Support Billing

Field Service

Effective Immediately

These rates apply to field service (tasks that are performed at or on the way to your plant).

Phone Support

Effective January 1, 2020

Over the past several years we have heavily invested in the development of new systems to improve phone support, issue management, and service tracking. We allocate substantial resources to the production of DIY tutorials and troubleshooting videos as well as model specific documentation; all of which are available right here on our website. Want to see an additional resource created? Just send us an email detailing your idea!

Historically we have provided free phone support for all machines, regardless of equipment age, warranty, or original purchase status. However due to the growing costs associated with this level of support combined with the size of our customer base—and taking into account the availability of self-help tutorials and documentation—we will no longer provide free phone support longer than 15 minutes for out of warranty machines.

Phone Support F.A.Q.

• When will these changes take effect?
  In May 2019 we notified our customers that these policy changes would go into effect on June 1, 2019. However, due customer feedback and internal discussions we've revised our plans: these changes will go into effect on January 1, 2020.
• Kval has never charged for phone support before, why start now?
  We launched a service expansion campaign to provide excellent customer service to our ever-growing client base and improve phone support response time. This policy is a two pronged approach:

  • Charging non-active customers or third-party service companies will reduce call-volume and therefore free-up resources for Kval’s active and loyal customers.
  • Revenue acquired will be invested to expand self-help tutorials, service infrastructure, and the number of available phone support techs.
• How does the billing work?
  • For equipment five (5) years or newer, phone support will be free.
  • For equipment over five (5) years of age, customers will receive a free 15 minutes of phone-support and assistance per issue. However, for the amount of time that extends over the free 15 minutes, customers will be billed or account credit reduced.

  There are three billing solutions offered to Kval customers:

  • Pre-purchase discounted blocks of time through our parts department or e-store which will be applied to your account.
  • Receive an Invoice direct from our service department at full price.
  • Purchase Service or Parts for free phone-support credits
• If I have to pay $100/hr or $120/hr why not just request a field tech come in for $135/hr?
  Our remote support team strives to provide our customers with the fastest solution possible, and in most cases issues can be diagnosed and resolved quickly. Taking into consideration travel time, hotel, rental cars, etc., the cost of a single field technician visit immediately surpasses the cost of phone support.
• What happens if I run out of credit during a call?
  The technician you are working with will inform you if your pre-purchased support time has run out. After the call you can purchase another block of time at the discounted rate or be invoiced for the remaining amount at the normal rate.
• How can I track how much credit I have left?
  After each issue is resolved by our service department a report reflecting the total amount of time spent on that issue will be sent in an email along with your remaining phone support balance.
• How much time should I buy?
  This depends on what you feel is best for your needs and usage; upon request a report can be emailed informing you of how much remote support you have received for any length of time and tracked by issue/call.