A Warranty Question

[salesdvl]

After reading the thread on the Gulf Coast warranty registration policy I thought about a situation that I came across a while back.
A customer bought a house that had a 2 y/o Sundance out back.  The original owner did not leave any paperwork for it.  Now it needs service.  The local Sundance dealer (In Chicagoland) told the customer that they would not service it if he could not prove it came from them.  The issue isnt even covering it on warranty, its they will not even service it.  I asked the customer why they couldnt they track it by serial and know it came from them and he said the service tech told him thats not their responsibility.
Is this common elsewhere?  thoughts?

[J._McD]

If your talking about Chicago aea, it was problably sold by Pool-O-Rama that was a chain of stores that put a lot of "mom's and pop's" out of business. NOW it has changed hands and names and is known as the Great Excape.  Big Box chains are into sales, $'s and are not that customer courteous or friendly when it comes to customer needs, "it's not there job" if they didn't sell so they feel.  This will cause a big problem for the manufacturer down the line.  SD is a stock based company (jjz) and is tied to profit performance for investors, this seem to be the trend in the industry.  The backlash will come in customer care and very large accounts dictating what they will pay.  Wholesale cost is out of control and the dealer must pay, unless he's BIG.

If you get me the serial #, PM me and I will give you the details.

[Brewman]

The Sundance warranty is only for the original purchaser, or at least it was when I got mine.
So any subsequent owner wouldn't get warranty coverage.   But.............

Why would the dealer responsible for that area refuse to service the spa for their normal fees?
Isn't that part of their responsiblity as a rep. for that territory?  
Plus, I gotta believe that at their normal charges for parts and labor, they're (justifiably) making a profit.
I'd be on the phone to Sundance Corporate pretty fast if I was in that boat.
Brewman

[Spatech_tuo]

That's simply poor customer service from an individual dealer relative to non-warranty work. I guess they're only interested in the immediate sales and customer service isn't in their vocabulary. I think this is more of an aberration.

The issue with Gulf Coast Spas not honoring a warranty unless you register the spa in a given timeframe is about a manufacturer skipping out on their responsibility.

Both are poor but at the second one is more shameful and from the manufacturer.

[mark 2550]

J. McD

I live in the middle of illinois and you are correct about the big box chain stores, 2 dealers I visited use to carry the SD line don't know if they couldn't compete or if it was a territoral rights thing. I do know that both these dealer's say they continue to service their past customer's and will continue to do so one dealer told me they carried the SD line for 14 years now both dealer's about 45 miles apart carry different lines now.

Funny thing is when I visited the SD website these dealer's are still being listed I wrote them and told them their dealer locator needs updated they sent me a list of my nearest dealer's and one of the dealer's names is still on the list, for us we probally won't be looking at the sundance brand to  far to travel use to have a dealer 5 miles away now I'm not sure where one is we have found a couple of other manufactures but were still in the debating thing on which one we like over the other

[J._McD]

J. McD

I live in the middle of illinois and you are correct about the big box chain stores, 2 dealers I visited use to carry the SD line don't know if they couldn't compete or if it was a territoral rights thing. I do know that both these dealer's say they continue to service their past customer's and will continue to do so one dealer told me they carried the SD line for 14 years now both dealer's about 45 miles apart carry different lines now.

Funny thing is when I visited the SD website these dealer's are still being listed I wrote them and told them their dealer locator needs updated they sent me a list of my nearest dealer's and one of the dealer's names is still on the list, for us we probally won't be looking at the sundance brand to  far to travel use to have a dealer 5 miles away now I'm not sure where one is we have found a couple of other manufactures but were still in the debating thing on which one we like over the other

I am going through this right now.  They clear the field of competition for the big box because they are "the big box".  Typically Sundance dealers, and I would include all professionaly driven dealers, are dedicated to their customers and continue to maintain a personal relationship with their customers.  That is great for the consumer.  However, profit driven corporate execs who must answer not to the consumer, but to the board of directors and investor groups are driving the sales and marketing teams for more numbers and market share, while increasing wholesale prices and the bottom line, while the "small" dealer continues to be squeezed in the middle.  

There is currently one large chain spiderwebbing the country changing small business to big business profits.  It's not about people, it's about numbers and profits.  Things will change.

Regarding the web site, they are not to concerned about internal trivia or details.  Afterall, they spent the last year moving all operation to Dallas where it became a disaster and now they are moving it all back to Chino.  Ask other dealers, it is a different company today.  it does not appear they have a very good plan of action if they implement such a large change and then reverse it.  It took us 4 months to get a telepone directory of names and numbers to communicate with instead of that proverbial telephone canyon you can't get out of and no one returns the call.  It took us over a week to get a "red label" overnight delivery the end of December during freezing temperatures.  Now they have been trying to get all of the old employees back in Chino to correct the problems that they have created.

[mark 2550]

I am going through this right now.  They clear the field of competition for the big box because they are "the big box".  Typically Sundance dealers, and I would include all professionaly driven dealers, are dedicated to their customers and continue to maintain a personal relationship with their customers.  That is great for the consumer.  However, profit driven corporate execs who must answer not to the consumer, but to the board of directors and investor groups are driving the sales and marketing teams for more numbers and market share, while increasing wholesale prices and the bottom line, while the "small" dealer continues to be squeezed in the middle.  

There is currently one large chain spiderwebbing the country changing small business to big business profits.  It's not about people, it's about numbers and profits.  Things will change.

Regarding the web site, they are not to concerned about internal trivia or details.  Afterall, they spent the last year moving all operation to Dallas where it became a disaster and now they are moving it all back to Chino.  Ask other dealers, it is a different company today.  it does not appear they have a very good plan of action if they implement such a large change and then reverse it.  It took us 4 months to get a telepone directory of names and numbers to communicate with instead of that proverbial telephone canyon you can't get out of and no one returns the call.  It took us over a week to get a "red label" overnight delivery the end of December during freezing temperatures.  Now they have been trying to get all of the old employees back in Chino to correct the problems that they have created.

One of the dealer's I spoke with had similiar things to say such as one day his rep. came in and said once your floor models are gone you can no longer carry the SD lince he now carries the bullfrog line and the other dealer is carrying the artesian and caldera line

[Vinny]

If this is the way Sundance is going, it's just a matter of time for them to become a crappy spa company. Unfortunately CEO's and upper management of some companies fail to see that they're not the only players in their respective industries.

After reading what some dealers go through to make customers happy, I can't see any corporate store being successful in this industry. Yes they will sell spas but without the service aspect of the business, they will suffer! Any corporate entity is short sited for the "now" money, the local manager HAS to make the prescribed budget!

It may also mean that Sundance is shooting itself in the foot. Maybe as word of what's happening spreads through Sundance dealers, they will drop them for another line. If it happens to one dealer - it could happen to any dealer.