Warranty On Parts

[Austin]

Hi All,

Apologies if this Question has been asked before I did a search and yielded nothing.

I am keen to know how you handle Warranties on Parts you supply, particularly if your business is "on-site".

Situation:

You get a call out to a customer who has a no-boot. Turns out to be a dead hard-drive. You supply a new drive, install OS.
The drive obviously comes with a 12 month warranty as you are supplying a new part.

8 months down the line, the drives fails.

How do you handle this and how do you charge (if you charge for this?)

Thanks

 

[NickCat11]

This will probably have most of the answers you are after....

http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8988&highlight=warranty

 

[vr6rafal]

This will probably have most of the answers you are after....

http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8988&highlight=warranty

That thread doesn't really explain what he's asking.

I usually give client 30 days on parts and labor warranty varies. I sometimes warranty for 30 days or 1 year, depends on client. We advertise "30 days"

If a part failed 8 months down the road and client is good to you, I would just charge for the part, otherwise charge as a new repair.

If you warrantied the part for 1 year, what do you do? Do you send back to manufacturer and wait 2 months to get it back or do you replace the part with out of pocket expense, since you did warranty it? Then later you can send it back to manufacturer and wait few months? Still out of pocket expense!!

What sucks if a part fails 2-3 months down the road and you only gave them 30 days warranty!! I again would only charge for the part!!

 

[NickCat11]

That thread doesn't really explain what he's asking.

You must not of read all the posts as the thread I mentioned clearly states how certain members handle warranty issues with specific parts and whether or not they charge labor or not for the replacement.

 

[vr6rafal]

You must not of read all the posts as the thread I mentioned clearly states how certain members handle warranty issues with specific parts and whether or not they charge labor or not for the replacement.

NOPE, nothing there states what i'm asking!!!

In case of device failure, under warranty what do you do?

1. Replace part immediately (out of pocket expense) then claim warranty from manufacturer at a later time?

2. Claim warranty from manufacturer, hold customer's computer until replacement part arrives?

 

[NickCat11]

OK, you win .............

 

[seedubya]

Austin's situation is different because he's in the UK. The UK, Ireland and all other European countries have similar laws in this regard. Basically, if you, in the course of business supply goods to a customer (where that customer is an individual consumer NOT a business) the you carry the can for that item for AT LEAST one year. See here for a brief explaination of the Sale of Goods Act. The rights granted to consumers under this Act obviously impinge upon you as responsibilities you have as a supplier.

 

[Protocol16]

I do on-site and offer a 1 yr war. on all major parts. Minor parts like cables and things that get abused quickly (keyboards/mice) get 30 days.

In your situation, I'd replace the part and RMA it with the manufacturer. You should get a drive back, minus shipping - saves the cost of the full part again. If the shipping is more than buying the part outright, which sometimes happens, I just eat the cost.

I'd rather have a happy customer with a small financial loss than a customer that grumbles.

 

[SOHO-NZ]

This is how I handle warranty equipment.

I offer the customer the standard manufacturer's warranty. Usually this is a least a year, but can be upto 3 years, 5years or even lifetime. I buy all my parts through a few wholesalers, and most warranty claims are dealt with through them.

I only warranty the equipment, so if a part fails under warranty, then the customer normally has to pay for my time, especially if they want me to come to site. (I sometimes waive this if it is a simple fix, or if they bring the system or component in to me).

As per a previous post, some items aren't worth returning for replacement, you just have to wear those. -- It's a good reason to add a large markup on inexpensive items.