Frequently Asked Questions What is a proprietary control system? What is the major difference between a Full Maintenance and Monthly Maintenance contract? Can Colley make a customized contract for our facilities? My elevator doesn't get too much use, do I need a preventative maintenance contract? How much does it cost to get a competitive bid on service or modernization? Why is there such a large desparity between Colley prices and other companies vs. some of the larger conglomerates? Why should I choose Colley Elevator? Is their a benefit with going with a smaller elevator company for maintenance? Can Colley get other companies elevator parts? How do I know if my elevator parts and components are obsolete? Does Colley fabricate all of their own parts and equipment? Does Colley employ union mechanics and Helpers? What is a proprietary control system? A proprietary controller essentially is a lock and key system some of the larger companies such as Otis, Dover, Schinlder among others install this type of controller unless the customer requests otherwise. This means to the owner of the system 2 things; first is they potentially could be trapped and stuck with the company who will charge a large amount per month for maintenance, second is they will have to find an elevator company that has the software to work with their controller or they will have to purchase the software themselves. Colley has the software for most of the proprietary systems out there, however, please be weary when installing a new controller. Having a very expensive capital expenditure turn out to be nothing more then a way to make you a elevator companies slave is a very disappointing concept to learn about. What is the major difference between a Full Maintenance and Monthly Maintenance contract? The major difference between Colley's Full Maintenance and Monthly are the following. Both contracts provide a visit once a month for grease, oil and adjustment. The full maintenance contract covers break downs and broken parts; so if an elevator breaks down our service technician will come out and make the repair or replace parts at no charge. The monthly contract does not cover call backs or damaged equipment. We suggest that buildings with moderate to high traffic take advantage of our Full Maintenance agreement. Can Colley make a customized contract for our facilities? The answer is yes, please call and speak to one of our service representatives for more information. If my elevator doesn't get too much use, do I need preventative maintenance? If you have any questions about this, please call one of our sales representative. We can explain to you the benefits for your specific building. Our rule of thumb is, we suggest that even buildings that do not get very much traffic, the elevator system should get a visit once or twice a year. This is just to make sure all the parts and components of the kkkkksystem are working properly and properly lubricated. Our technicians can prevent a small problem from becoming a large problem. Because replacement of major component parts and/or a complete modernization is expensive we recommend maintaining your equipment to prolong your equipment's life. With maintenance on the elevator system you are increasing the longevity of your equipment. How much does it cost to get a competitive bid on service or modernization? It is free. Just call our office at 630-766-7230 and ask for a sales representative, we will schedule and appointment and come to survey your equipment in order to give you an accurate price for your desired service. Why sometimes is there such a large desparity between Colley prices and other companies vs. some of the larger conglomerates? There are a few reasons that there is sometimes a desparity in prices between elevator companies. One is because Colley is a mid sized business, we do not have a large amount of overhead to compensate for. Two is that Colley believes in not only being fair to their customers, but their employee's, this includes our mechanic's diligent work to get the job finished on time. Three is some companies include tests with their contracts so they build that in. They may tell you that this test will cost $1,250.00 so you are getting a great deal with it being included. While it is great the test(s) is/are included, many times other independent companies charge a lot less for the same tests and do not use them as a scaring/selling point to push you into signing the contract. Why should I choose Colley? We could tell you till we are blue in the face about our great service, customer service and all that stuff. But the bottom line is Colley's competitive advantage is that we are fast and our technicians know what they are doing. Many times our technicians will be at a call within the hour, 90% of the time we will be there the same day. We cannot tell you the horror stories we hear about people calling and their elevator company never coming out, sometimes they do it is a week later. Sometimes when they do come out a week later, they can't even get the elevator working and have to come back another time. Also, our technicians are trained on all types of equipment, this enables them the ability to fix your elevator properly and efficiently. When you call our office, you talk to someone in the area. You do not call New Jersey for a service all in Chicago and you do not leave a message on your account representative's voicemail because that is the only person the company wants you to deal with. Everyone in Colley's office can help you with whatever questions or requests you might have. If we cannot find out your desired information immediately someone will get back to you promptly. Is their a benefit with going with a smaller elevator company for maintenance? There are a few benefits for choosing a smaller company for maintenance. Now, when we refer to smaller we are comparing Colley to a company with hundreds or thousands of people working for them. Colley is comprised of about 25 individuals; that is including our mechanics, office staff, shop workers, and sales staff. We are familiar with our customers and our technicians are familiar with the elevators they service. We develop relationships, with these relationships we strive to exceed our customers expectations year to year. Because we are a smaller operation we can work with each other to develop synergistic relationships among all of our employees. This way our customer's get the attention they deserve in a timely basis. Can Colley get other companies elevator parts? The answer is YES! There are a few rare exceptions which usually deal with equipment that is not manufactured anymore or is a part from a company that was either bought out or went out of business many years ago. We usually have no problem finding currently manufactured parts and we do have a warehouse filled with parts from older elevators of all types we can use to replace your elevator's broken equipment. How do I know if my elevator parts and components are obsolete? If you have an elevator 15 years or older there is a possibility that we might have a hard time finding the proper replacement parts for your equipment. When you elevator is 25 years old or older there is a greater probability that your equipment parts will be hard to find. The major problem we run into is when a company has either went out of business or was bought out. It is usually difficult to find parts for elevators when this happens. However, Colley does keep a store room full of replacement parts for older elevators. Does Colley fabricate all of their own parts and equipment? Colley has a fully functional engineering team and parts department. Hand in hand they develop and innovate new parts and equipment. We do have the ability to fabricate our own equipment, and we do. Depending on the customers request we usually do a combination of fabrication and outsourcing. This gives our customers a wider variety of choices when they are modernizing their equipment or putting a new elevator in. Does Colley exclusively employ union mechanics and Helpers? Yes.
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