“In this day and age,” how is it that something as simple as the price for color copies is NOT easy to find online?! At least near Orange, CA, businesses have chosen not to share something that simple and time-saving on their websites. Aside from being simply annoying, it’s also an expense and interruption to the business that makes the customer call them, then interrupts an employee from helping a customer who is standing in front of them, to answer the phone and give a relatively simple answer.
Color copies/prints are not a new idea. Color copy machines are readily available at a number of Kinko’s and other self-service stores. So why won’t businesses just list the price? Sure, some may argue that having a voice-to-voice conversation could generate more business, or that “good customer service means talking to a person” – which I do agree with when the job is something more complex or requires some knowledge. Color copies – in any quantity are not one of those jobs. Sure, the price can go down if you order 1,000 copies, but that’s incredibly easy to show in a simple table. Lots of companies give you the price breakdown based on how many of the item that you buy – so the pricing table for color copies should also be simple.
Instead of a simple web search, I had to talk to 10 different people at 10 local businesses for an answer that took (for most of the businesses) less than 5 seconds for the answer – after dialing the phone, waiting for the ring, and for a couple of businesses, being placed on hold. The question I asked the employee was: “How much for an 8.5×11 color copy?” To which most people replied with the simple answer, and I followed up by saying “So, double-sided color is twice the cost, correct?” Four of the 10 businesses asked for the quantity, to which I said “50 double-sided color copies.” And they gave the answer. My frustration comes from the inefficiency on my part and on their part. Surprisingly, the only two local business I found that gave the price – and the one that had the quantity breakdown? It was Staples!
Seriously, if you operate a business that produces something as ubiquitous as color copies, just put the information on your website. Save your potential customer some frustration, and let your employees focus on the work in front of them.
