To be perfectly honest, warranty is not a fun topic to discuss. It is a wildly misunderstood part of our industry and often makes for cranky customers...Imagine you buy a $500 vacuum and within 3 months it is up in smoke and inoperable! So let's clear up the confusion. What is warranty, how does it work and how can you get the most out of it? (Keep in mind - this applies to lots of products, not just vacuums!)
What is WARRANTY?
When a manufacturer produces product, it makes a promise to the consumer that the product will work, as intended, for a given period of time. They are usually a "limited warranty" meaning that there are reasonable exclusions. It is NOT a "100% Guarantee" and it is timely! It's very logical, really. And luckily your entire warranty contract (as well as maintenance requirements) are all included in your owner's manual. Yes - you must read your manual! You run the risk of poor performance, permanent damage and voiding warranty if you don't follow the "rules."
What IS covered?
"Defects in materials and workmanship"...That's it. The company protects you from defects in their manufacturing.Things like burnt-out switches, bad computer control boards or batteries that won't charge are typically covered. Occasionally, a plastic clip, cuff, bracket or internal valve cracks. But clogs, broken belts, filters, damage by animals or falls, sucking up water are a few examples of excluded issues/items. A true defect is usually easy to spot. It's something that a consumer in no way could cause to happen!
Although your car may encounter potholes, it's not meant to drive into them. Your auto dealer cannot cover damage from hitting a pothole under warranty. If the fuel pump relay went, sure. Similarly, cracking your vacuum's housing on the coffee table or sucking up wet cheerios or socks is not coverable.
So really, how do you tell a defect from accicent/abuse?
...This is where we get all "CSI" on your vacuum!!
Simply put, the forensic evidence speaks for itself. Remember, we fix things for a living and we see it all. Little details speak volumes especially when compared to the bigger picture. Ever look carefully at a broken piece of plastic or metal? Excessive bending and wear make distinctive stress marks near the break. A defect in the tempering of the metal will result in a break that looks totally different. Similarly, we can tell exactly what caused a vacuum's belt to break just by looking at it: Brushroller bearings seizing, something got stuck in brushroller, vs crooked installation.
How did WE get in the middle of this?
Manufacturers make things, but most of them can't fix a sandwich. They need authorized third parties repair facilities like us (nearby their customers) to perform the repair work when something goes wrong. We maintain warranty contracts with nearly every major vacuum manufacturer (Hoover, Dyson, Dirt Devil, Bissell, Miele, etc.) So if you call Dyson because your DC50 upright won't stand up, they'll send you to us!
We are the manufacturer's eyes and ears, but we follow their rules of warranty eligibility. We are bound by a strict contract! They send us customers in need of help. If the vacuum's age is still within the period of time offered in the warranty (usually at least 1 year) we must then perform a lengthy, multi-point inspection and submit our findings in a paper or digital claim. We must order/buy genuine repair parts in advance, repair the vacuum in good faith, and submit for reimbursement (at a rate lower than I care to discuss.) It's quite a process. For the customer it is all done for free, but it (understandably) takes a bit longer than a regular service repair.
Don't shoot the messenger!
We sometimes encounter problems that the manufacturer does not cover nor pay us for. The customer must pay if these are to be remedied by our staff. But we always call with an estimate and thorough explanation before anything is done or charged! Folks can still get pretty miffed about this, but trust is the "glue" in this whole process. We are here to be a fair, expert, impartial party between the both of you! Read your owner's manual and understand the warranty. Take good, careful care of your machine and that will make it easy for us to decipher any genuine defects that may arise over time. That makes processing warranty a snap, saving us all time, money and frustration!
>> CLICK HERE for is a detailed yet concise printable form explaining warranty!
WARRANTY HANDOUT (printable PDF)
