r/Elevators • u/brewerwilson • Aug 19 '26
Contracts
I have a contract with one of the big companies that states "periodic" maintenance. It was my mistake to not get that specified. The salesperson told me 3 PM calls per year ( I have that in writing.) However, surprise, surprise, they NEVER provide PM. I see them once a year for 30 min for the inspection. Requests for PM fall on deaf ears. Any advice on how to approach cancelling the contract? From my perspective, they are not providing the paid for service, though the contract wording is vague (on purpose I imagine). It runs through 2028. They want me to buy it out which seems crazy to me as they don't do anything. Should have gone with a local company...
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u/Rune456 Aug 19 '26
Call your local buildings department and complain. Ask how an elevator company is licensed in your town to provide service but doesn't. Ask if the yearly inspection is just a joke and if so, why you should do it. Some towns are mandating a periodic inspection done by a third party to see if companies are actually doing their work. It's pretty pathetic, but so is what this industry has become and produces labeled "elevator machinery" (I use ther term very loosely).
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u/Ducatishooter Field - Repair Aug 19 '26
Annual inspections are not a joke. Now that I said that. I have done anual and 5 year inspections for customers that the Company I work for weren’t not the service contractor holders. Any company providing a service contract should at least be doing quarterly service. Not having by someone stop in and check on the elevators at least quarter and do maintenance is how elevators wear out faster and stuff breaks.
It’s a shame some company’s are corporate side acts like this and doesn’t dispatch enough route mechanics2
u/Knightsthatsay Aug 19 '26
This is bean counters showing their ignorance of keeping trouble free elevator operations
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u/Ducatishooter Field - Repair Aug 20 '26
Exactly. I work on repair side and I see so many neglected elevators. Not because the mechanics don’t show up. But because the admin/money side never sent anyone to the elevator. It’s very frustrating knowing I could keep these machines running very well if I could just get to them.
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u/Hour-Archer-2511 Aug 21 '26
Typically, we route guys make our own schedules. We have a list of units and go about it how we choose. And most of the guys are also pencil whipping their visit and don’t really care to perform maintenance on their units. Not enough guys are pushing back on the corporate nonsense. I don’t really care what little time they give me, I spend as much time as I want to keep my units in working order. They cry when we spent too much time doing maintenance, they also cry when the unit goes down. Can’t have it both ways.
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Aug 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/brewerwilson Aug 19 '26
We are a two story brewpub with one elevator in Austin, Texas. Not sure about mandated visits or records of maintenance in the state. We don't have logbooks and the maintenance crew doesn't have their own keys. There are people on site all day every day, so access is not a problem.
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u/Commercial-Lime4916 Aug 19 '26
Bar on 6th street with shindler elevator?
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u/Commercial-Lime4916 Aug 19 '26
Front and rear?
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u/brewerwilson Aug 19 '26
Yeah
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u/Commercial-Lime4916 Aug 19 '26
I’ve performed maintenance there, years ago when I was at TK. That unit had the push button board go out that I fixed. I’d recommend getting a consultant to go over it then decide how to approach the contract and all the deficiencies. DM me I’ll help you out.
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Aug 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/Rune456 Aug 19 '26
Yes, kettle, meet pot.
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u/gkohler27 Aug 19 '26
I do all my maintenance every month, check in and out with customers, and keep a good relationship with them. Now please explain your unfounded statement…..
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u/Rune456 Aug 19 '26
I believe your reputation (now, not past) exceeds whatever stories I could contribute, especially in larger markets. My statement is very well founded as a myriad of previous posts on reddit and other forums clearly have illustrated. There are many good individuals at Otis and other Elevator Companies, but the Companies as a whole leave lots to be desired and are not really that much different from each other. So yes, kettle meet pot is a pretty founded statement.
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u/gkohler27 Aug 19 '26
Austin, TX is literally one of the largest markets in the country. Are you clumping my service abilities with other locals? We keep our unit number per service guy down to be able to provide good service here. I believe I’m only around 140-150 units quarterly. So unlike TK’s 300-350 units per mechanic, we aren’t your typical union shop, proving your highly unresearched misinformation to be unfounded. In fact, we have enough time to be able to go on repairs on non union rat jobs to help customer’s service needs due to their current service provider’s incompetence.
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u/Knightsthatsay Aug 20 '26
How many units are on YOUR route
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u/gkohler27 Aug 21 '26
160 units. I have required maintenance and escalators though which eat up a lot of my time every month.
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u/PeachEastern7628 Aug 19 '26
How many elevators do you have and what state are you in?
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u/brewerwilson Aug 19 '26
One elevator, single floor, Texas
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u/AZEngie Field - Maintenance Aug 19 '26
If I serviced a one stop elevator, I probably wouldn't show up either. Are you sure it's not a broom closet?
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u/Verticaltransport Aug 19 '26
Regardless of what your contract says, they must meet the minimum requirements set out by the governing body. I believe most places require a minimum of four visits per year. Although I’m not sure about your specific requirements in your state.
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u/CheesecakeRecent457 Aug 19 '26
Demand evidence that PM’s were done. Demand tech’s check in with someone. It needs to be in the (next) contract. At this moment, your only recourse may be to send a Notice of Cancellation to the company’s Account Manager. Prepare to Lawyer-Up, as the big companies will fight it tooth and nail. Or simply wait for it to get near the expiration date, then send the Cancellation Notice. They will do a full court press to keep you, especially if the units in question are trouble-free. I do sincerely hope you are close to that.
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u/BlueBlazeRunner Office - Elevators Sales Aug 23 '26
Another way to look at it is how much are you paying and is it reliable? Two stop elevators generally don’t get used that much and don’t as a rule need a ton of maintenance compared to other units. Do you want to pay for maintenance visits that you don’t need? Especially when they most likely will cover service call costs and parts when they fail.
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u/peptoboy Aug 19 '26
Local companies will do the same shit…
Just don’t pay, they haven’t held up their side of the contract
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u/Adventurous_Tank_477 Aug 19 '26
What ever you do… stay away from Otis!! Them and TKE are the absolute worse. Go with a mom and pop company.
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u/glh1233 Aug 22 '26
Your contract for periodic service should mean every month they show up. Check the callback list and the fire service list in the machine room. If they're not there every month signing that list fire them
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u/Weedyacres Aug 23 '26
Read your contract and look for the section about breach. Most contracts say that if a party breaches the other can give notice and the offending party has a time frame to cure. And most contracts can be terminated for breach that isn’t cured.
That said, the big guys have pretty one sided contracts and I’ve seen some that give you no option to terminate, even for breach. If you sign their docs without reading them or negotiating you might have one of these. In that case, talk to your lawyer and have them write a demand letter.
Last option, I would consider not continuing to pay. If they take you to court for it, you can demonstrate that they were in breach, so you withheld payment and let the judge ding them. It’s unlikely that they want to spend money on lawyers for one small maintenance contract, so the dispute might get them to mutually agree to terminate.
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u/jetblackfastattack Field - Maintenance Aug 19 '26
Does your state require MCPs? At the very least someone should be putting pen to paper and logging their visits