Warranty policies..........Mad Dog

bob young

just rattling your cage, Matt. you are correct, i certainly do know you better. sometimes you give way too much.

Mad Dog_2

For the Company owners out there.......

How long is TOO Long? We all have our standard one year parts and labor. I, for one, ALWAYS honored, "the work," past that.......IF and ONLY IF, something wasn't "right."
What do YOU guys do, when the product has failed after that point? Mad Dog

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bob young

warranty issues

TO go past the one year mark there gotta be an extra-ordinary condition , Matthew. if it lasts a year you are usually good ta go. now, if you took a shot and did sumptin' a tad unscrupulous-----let your conscience be your guide!! you dint do a bad thing now ,did you , Dog !! that would be a first !! lol

Mad Dog_2

C'mon Bob...you know me better......

It's not us, but the part. Mad Dog

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Ken Field

Options

I always give the option of 5 years parts and labor with 5 years of planned maintenance. I figure on 5 tune-ups and 2 service calls at present rates and about $200 for parts that may be past the manufacturers warranty. If someone is borrowing money to pay for a system, some like the idea of not having to shell out any more before the loan is paid off. I have been doing this for more than 5 years and it hasn't caused a problem yet. I don't offer it on budget models.

Ken F

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Norm Harvey

I do the normal 1 year as well, but like you, if there were any problem with the workmanship I'd fix it as long as I'm alive.

As far as parts go, If I was instrumental into talking the customer into a part that I believed in, but was not proven in the marketplace, and the part failed, I'd at least repair or replace the part for cost. Possibly more depending on the situation.

However, if we're talking about things that are subject to outside forces such as city or town water then all bets are off.


Ultimately, I'd do anything short of being taken advantage of to secure my reputation in the community.

tim smith

I'm with you Mad Dog, We have our standard 1 yr P&L warranty

but we have went back on jobs 10 yrs later and if we saw something we missed, wellllll we fix it. We have also been known to refit a bit of iron piping on a boiler that we installed yrs before and must have started to weep in the off season and continued and never saw boiler again until maybe 8 or 10 yrs later and had gotten quite corroded. We fixed these also. Not always the case but we want our work to last. Tim

Darin Cook_5

Matt

Let your conscience be your guide. I have gone back on problems years later and fixed things for free if I thought it was the right thing to do. Typically my customers if they need to call me for something dial the number and start apologizing for "bothering me" before I can say anything. These are the kind of folks, which is 99% of my customer base, that you will go above and beyond for.

Keep in mind that most of what I have stated is NOT the right "BUSINESS" thing to do. Just the right thing to do as a person. Not for nothing but I have a warranty reserve built into every job that I bid. This allows me to respond to folks without too painful of a bite.

In the end it is a matter of treating people as you would like to treated. Or as I was taught in Sunday school - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Rest assured that if a customer was to call me and start yelling, cursing, swearing, and acting like a **** they will get NO RESPONSE fom me. I have only had to "fire" one customer for this, it was very recent too. I can do this with a clear conscience because I go out of my way to accomodate people and go the extra mile for them. If they want to break that trust then it is over - for good. Call one of the bottom feeders.

Basically Matt, do not let people take advantage of you but if you think that something is a legitimate warranty issue regardless of timeframe then fix it. Your honor and reputation as a contractor will only be strengthened. Resulting in - MORE BUSINESS!







Darin

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Unknown

Yup,,,

I'll fix anything I feel was "my fault" regardless of how long it's been. Like a leaky joint as mentioned above or a bad electrical connection, whatever. If a part goes that's out of warrantee but not by that much and I can't get the mfg to cough up I'll charge for the part only and throw the labor in for free.

Mad Dog_2

Thanks for all the input guys

I know you were playin' Bob. I already do ALL of those things too. How about warranties on boilers that are installed more than 3 years ago. I know we take what we can get from manufacturer, but how do you handle the labor when there is NO reimbursement? Mad Dog

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Mad Dog_2

Ok, a step further...................................

Situation: You have a boiler that YOU installed. It has been in for 4 or 5 years. It has manufacturer's problems. You are getting NO labor compensation, WHAT DO YOU DO???????????? I KNOW what I did, just wanna see what the consensus would do. Mad Dog

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Timco

Fortunately I set myself up with full isolation of the boiler, so at worst I pick one up, swap it in a few hours, and push the bad one off the truck in my supplier's yard. I have this problem right now with a damn toilet from HD that glacier bay does not offer parts for and I have to pull & replace it. I personally offer the tail-light warranty. As long as they can see my tail-lights, it is in warranty. As soon as I turn the first corner, warranty is expired...

Tim

bob young

complications

i might give them a deep discounted price but you usually must charge something. decent people usually do not expect unwarranted charity. we try to be fair but we also must earn a living wage. i have written many invoices that i wished i did not have to, that is for sure but the customer for the most part usually understood i had no choice.if you work for free , you will soon be working for someone else.

Keith_8

Agree

I agree with all of the thoughts expressed so far regarding the warranty question.

In the case of how to handle the labor and misc material associated with replacing a 4 or 5 year old boiler.

I would charge them T&M. Maybe knock 10% off the hourly rate depending on the customer.

As already mentioned.....With the exception of the occasional charity job.....We can't give away our time.

Keith