jonaldridge166 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 On friday I prepped some of my hire stock to go out for a conference. Yet the customer did not wish to hire an all inclusive system but only the bare bones of a system. Generally for conferences I have a mixer rack. with a basic soundcraft mixer with a few outboard units such as compressors, gates, amplifiers etc... and this is all wired up behind nice, smart, easy to use blanking plates and patch panels. As mentioned earlier the customer only wanted the bare bones... ie mixer and amplifiers... I was just wondering what other peoples policies are to wards this sort of thing are as I have just sent out the gear as it is without removing the outboard gear.... Is it worth removing the equipment that is not being paid for or just let it go out anyway seeing as it is only for 2 days.... I just wanted some ideas as to what you guys think.... <_< ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sound In Gloucestershire Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 so they didnt want to pay for all the extras, but you included it anyway? Why even bother quoting for the extras then if you are going to include it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunk_1984 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I think his point was, he has a pre-made AV rack and it wasn't worth his while re-making the rack for a 2 day dry hire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenW2 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 We've had this before and I've always re-prepped everything into another rack - it's a pain, but that's the way it is! If the customer dry hires £2,000 worth of kit and has insurance for £2,000 of kit, why deliver £4,000 worth of kit to them; it's just asking for trouble when something gets stolen or damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Ahh the joys of separate bits of kit in racks! Until you then have to build the system every time... If they are only paying for the few bits, I would be inclined to leave out the stuff they aren't paying for, if required using the reason for the missing gaps as the kit being required elsewhere. It is a pain, but it does devalue the rest of the kit. You could also find yourself in trouble next time when they hire the basics and expect the rest to be included. That said we have a regular client who we would leave a DVD in the rack of scalers for, but he's trade, and does a large turnover through us, as well as being properly insured, so I'm happy to do that for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_R Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Whilst it does not solve the problem of the customer who hires £2000 worth of kit having £4000 delivered to them;Would one of these over the outboard units mean the rack could stay built, but 'deny' access to them?http://www.studiospares.com/content/ebiz/studiospares/invt/460100/460100_m.jpgStudiospares Plexiglass Security Cover Whilst I understand that this is not a very high security option, it is going to stop the casual user/fiddler... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Most AV hire companies tend to ship their stuff individually - leading to lots of handbags in the back of trucks. Very tedious but means you get what you pay for. Any prebuilt racks are there for a purpose I.e a video PPU is just that - all the kit comes with it as standard and is charged as so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I think if it depends on the client and the useage. If someone wants A rack of outboard from me then my racks are similar. (I have smaller ones too). But you'll get a couple of channels of eq, 2 fx, 8 comp 8 gate CD and MD. If they wanted 8 comp and only 6 gate then I'd be inclined to leave the rack be. If they wanted 2 comp 2 gate and 2 fx and some eq, I'd rerack (though it's a poor example as I have a rack with this in but you get the point). A desk and amps, and to leave loads of other stuff in is going a bit OTT. I appreciate how awkward it is and time consuming. You could always buy a single flightcase for the desk so in actual fact you swapped the DESK over not all the outboard thus making it quicker. Of course, you'd need enough of these jobs to make it a cost effective solution, but do factor in your time. 3 or 4 hours of your time should buy a flightcase so if you spend half an hour taking stuff out at the start of a hire, and half an hour putting it back in at the end, then 4 jobs with your hourly rate SHOULD pay for a reasonable case for a little soundcraft desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallMike Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Leave it out if they don't pay for it - not only because if something happens to it you may not get your money back for everything, but also they might realise what they're missing and hire more in future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundo26 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 if they don't pay for it, don't supply it. These guys can get quite sly, when they realise that's the way you work, they will make sure they use your kit at a lower rate knowing that they will get the extra stuff when they need that kit but will tell you they only need the basic setup knowing full well you'll only charge the basic rate! You will soon find that you are being taken advantage of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Nice idea re the plexi glass cover PaulF but I think you will find that it will only serve to distance the client, you might as well stick a label on it saying -"If you had paid the extra I would have given you the key" :) The best way is to strip it out of the rack, or, if you are going to price per unit, flight case each unit up individually so you can deliver what you quote for. As you have already supplied the client, you can always try the extra kudos factor by explaing to them that you only had this unit available at the time so for a one off deal they got a better system? edit - most basic conference systems will not include compressor/ gates. At best you may get an outboard 32ch. eq and if you push the boat out, a delay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonaldridge166 Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 ok.... thanks everybody. I like the idea of flightcasing thing seperately.... im currently thinking of dividing down to 4 cases... 1. mixer2. playback3. outboard4. amplification does this sound about right????? plexiglass panels sounded ok.... but in my opinion it is just another key to get lost.....I`m not that good with keys...** laughs out loud **.... the reason I currently have in a ready to go set up is that I generally do wet hire or supply as a kit.. a big issue is obviously time for prepping is very limited so I think having dedicated racks for each type of kit is a good idea... and would also benefit us for our other hire aspects... not just limiting it to a certain kit... but allowing for swapping of different items..... A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. edit - most basic conference systems will not include compressor/ gates. At best you may get an outboard 32ch. eq and if you push the boat out, a delay. This kit usually goes out for fairlly high spec events and I find compressors very useful especially if you get some really over enthusiastic delegate that has a habit of "eating microphones" especially for religous conferences..... thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 You know the make up of your business, and therefore the best way to package stuff. We have several 'kits' that live together semi permanently, and then the rest of the kit is singly cased. But that's because we will hire out just a scaler, or a whole system. Look at what works best for you, and that might be the case options you list above, with then a few spare 4U sleeves for the times when people order a CD and GEQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Pete has hit the nail right on the head, only you know your customer base and what works best for them and you. To give an opinion based on what we do, we wouldn't of sent out kit that isn't paid for but then we make racks up on a per job basis, it's just not feasible to have 'standard' racks any more although we used too. For us each job/client has such a wide range of specific needs it's just easier that way. The one important thing I would say about sending out kit that's not being paid for as such. Say as an example the rack you sent out had Compressor X in the rack. Whilst it's out you have an urgent phone call for a Compressor X and the only one you own is in the rack you just sent out that it wasn't need in. You've not only sent kit out for free which has pitfalls pointed out by others above, you've also just missed out on a paying hire for it as well. That said there are costs in building racks per job which as a one man operation may not be justifiable so as I say only you can weigh up the pros and cons and make a decision that's best for you. Just a considered thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 This kit usually goes out for fairlly high spec events and I find compressors very useful especially if you get some really over enthusiastic delegate that has a habit of "eating microphones" especially for religous conferences..... Ahh, I didn't say it wasn't needed :) for exactly that reason - the trouble is convincing clients that it is neccassary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.