I have been in practice since the 70s. Before the age of computers, a Xerox machine was essential. Ir required lots of maintenance. The guy wore a short sleeve shirt and looked like Michael Douglas with a pocket protector, He had tons of little tools in his briefcase and charged about a 100 bucks an hour. I guess he went the way of the milkman and the iceman who delivered blocks of ice to your home.

We have 5 digital copiers here and there is a service tech that maintains them.

Hey, I remember that guy! He was very reluctant to discuss the details of how and why the machine he was working on broke, and not at all eager to tell me how to fix it the next time. One of the many things that helped me understand that withholding of information is aggression, little different than an unprovoked punch in the face.

Heard he's a roomie with this guy...

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Exact description! That is right no discussion of any type of repair you could do yourself. He would also emphasize that there was no repair you could attempt yourself and that an attempted repair would be extra costly.

They’re around. I have two guys. One handles the countertop printers. The other handles the Xerox machines.

I have not seen the sales guys for office printers in the last ten years. We would have the makers of all printers leave them for a lengthy demonstration lasting about a week. Eventually one of them got the sale on the installment plan. We were really broke back then.

The last 10 years of my career as a technician with Burroughs I serviced some copiers, Xerox and Konica, under 3rd party contract, mostly at Winn Dixie and Rite Aid stores. These were copiers the customer used with coin machines attached to the copiers. I think the cost per copy was 10 cents.

They eventually went away.

I don't understand why a technician wouldn't discuss what was needed to fix a machine with a customer whether it was under contract or not. It's good customer relations to go over a repair with the customer.

That being said on some repairs a service manual is just about mandatory. Someone without a manual attempting a repair could easily find himself surrounded by copier assemblies and parts.

In the summer of 2021 Xerox offered me a job as a technician. It was a contract position to work at all Tulane locations in New Orleans. I think I wasn't offered a regular full time position due to my age, 64. I turned it down for health reasons.

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I don't understand why a technician wouldn't discuss what was needed to fix a machine with a customer whether it was under contract or not. It's good customer relations to go over a repair with the customer.

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You were the exception. He always wore a short sleeve white shirt and lacked social skills. Had a giant briefcase with lots of little tools. Service was always expensive and patients always wanted Free copies of thier stuff.

From the perspective of a small business:

Back in my old career when I was with firms in big ol' office buildings, we always had a couple of companies who serviced all of our copiers and dedicated printers/plotters along with any other office equipment, all under contracts. Those companies still exist so I'd guess their industry is still healthy enough to survive.

Now that I work in a local gun shop--the epitome of a small business--the photocopy machine is a vitally critical piece of the background check kit. But we go to Costco or Office Depot for the gear (typically a multifunction laser) and needed supplies and just run them into the ground, avoiding the large office equipment houses that normally would work better with corporate clientele accounts anyways. By the time our consumer copiers crap out, our boss has already gotten what he could tax write-off-wise out of them, so off to Costco or Staples we go and start the process all over again. I don't think there's any small business these days who would ever think to call up a repair shop for a printer/copier just because it's just as expensive (or cheap) to just go buy a new one. The disposable economy at its best...or worst.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
.....a Xerox machine was essential. It required lots of maintenance. The guy wore a short sleeve shirt and looked like Michael Douglas with a pocket protector, He had tons of little tools in his briefcase and charged about a 100 bucks an hour.....

We had those guys servicing our copiers, cash register, and Burroughs machines. I'm sure it was lucrative because I recall those service contracts being pretty costly. Even if they didn't break they had to be adjusted and cleaned "serviced".

I gave up on ink jet copiers and bought an HP laser a few years back for under $500 and it's worked flawlessly. If it breaks I'll toss it and buy another.

I haven't received a pantyfax for years.

The availability of cheap commodity AIO printer/copiers must have destroyed the large high-speed leasing businesses. But I remember the first time I got my hands on a 120 page-per-minute copier that could do double-sided, collating, hole punching, and binding from either the sending computer or the front panel. It was at a time when my employer was sending hundred+ page proposals for Govt. contracts, and assembly of these into proposal packets was a major chore. These "industrial" copiers saved us many hours of work.

It's interesting, I'm a field service tech and get job postings from Xerox, so they are still out there.
It seems like they are supporting the larger manufacturing systems and not the office equipment though.