I’ve managed elevator maintenance for a 200-person property management company for 5 years, overseeing an annual budget of roughly $80,000. And after negotiating with seven different vendors and tracking every single repair invoice, here’s my take: the cheapest maintenance contract is almost never the cheapest option.
That might sound obvious when you say it quickly. But walk into any budget meeting where the CFO is holding up two quotes – one for $18,000, another for $24,000 – and you’ll see everyone’s eyes fix on the lower number. My job is to make them look at the other numbers too.
What You Don’t See in the Initial Quote
The first trap is scope. When I compared our current Kone maintenance agreement against a competitor’s “budget” plan a few years ago, I almost switched. The competitor’s base price was 20% lower. But when I dug into the fine print, I found that their plan excluded:
- After-hours emergency call-out (additional $250 per incident)
- Replacement of load‑bearing components (ropes, sheaves, brakes)
- Remote monitoring software updates
We had three after‑hours call‑outs in the first quarter of 2024 alone. At $250 each, that’s $750. The “savings” of $1,200 on the annual contract evaporated before spring. Or rather – let me correct that – we actually lost money because we also had to pay for a part that the cheap plan considered a “consumable” but our old Kone plan covered. The total ended up $2,100 higher than if we’d kept the original Kone contract.
Not ideal. But a lesson I’m glad we learned on a small scale first.
Quality Isn’t Just a Buzzword – It’s a Liability
Second: component quality. Some third‑party maintenance providers source non‑OEM parts. They look identical. They cost 30‑40% less. But the failure rate – at least in our experience – is higher. Last year, a non‑Oregon? No, non‑OEM brake coil failed after 11 months. The OEM part from Kone had a 3‑year lifecycle in our usage pattern. That one premature failure cost us a tenant complaint, three hours of downtime, and a rush‑order replacement (another $180).
I’ve never fully understood why the pricing logic for non‑OEM parts is so inconsistent. My best guess is that they rely on volume discounts that don’t account for variance in manufacturing quality. What I do know is that after tracking 14 part replacements over two years, the total cost of non‑OEM parts – including labor for earlier failures – was 22% higher than using Kone‑branded parts. That’s real money.
Downtime Costs That Don’t Show Up on the Invoice
The hidden killer is downtime. In a 12‑story office building with 600 tenants, one elevator out of service for a day can mean lost productivity, unhappy tenants, and – in extreme cases – rent concessions. I calculated that our building loses roughly $2,000 per day of unplanned downtime when you factor in foot traffic disruption and tenant satisfaction scores. The Kone plan includes a 4‑hour response SLA and a guaranteed uptime of 99.5%. The budget competitor? “Best effort” response within 24 hours.
We tested it. When a door controller failed on a Tuesday afternoon, Kone had a technician on site in 3 hours and the elevator was running by 6 PM. Total uptime impact: 3 hours. If we’d been on the budget plan, that same repair would have waited until Wednesday morning at the earliest – 18+ hours of downtime. Call it $1,500 in hidden cost from tenant frustration alone. And those complaints don’t have a line item in the maintenance invoice. But they show up in lease renewal rates.
But What If You Really Need to Cut Costs?
I hear this all the time from colleagues: “Our portfolio is shrinking, we have to slash budgets, the cheapest option is the only option.” Look, I get it. I’ve sat through those meetings. But here’s the thing – lowering the maintenance line item by 15% might feel good now, but if it increases your risk of a breakdown that costs $10,000 in lost rent and emergency repairs, you haven’t saved money. You’ve just postponed the expense and added interest.
My advice: negotiate the scope, not the quality. Ask Kone if they offer a trimmed‑down plan that keeps core preventive maintenance and 24/7 emergency support but drops less‑critical extras like decorative cab polishing. You might get a 5-8% reduction without sacrificing reliability. That’s a smarter way to save.
This pricing and service‑level data was accurate as of Q4 2024. The market changes fast – especially with new IoT‑enabled monitoring – so verify current rates and scope inclusions before signing anything. I learned these lessons the hard way between 2019 and 2024, and I’d hate to see another PM make the same mistakes.
The numbers said go with the low bid. My gut said stick with Kone. I went with my gut. Two years later, our total elevator maintenance spend is actually lower than what the budget competitor would have cost – because we haven’t had a single major unforeseen expense. That’s the value of buying the right thing instead of the cheap thing.
