Warranty???

[monkey spanners]

Just curious what sort of warranty you guys offer on parts that you have fitted?

With new systems its generally 12 months parts and labour or longer if its air con and is backed by the manufacturer but for older systems like the one i got called to on friday that is fifteen years old and had a solenoid coil fail after eight months or so, would you offer a parts only or parts and labour warranty on this?

Cheers Jon

[chemi-cool]

First you have to check what warranty you get from your supplier. You are not an insurance company.

I add to the total quote the compressor price as one year warranty.

working hours not included.

there are many things that can burn parts on a refrigeration system and the worst one is fluctuations in the income electric tension, short electric brakes, lightnings and the ingenuity of owner.

[eggs]

For me it depends on the customer.
If it is a regular service client who doesn't question the price and values the service I give, they get 12 mth parts and labour.

If it is a yellow pages screamer who thinks you are sat at home waiting for them to ring you, looking for the cheapest price to get them up and running again, then I'm afraid the "Tailight Warranty" applies.

Eggs

[frank]

:D We normally offer full warranty until it breaks down :D

[chemi-cool]

:D We normally offer full warranty until it breaks down :D

Thanks Frank, I will adopt that idea.

[monkey spanners]

Thanks for the replies, there will be no hope in getting the part replaced under warranty from the supplier, its from a milk tank manufacturers agent and it depends on which way the wind is blowing if he will sell me parts in the first place :eek:

I think it was just that i made about £10 on the £60 part originally and it has now cost me 68 miles and about 3 hours to replace it, (which is just how things go sometimes) and that the customer was quite rude/ignorant and though he has a right to have it replaced for free i felt like he didn't desrve it :D


Infact, apart from Samsung air con, i have never had a supplier honour their warranty on parts supplied in the 7 years i have been in business (not that i have had many things fail).
Been doing some paperwork today and noticed one of our suppliers has charged £38 pound restocking charge on something THEY supplied wrongly :rolleyes:

Got to be an easier way of making a living!

Jon :confused:

[eggs]

Been doing some paperwork today and noticed one of our suppliers has charged £38 pound restocking charge on something THEY supplied wrongly :rolleyes:

Got to be an easier way of making a living!

Jon :confused:

I've had that with Hitachi, £25 charge for their incompetence. Did they get it? Did they feck.

Eggs

[mikeref]

Hey monkey, warranty is a difficult area to step in for sure. Over here, warranty from suppliers is generally 12 months. It's tricky if we stock parts then when its time to use them(12 months after purchase) and that item kick the bucket 2 weeks into service.. toooo bad. Such is the case recently when two EBM motors failed, one after the other in less than a week. Location was 80k away so 320k and numerous hours lost, bad week

[lowcool]

12 months parts 3 months for labour,full warranty on new instal 12 months labour and whatever manufacturer states on components.

[Magoo]

Monkeys.
Offer only the supplies warranty, labour not included.
For me I offer "front door warranty "., plus manufacturers speal.

[Grizzly]

If it is a yellow pages screamer who thinks you are sat at home waiting for them to ring you, looking for the cheapest price to get them up and running again, then I'm afraid the "Taillight Warranty" applies.

Eggs

Wise words!
Excuse my ignorance though Eggs!
What's taillight Warranty?
Anything to do with Vehicles disappearing down the driveway?
Grizzly

[r.bartlett]

I wonder if there is a legal obligation to warranty and if the flippant 'out the door' type stuff would be acceptable in court?

[Abe]

Just curious what sort of warranty you guys offer on parts that you have fitted?

With new systems its generally 12 months parts and labour or longer if its air con and is backed by the manufacturer but for older systems like the one i got called to on friday that is fifteen years old and had a solenoid coil fail after eight months or so, would you offer a parts only or parts and labour warranty on this?

Cheers Jon

Lets get one thing right.

Warranties are similar to guarantees, in that they provide a legally-binding assurance that any problems caused by manufacturing defects during a set period will be remedied.

However, unlike guarantees, the customer normally pays for this extra protection. For example, electrical retailers often offer to sell a warranty on their products which covers accidental damage, the cost of repairs and replacement parts.

The warranty I would offer is a parts and labour warranty because:

If the part fails, you will have to fit it. No use supplying the customer with a solonoid valve and saying , here, a new valve for you!

Second, when you fit a part, you charge for the work and then two things kick in:

One, the customer is entitled to a 12 month Guarantee. ( from the manufacturer) This is covered under the Sales of Goods Act. This basically says the part is fit for purpose, is of satisfactory quality and has been described correctly.

If it turns out the part is not fit, etc, the the customer has a right to reject, but within a short and reasonable period.

If it fails then you must replace it, I say "replace" not "fit"

However, youre not just selling him a part, you are also fitting it, you therefore offer him a warranty, so if it does fail, then you can provide a new part and fit it.

So, at the onset, offer the customer a warranty and charge him for it. Work out how much it would cost you to replace the part and charge him accordingly.

Hope that makes sense

[mad fridgie]

This is a difficult one, as some times you are passing on others warranty,
I allow 1.5% of my turnover for warranty provision (this in a seperate account, and is not taxable, as it is not deemed as profit, in other words it is a internal cost of sale) This does allow for a quick resolution of warranty problems as far as the client is concerned, you then can work out the other issues with your supplier later.
That does not mean that I insure the product, I do not, if the product is mis- used, damaged due to other forces i do not cover.
prime example you change a compressor, lets say a small on a cabinet (little or no protection) 8 months down the track, the cond fan fails over along week end, new compressor cooks itself, in my opinion no warranty on the compressor.

[mikeref]

12 months parts 3 months for labour,full warranty on new instal 12 months labour and whatever manufacturer states on components.
Lowcool, are you saying that if a new component fitted, and after 3 months it fails then claim for warranty and charge for labour? How do your customers respond knowing they have to pay when it wasn't their fault(or yours) for the breakdown?.. mike

[r.bartlett]

Lets get one thing right.

Warranties are similar to guarantees, in that they provide a legally-binding assurance that any problems caused by manufacturing defects during a set period will be remedied.

However, unlike guarantees, the customer normally pays for this extra protection. For example, electrical retailers often offer to sell a warranty on their products which covers accidental damage, the cost of repairs and replacement parts.

The warranty I would offer is a parts and labour warranty because:

If the part fails, you will have to fit it. No use supplying the customer with a solonoid valve and saying , here, a new valve for you!

Second, when you fit a part, you charge for the work and then two things kick in:

One, the customer is entitled to a 12 month Guarantee. ( from the manufacturer) This is covered under the Sales of Goods Act. This basically says the part is fit for purpose, is of satisfactory quality and has been described correctly.

If it turns out the part is not fit, etc, the the customer has a right to reject, but within a short and reasonable period.

If it fails then you must replace it, I say "replace" not "fit"

However, youre not just selling him a part, you are also fitting it, you therefore offer him a warranty, so if it does fail, then you can provide a new part and fit it.

So, at the onset, offer the customer a warranty and charge him for it. Work out how much it would cost you to replace the part and charge him accordingly.

Hope that makes sense

Does the 12 months guarantee cover parts if it has not been maintained during that period according to the manufacturers recommendations

[lowcool]

gday mikeref
the only thing thats coverable is the part to my knowledge and 3 months on labour is a service to the customer.if its not anyones fault that the part failed then the only party left is the manufacturer who have exclusions at time of purchase including costs of replacements.
ever had to have vehicle parts again replaced within the warranty period especially larger motor companies my experience is that you get laughed at.
at the end of the day their should not be an issue with quality workmanship and quality parts,their has been the occasion of same failure on same part where the wholesaler has helped out due to a crook batch.i read about your ebm problems,never had one with them myself but i know to stay away from another similar manufacturer as replacing their motors after 3 years of operation has made me money.im not the sort to fit stuff like that just because its life is short and i will be back their replacing it again for sheer income,in other words ripping the customer off.havent had a problem with clients at all at the end of the day its about integrity and trust.something which manufacturers lack,ive got 4 evaps in the back yard from three different manufacturers all pin holed beyond belief and others in the field that ive managed to patch satisfactorily and we are the ones who have to have arc audits.more wall thickness on these rifled coils and enviroment problem slashed big time but less bucks for manufacturers resellers etc.
end rant on that
upon reading your post regarding ebm motors dont suppose the power supply was from gen sets,just sounded like an over revving issue ?

[mikeref]

Hi lowcool, just finished a comprehensive reply for you only to have the post quick reply say i have to log in again, lost origional .. do i get compensation from R.E.?

[coolhibby1875]

12 months on parts yes, not on labour!!

[oldesky]

Not withstanding consumer laws, I think replacement of part should be 12 months part and 3 months labour. Totally new systems 12/12.I think MadFridgie has the best system. You certainly must include a waranty charge in your overall costing of the job. The parts supplier is only obligated to replace the faulty part. That why you pay a wholesale price not retail price.

[paul_h]

I agree I only offer the warranty that the parts supplier offers.
Sadly most of them here seem to be 3 months for spare parts bought for split systems.
So my warranty is I'll check any breakdowns without charge for 12 months, but if it requires new parts, I'm not paying for them. I have as much confidence in my repair as the manufacturers have in their spare parts really, so warranty varies as the parts I used.

Had quite the opposite recently. I changed a compressor over a year ago. System stopped working, found short of refrigerant.
The compressor was weld in, and my welds were fine.
Anyway as I said my welds were good and the leak wasn't anywhere near the compressor.
The customer wasn't happy about the bill. Not in a nasty way though, he knew what he was talking about and didn't expect me to have guaranteed the whole unit, but thought all valves and caps should have been changed at the same time and thought I should bear some responsibilty since I changed the compressor and gassed it over a year ago.