ABOUT US
The name of "Benndorf Verster" has been synonymous with the supply and service of office equipment in the lower mainland for more than 30 years. Our rich heritage of honesty, integrity and attention to detail along with our policy of putting you first has been instrumental in our building a loyal base of happy and contented clients. Who you choose to acquire your next piece of office equipment from is a very big decision, you'll be putting your faith in your chosen supplier for at least the next five years and as with any relationship there will testing times. The equipment will break and need repair! Here at "B.V" we guarantee we'll be there for you in your hour of need! If necessary, we provide same day delivery of toner and other supplies along with a commitment to a maximum 4 hour response to all service issues.
Our guarantee:
If you are not happy with the performance of your BV acquired equipment, you may request a replacement with an identical model or, in the event that an identical model replacement is not available, a model with comparable features and capabilities will be provided. The term of the BV guarantee is five (5) years from the date of the initial equipment delivery. This BV guarantee applies only to BV equipment acquired by you from and continuously and exclusively maintained by BV under Full Service Maintenance, a BV warranty agreement from the date of delivery. This guarantee is not applicable to equipment damaged or destroyed by the customer, its employees or agents. The guarantee applies only if BV approved consumable products are used. BV reserves the right to void the guarantee if the Customer is in arrears with respect to any payments owing under their service or lease agreement with "BV". This guarantee is subject to all limitations set forth in any warranty or service agreement for this equipment.
We make this offer to clearly demonstrate that our measure of quality is our Customers' Satisfaction.
The history of the photocopier:
Chester Carlson a patent attorney in New York in October of 1937 invented a process called electrophotography renamed in 1938 to Xerography. The first known photocopy was the "10-22-38 Astoria". The Xerography copying process went on to become one of the most well known inventions of the 20th century. Carlson received world acclaim and became wealthy from the invention that created a billion dollar industry. It is estimated Carlson gave away almost $100 million to charity and foundations before his death in 1968.
But Xerography was at first not a popular invention , it was ten years before Carlson found a company to develop Xerography. The Haloid company a New York based photo-paper manufacturer took up the challenge. The Haloid company later went on to become Xerox Corporation.
In 1955 Haliod now Haloid Xerox produced Copyflo the first automated xerographic machine but it wasn't until 1958 the first true office copier was produced. Twenty two years after the electrophotography had first been conceived saw the introduction of the first ever commercial push button photocopier machine the 914.
The 914 was a phenomenal success and in three years Haliod Xerox income went from 2 million in 1960 when the first 914 was sold to over 22 million by 1963.
In 1961 Haliod Xerox took the name Xerox and its stock was listed on the New York Stock exchange. The success grew from the 914 as Xerox introduced 24 new products over the next 20 years.
But Xerox domination was about to change. New manufacturers were about to challenge Xerox and re-brand what the world knew as a Xerox machine to a "photocopier". One of the greatest marketing battles of the 20th century was about to happen.
As early as 1955 Ricoh were emerging as a potential competitor for Xerox and developed the RiCopy 101 Diazo copier. By 1975 they had developed the prize winning RiCopy DT 1200 and were starting to challenge the Xerox market place. The next decade would see the cross over of companies traditionally known in photography into the office equipment market. Brands such as Minolta, Panasonic, Toshiba , Sharp, Konica and of course Canon started to produce small office copiers that were to challenge Xerox domination of the business copier market.
Meanwhile Xerox domination of the high volume photocopier market came under threat from Kodak and Oce.
Manufactures quickly found that Xerox held enormous customer loyalty. To break this down copier dealerships were founded. In each country small local dealerships were formed that offered a "local service" sold by local people, a classic guerrilla marketing move. It attacked Xerox in a way they couldn't respond as Xerox were a Global Corporation but one thing they couldn't be were a small local business.
Canon were probably the most successful copier company to employ this tactic. By 1985 Canon had become the leading photocopier company worldwide. Canon invested heavily in development and went on to produce the first Colour Copier.
The Xerox rivals coaxed there dealers to correct customers when they referred to their brand of photocopier as a Xerox machine. Terms such as "Xeroxing" were corrected to "Copying" the "Xerox Machine" to "Photocopier Machine". All this was done to dissolve the impact of the Xerox brand.
