Do you pay anything for warranty work?

[East_TX_Spa]

I've said it before....we've never charged for warranty work, probably never will.  We are, however, raising the fee for out of warranty service calls from $60 to $90.  It's the first time we've charged more than $60 in over 10 years.

I'm off to Kansas City (weather permitting) and hoping to meet up with Galen and go eat some steak.  Ya'll take care and be fruitful to one another this week.

Terminator

[Spatech_tuo]

So the wise buyer should make a point to ask...

Actually, the wise buyer asks AND gets it in writing that it won't change on them at a later date. Just because they don't charge for warranty work today when you're buying doesn't mean they can't change their policy and begin to add that charge later.

[neocacher]

I have never had to pay for warranty work in S. Dakota, and I have bought from HS dealer and Caldera dealer.

Neo

[Chad]

 Most of the builders who we subcontract for have a two year warranty on all their homes. Every sub, us included, must do all call backs at no charge to the consumer, no matter who's fault it is. It's a small price to pay for a well organized business.

[bluesman]

So the wise buyer should make a point to ask...

I posted a while ago about being angry over a trip charge for my plumber.  I was mad because blaiming it on increased gas costs..was crazy since I could have driven to North Carolina for the trip charges...BUT this wasn't warranty work...

I think what rattles me is that we, as consumers, take the brunt of ALL of the fuel increases...It costs more to drive,  food and virtually everything cost more because of the fuel costs. ..and service companies can also ask us to absorb their increases...so we get it all..I think we should get a tax break...

Bonibelle,

As you know I live in your area and I'm getting ready to purchase a new tub. I will ask about warranty trip charges. As a consumer I have never heard of "trip charges" for products under warranty. I agree Bonibelle, that this should be incorporated into the total package price, and we as consumers are getting the raw end of the deal for rising energy costs.

Bluesman 8-)

[rick_in_cleveland]

My Marquis dealer is 60 miles away and needs to also take a toll road.  He started charging a $75 trip fee last spring.    His round trip time is 2 hours plus the time he is at my house.  I think its a little steep but what can you do?  I'm sure Marquis doesn't pay him for the trip time.

[hotubinn]

I view this situation from a little different angle.  I own a spa repair business.  We do warranty work for a number of companies in town.  Five years ago the warranty reimbursement rate was $55/hr.  Today, the rate is $50/hr.  We currently do not charge a trip fee, but are looking really closley at starting to charge $20-25 per call.  We do not make any money off of the sale of these tubs.  This fee is not only for "gas".  There is more that goes into it than that.  Tires, wear and tear, insurance, etc...  EVERY manufacturer that we have done work for, for one reason or another, will not reimburse for every service call or additional time to complete some jobs.  This turns into my company "eating" these loses.  It is win win for the manufacturer.  Not only do they make money off of the sale, they don't lose as much money on service calls.
I know what you all are thinking, "Why continue to do their work?".  Good question.  In the past, we justified this thinking we were getting non warranty calls- so it balances out.  If the economy goes south, some people put off fixing their spa- therefore no non warranty work.  
We are thinking just as hard about doing no warranty work, as we are about charging warranty calls a service charge.  I think this would save us a lot of trouble, but would result in laying hard working techs off, and would reduce the quality of warranty work provided to my customers.  $25 may seem like a lot, but it is a small price to pay for expedited quality work.  Just my two cents.

[Chris_H]

The bottom line is most customers do not ask prior to the purchase.  Then when they get a bill they get pissed.  

The consumer should think of your warranty as insurance.   The repairman travel charge is your deductible.  

In the grand scheme of things and as the previous poster stated, the amount typically charged isn’t a big deal especially for expedited quality work.

[brentp]

Interesting thread.  For us, I don't know, . . . yet.  We haven't had to have a warrantee call, but believe we are covered.

When we purchased our SPA, some of the warrantees we read allowed the dealer to charge a 'travel fee' to offset the costs of travel.  I thought this was bogus so we avoided those brands.  The brand we bought, . . . their clause says the dealer could only charge a travel fee if the SPA location was OUTSIDE of their normal service area.  That sounded reasonable, and could/should be disclosed by the dealer at time of the sale.

The reality is this goes back to the SPA manufacturer.  Most manufacturers today set aside a small percentage of the sale and it goes into a warrantee fund.  When service is performed, the servicing agent bills the manufacturer and they reimburses for the repair out of this fund.

If a SPA manufacturer isn't paying enough for proper warrantee work and its dealers are forced to charge a 'service call' for travel, . . . shame on the manufacturer and a big black eye for their reputation.  This isn’t rocket science, . . . almost ever hard goods manufacturer in this country wants to protect its reputation and will stand behind its product with well documented warrantees that include on site repairs for assets that are ‘fixed’ once installed..  

I would never intentionally accept this, . . . from any company.  A SPA is a fixed assets once installed and the manufacturer needs to factor the total cost - including travel time - into planning its warrantee funding approach.

I feel sorry for you dealers that are forced to charge travel fees because of improper reimbursement from the manufacturer.  Unfortunately, you are put into a very tough spot and are likely loosing some business because the manufacturer whose product you sell chooses not to stand behind their products.  We avoided Sundance directly because of this during our SPA search.

[Steve]

I view this situation from a little different angle.  I own a spa repair business.  We do warranty work for a number of companies in town.  Five years ago the warranty reimbursement rate was $55/hr.  Today, the rate is $50/hr.  We currently do not charge a trip fee, but are looking really closley at starting to charge $20-25 per call.  We do not make any money off of the sale of these tubs.  This fee is not only for "gas".  There is more that goes into it than that.  Tires, wear and tear, insurance, etc...  EVERY manufacturer that we have done work for, for one reason or another, will not reimburse for every service call or additional time to complete some jobs.  This turns into my company "eating" these loses.  It is win win for the manufacturer.  Not only do they make money off of the sale, they don't lose as much money on service calls.
I know what you all are thinking, "Why continue to do their work?".  Good question.  In the past, we justified this thinking we were getting non warranty calls- so it balances out.  If the economy goes south, some people put off fixing their spa- therefore no non warranty work.  
We are thinking just as hard about doing no warranty work, as we are about charging warranty calls a service charge.  I think this would save us a lot of trouble, but would result in laying hard working techs off, and would reduce the quality of warranty work provided to my customers.  $25 may seem like a lot, but it is a small price to pay for expedited quality work.  Just my two cents.

A service company doing warranty work for a manufacturer is something entirely different. You aren't able to recoup your loses via the retail chain but then again, you are aware of the total cost to do work for these companies so it is up to you to negotiate with the manufacturers or dealers directly to cover your loses. I still don't beleive it's the consumers responsibility as they paid for the warranty in the price of the spa!

I'm sure you wouldn't knowingly except a contract where you knew you would lose money right?

We would only consider charging when the consumer lived over an hour away and the spa itself was over 2 years old.

[Gary]

I had warranty work done at my home and they didn't charge me anything. But, I bought a Sundance spa.  

It has nothing to the with the brand of spa, every warranty I have read states you could be charged a travel fee. It is the dealers choice. You are paying for it either way, in the cost of the spa or if and when you need warranty work.

[wmccall]

Like GM or Ford do with cars, I'll bet most hot tub dealers wouldn't charge if you bring your tub to them.

[Chris_H]

Like GM or Ford do with cars, I'll bet most hot tub dealers wouldn't charge if you bring your tub to them.

That is very true.  It certainly costs money to bring the car to the dealer if it needs to be towed.  

[loosenupspas]

There is no trip charge for warranty work that I do as long as it is with one of my new spa customers.  If I perform warranty work on a Coleman that another dealer originally sold, then I charge for the trip.  Half the time people tip my service tech, they make out ok....Tom

[brentp]

It has nothing to the with the brand of spa, every warranty I have read states you could be charged a travel fee. It is the dealers choice. You are paying for it either way, in the cost of the spa or if and when you need warranty work.

I disagree, . . . the manufacturer of the SPA determines how they are going to set up their warrantee program.  They can choose not to offer any warrantee if they wish.  They can choose to fully/properly pay the service center or come up with a structure where all parties 'share' the cost of the warrantee.  Consumers then can make a purchase decision based on what is offered.  

In my opinion, if a SPA company chooses to weasel out of their responsibilities to pad their bottom line by not properly paying the repair service company, they can choose to do that.  But, to me, that reflects very negatively on them as a business.  Consumers have a choice when it comes to this, . . . I did, and was very concerned about Sundance’s wording in their warrantee that allowed for ‘travel charges’.  So much so, that we decided not to buy that brand even though we like the SPA we were looking at.

The warrantees do read differently.  A couple of examples, . . .

Sundance: "There will be no charge for parts or labor to repair the defect, although you may be assessed reasonable repairman travel charges."

Artesian:  "There will be no charge for parts and labor within the above terms.  However, travel charges are not covered if you live outside a normal service area of the agent."

Any warrantee’s legalities can be debated, . . . but to me, those are completely different programs.