Your shout 07 January 2013

They might be offered with every product, but just how good are manufacturers' warranties?

An operator that uses a main agent or franchised agent of a manufacturer for their maintenance cover will – or at least should – have no problem ensuring that not only parts warranty, but also the labour content is reclaimed.

But what about those operators who choose to use a provider they find considerably cheaper in terms of labour, gives excellent service, satisfies all requirements and could even be accredited by the IRTE through its Workshop Accreditation scheme?

Certainly, if the part supplied and fitted came from the manufacturer, the replacement part warranty should create little, possibly no, problem. But what of the labour content? Therein lies the problem. There is little hope of the operator claiming the labour content, even if the part was fitted by their own workshop technicians.

Why should this be the case? The part failed within the warranty period and, assuming that the component gave good service for more than three months, there was no problem or fault with the fitting process. Yet most manufacturers will not pay out for the labour content.

As a result, the part supplier not only makes profit from the sale of the part, but also from not having to pay for the labour content upon failure. It's a nonsense: if the part was fitted by an agent, there is a labour cost, so surely the labour content should be part of the warranty claim regardless of who fits the component?

If the part was supplied to an operator and fitted by his or her technician, is there not a case for the supply agent claiming the labour and forwarding it to their customer (the operator) when credited by the manufacturer? At the moment, it seems to be an area that is costing the operator more money than it should be.

So, manufacturers: why not include the labour to reimburse for the time lost in the removal and fitment of a component – even if fitted by an external, competent irtec-licensed technician, in an IRTE accredited workshop?

In these tough operating conditions, now would be a great time to start.

Author
IRTE

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Society of Operations Engineers

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