Voiding a warranty

[wmccall]

The thread on the cavitating impeller got me to thinking. Has anyone actually had their warranty voided by what they did?  There are industries that will do whatever they can to void a warranty. However, in my experience, this industry seems to use a fair amount of common sense.   You can't void a warranty on a car by lifting the hood, but there are user replacable items, such as oil there. Some electronic devices are sealed so they can tell if you open the case.

My experience with my former Dynasty dealer was pretty good.  I had two problems.  We were in the tub, we turned on pump #2 and the breaker tripped.   On my tub when you apply power pump #2 will run for one minute a minute after power up. It was below freezing an on a Sunday so I could only keep power on for a minute at a time. I pulled the cover and disconnected pump #2 and the spa would work fine. The heater and filtration is on pump #1 so my tub was fine for a couple of days.  The dealer was very busy that week and seem to appreciate the fact that my minimal work changed this from an emergency call to one that could wait a day or two.

My only other service came when plumbing to the pump worked loose.  The tub showed water level going down faster than normal, but only when we used the tub. Taking the front cover off showed a puddle under the pump. When it was on low, no problem. When on High, the torque of the motor moved the pump enough to cause a small plumbing leak.   Again, my simple investigation told the dealer that this was not an emergency issue and could be handled in a day or two.  Once they arrived, they could easily verify the problem and what I had done.   Anyone else had similar experiences?

[Brewman]

 Once I got a FLO2 error on my Optima, so I called service.  The service person said they would send someone out, but asked if I'd be willing to try something first.  She just asked me to locate the flow switch and give it a tap, which I did.  That freed up a small piece of debris that was in the switch.  Once I tapped the switch, things freed up, error code gone, tub back in action.    
 I was not pressured or forced- it was just a request on the service manager's based on their experience with FLO2 errors on this brand of spa.  They'd have been happy to send out a tech if I didn't want to  try their fix, or if it didn't help.  
Seems like a good common sense way of getting a problem resloved.  

[wmccall]

The common statement to our post was the use of the term "common sense"

Nice to be able to use that again.

I once had a customer that infected his computer with the "Anna Kournikova" virus which was supposed to be a naked picture of the tennis star.  The gentleman told me the email came from the priest at his church, so he thought it would be ok.     [glb]TRUE STORY![/glb]

[Mendocino101]

The common statement to our post was the use of the term "common sense"

Nice to be able to use that again.

I once had a customer that infected his computer with the "Anna Kournikova" virus which was supposed to be a naked picture of the tennis star.  The gentleman told me the email came from the priest at his church, so he thought it would be ok.     [glb]TRUE STORY![/glb]

hummm perhaps he just really liked Tennis.....

[J._McD]

In this industry, warranty services are provided by the manufacturer and backed up by the dealer.  In the case of discount sales such as Sam's, Costco, Home Depot etc., the seller does not assume this responsibility and refers it back to the manufacturer who is more likely to require justification of failure, send the part in.  This becomes the consumers responsibility then to service his own warranty and the chances of it being "not considered" to be a warranty issue is very likely because you are dealing directly with the manufacturer and do not have a direct relationship as you would with a dealer.  This is where most warranty claims are denied after a two or three month hassel of trying to get it covered.

The dealer that sells the product, on the other hand, assumes a certain level of responsibility to take care of "his customer". Thus, like it or not, the dealer most commonly determines what is, or is not, covered under warranty.  If he covers it under warranty then, he then submits the issue back to the manufacturer to provide the "part" and reimbursement of a "token labor fee" for the "faulty or defective part" which is not always true.  Many times it could be consumer neglect, chemistry damage, misuse, abuse, or even not preventing the damage to occur i.e. freeze damage (all reasons to void the warranty).

Dealers will make no $$'s under warranty service to cover their cost of providing that service, and they may choose to consider a "disclaimer" to deny warranty services, such as improper maintenance, water chemistry or other arguable excuse.  Of course, you can contact the manufacturer directly, but they will most likely see it the dealer’s way.

We have always backed up our customers with common sense and reasonable interpretations of the warranty and our manufacturer has supported us in this effort and has rarely denied a warranty request submitted by us in the interest of satisfying our "common" customer.  

It certainly help when the customer helps us help them by checking a few things or trying to implement common issues that may not be covered under warranty, i.e. flashing "Flo" could be a pump problem, a dirty filter or a real problem.  When the customer requires a service call and it is a dirty filter, this is NOT a warranty problem and the dealer is justified in charging reasonable service charges.

In over two decades we have only "voided" one warranty on a tub we sold.  Against our recommendation, the customer installed his tub in a concrete recess outside a walk out basement during construction and neglected to use a sump pump for obvious reasons.  Before he occupied the home, the spa floated like a boat.  After the water resided or he pumped it out, he called us because the spa would not work.

When we arrived, first off, we could not access anything because of the recess and he became outraged that we would not remove it for repairs.  When he removed it for service, we returned and found a water line above the circuit control box and all the equipment was rusted and the EQ area was filled with silt.

Needles to say, he was not nice to us, treated us with belligerence and demanded the repairs be made under warranty, "or else".  We voided his warranty by advising the manufacturer of the conditions.

Above all else, treat your dealer with respect and help him stay in business.  It will come back to you in spades

The dealer implements YOUR WARRANTY and the factory usually provides to their dealer.

[Brewman]

I once had a customer that infected his computer with the "Anna Kournikova" virus which was supposed to be a naked picture of the tennis star.  The gentleman told me the email came from the priest at his church, so he thought it would be ok.     [glb]TRUE STORY![/glb]

That must have been a really pervaisave virus- it made one of the episodes of the TV show "Friends".