

However, not everyone is chasing reimbursement. Litha Print in Stockport received one set of cartridges on 10 December, having ordered four on 26 November. By that point its machine had "laid idle for five days".

According to director Neil Winstanley, there has been little useful contact from the manufacturer and it took a week of phone calls to establish that the order "should be completed next week".

He said: "I've heard some are considering going after Xerox for lost earnings, but right now all I want is my toner order."

Cheshire printer DXG Media put an order in on 2 December, which is yet to arrive. Managing director Duarte Goncalves explained that the company enough to keep going for the time being, but would begin to worry if nothing has arrived by early next week.

However, for Goncalves, misinformation as much as anything has been the issue here.

He said: "We were told three days was the limit and if we ordered by 2pm we could get it next day. That has never happened."

Xerox would not comment on specific details of the problem or how it was prioritising its deliveries, but Jim Brasser, vice president of Global Consumables Supply Chain at Xerox, said: "We are very much aware of the current, short-term situation concerning the supply of toner cartridges, resulting from growth in demand in certain situations.

"This is not a general shortage and only affects certain products. Our supplies inventory is being replenished daily and shipped to customers immediately. The vast majority of orders are being fulfilled within about a week, and we expect that pace to quicken. We are working closely with our customers to address their needs as quickly as possible."