Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: warranty

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,119
    Rep Power
    26

    warranty



    How do self employed engineers handle warranty situations

    Say you fit a replacement fan motor for instance.

    Do you offer a full 12 month warranty , so in case of failure the cost of labour , etc is included. ie: the replacement fitted for free of charge.

    Im not sure the legal requirement on this. Accepted the part comes with a warranty from manufacturer, but what about the labour?

    How can that be warranteed???



  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Belgium
    Age
    62
    Posts
    5,645
    Rep Power
    34

    Re: warranty

    For me it works as follows: new installations have 1 year full warranty (labour and parts)
    After that everything has to be paid.

    New spare parts are labour included.

    There's somewhere a law which states that the one who caused damage has to repair the damage but also all the consequence (colateral?) damage.
    So if you replace a faulty TEv with a new one and teh new one fails, then your supplier has to pay you a new TEV and legally also your hours.
    If they will do this is of course another question.

    If we have a problem during warranty with a Mitsubishi Electric, then they provide us a new piece and they pay also the labour hours to replace the part.

    It all depends on the client, if it's ag odo client wich you often see, then I don't charge the labour costs.
    If it's client you see once a year, allways nagging, complaining, then he pays everything.

    I once had a customer who refused to pay and whiel I was putting everything in my van, I accidentaly touched the service valve with my key and all the gas escaped after some days.
    He called me back and I thanked him for his confidence/trust.

    Another time, we programmed in the Mitsubishi PLC (+/- 200 I/O)a fault which came back every 5 to 6 days for 10 to 15 minutes, twice a day and it was programmed that the frequency increased when we didn't short-circuit regulary 2 pins.
    There was nothing wrong with the PLC but they finally replaced it with a new Siemens.
    I missed +/- 1000 euro's but they paid a new PLC of +/- 10000 euro's.
    It's better to keep your mouth shut and give the impression that you're stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    77
    Rep Power
    19

    Re: warranty

    I not so sure the enviroment had to pay because your customer would not

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,326
    Rep Power
    25

    Re: warranty

    Hi Abe,

    When I used to do service work I covered the cost of labor for the replacement, unless some outside factor was involved (vandalism, accidental, or other determined at my discretion).

    If it was a fan motor or some other small and relatively cheap part I would just go ahead and change the part at no cost to the customer. Of course, you also have to have the cost built into the component.

    It was normal practice to charge 200% or more on pieces less than $100 USD. This way if the part broke, it was replaced for free.

    Not every piece will break and it was up to me to find the best product to use and to ensure it was installed correctly.

    Replacements were very few, so I thought it all worked out in the big scheme of things.

    If it happened to be a large item (compressor) the manufacturer would pay labor and replacement costs.

    But, you had to have very good documentation and be right. They would not pay for a misdiagnosed problem. Imagine that.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    U.K
    Age
    55
    Posts
    518
    Rep Power
    21

    Re: warranty

    Hi Abe,

    If you read into most service companies terms and conditions the warranty covers replacement of the part only and not labour.

    Indeed this is exactly what our terms an conditions say.

    However, I would agree with Peter, if it is a good customer (i.e pays bills on time and listens to you) then I cover the labour.

    Poor payers and difficult customers get warranty terms to the letter.

    Fortunately parts are generally reliable and we generally install them reliably so the warranty issue rarely rears it's head.

    djbe.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Norwich
    Age
    53
    Posts
    134
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: warranty

    If you install a replacement fan motor, it fails in 8 months, the customer would not expect to pay for a replacement fan motor or any labour.

    If it was 14 months and it failed, then the question or - Whay has it failed within such a short time would be asked.

    Know your customer and treat them well, they will pass the word.
    On the whole scale of things, in a year, replacing a £10 fan motor for free after 18 months, even though its out of its 12 month warranty would provide Kudos for you.

    I take this approach with a few customers. We are still turning work down as we are too busy.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,119
    Rep Power
    26

    Re: warranty

    S Line

    You must have had a quick forty winks

    The last post was nearly 4 years ago


    Any opinions, statements and facts expressed in this message do not constitute legal advice in any shape or form and is given for a general outlook in nature. You are advised to seek appropriate and specific professional assistance from a regulated and authorised advisor for definitive advice.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    India
    Age
    74
    Posts
    400
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: warranty

    on components it will be back to back

Similar Threads

  1. check out these guys !!
    By rbartlett in forum Air Conditioning
    Replies: 106
    Last Post: 21-08-2006, 08:36 AM
  2. LG Warranty - Restrictive Trickery
    By Makeit go Right in forum Air Conditioning
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12-06-2006, 05:26 PM
  3. Toshiba Warranty
    By gwilliamson in forum Air Conditioning
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 17-05-2006, 05:59 PM
  4. Laptops
    By botrous in forum Computers & the Internet
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 23-04-2005, 10:21 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •