Is it normal for a TM disty to not accept warranty on machine bought elsewhere?

[jcooper]

Machine was bought out of state(2 hour drive one way), spoke with(bigwig) at TM maker. Was told heck ya bring, it anywhere you want. Warranty is good everywhere.

Get a call from much closer disty this morning, saying I'll need to pay for work done and deal with TM maker on warranty and getting reimbursed. I can see how this BS is going to go...

Just wondering if this is normal?

 

[John Olson]

Drive to where you bought it. You bought it out of state to save money right? Well drive it back there to have it worked on since thats who you wanted to do business with. I'm not really seeing your issue. Sorry


Ok thats is my first response now I'll give you the politically correct response. No it isn't normal and the warranty is good with any distributor..
Now the Caveat --If the distributor so chooses to do the warranty work. They do not have to work on your machine and you do not have to take it to them ever. You are free to take it back where you bought it or to another distributor just as you are free to take your GM car to any GM dealer to get it worked on.

This is why we do not sell NEW machines outside of out area unless the customer is OUR customer and will be brining the equipment to us for service and warranty work (exception is portables and we still take care or warranty items ourselves). There is so little money in the machine and warranty work does not pay normal shop rates so warranty work is actually a losing proposition unless your the one that sold the machine to begin with.

I would suggest you take the machine back to where you bought it as it sounds like you have pissed off your local guy to the point they are not going to be much help now or in the future.

 

[J Scott W]

No need for further discussion. John covered it all.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Biggest complaint I hear from my distributor is machines purchased from another distributor and they are unhappy with the service where purchased and want him to cover warranty for a machine he didn't sell. Best reason to buy local is to get a distributor to take care of you in a time of need.

The local guy does it but he not happy doing it. I think he gets a little from the manufacturer but it's a just a little. If you bought it from far away I'd have your local guy fix it and just plan on attitude from him. If it's not too far to the distributor you bought it from, I'd take it back to them and let them do the warranty work.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

There are cases where a TM warranty may not include certain items that the Distributor making the sale will cover themselves. Some TM warranties exclude certain labor charges that might be related to the particular installation. As such, these charges may be charged to the customer, unless the selling distributor chooses to include it on his own. We, ourselves include these coverages with any products we have sold.

 

[jcooper]

Thanks John,

The issues with the TM were originally repaired by the disty we bought the machine from.

Example: engine leaking oil from gasket(their solution tighten bolts), waterbox dumping water, gauge leaking and so on... All these thing were supposedly fixed, however I'm still having the same issues.

At this point, I really have no idea if they know what they are doing. That is why we are trying a different disty.


Trust me, I'm the nicest guy you'll ever meet, pissing someone off who is going to bill me... Not a good idea!

 

[The Great Oz]

The local distributor could possibly turn this customer into a fan instead of trying to punish him into buying local.


I bought a car from a distant dealer. The closest dealership is run the old fashioned way - try to screw you any way possible. The next closest didn't have what I wanted and the salespeople weren't interested in placing an order for it. I bought the car I wanted 150 miles away.

The closest dealer has to honor the free maintenance and provide warranty service, but tell me because I didn't buy the car from them I'll get bottom priority and have to leave the car overnight even for an oil change. The service guys at the next closest dealership ask why I decded to buy the car so far away and then treat me exceptionally well. I'll just push the lazy salesmen a little harder when I buy my wife's car there.

 

[packfancjh]

If that's the case I would take it to the new disty and plan on paying for the repairs and work on getting reimbursed from the manufacturer. Do you buy your chems from either disty?

 

[jcooper]

Pack,

We buy most of our products/chems from the disty doing the work now.

 

[Desk Jockey]

The real money is in the juice anyway, I'd remind him of that and tell him to chill out!

You buy a TM once every 5-10 years, you buy chems all the time.

 

[John Olson]

Pack,

We buy most of our products/chems from the disty doing the work now.

So the question I have is why, if your local distrubtor carries the machine you bought, did you talk to the BIG WIG to get them to sign off on you going around your local guy? I cant imagine which company would sign off on such an end around. Something is missing to this whole story.

 

[Desk Jockey]

John you know how it goes, if the other guy can save you hundreds to a thousand it's hard not to buy out of area. Then it's only made worse if the out of area guy doesn't collect sales tax. Hard to blame the cleaner when the other distributor is allowed to get away with that shit. Happens everyday with all the major brands a sale in hand beats out ethics everyday!

 

[carpetcleaner]

I have always purchased as much as possible from my local supply place, TMs included. I have always received great service in return. I might have been able to save some $, not sure - never really shopped around because I'm happy with my distributor, but it wouldn't have be worth it.

I can't imagine my distributor turning away warrantee work if I did have a machine that I didn't buy from him.

 

[mirf]

If someone did not want to work on my TM I think I would take it elsewhere. However, I think this may be workable. Talk to the local distributor and make sure he is covered for the repair fairly.
I would not want to take my TM that far to someone who did not fix the problem anyway. Start a relationship locally and make it work

 

[jcooper]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4181199" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

So the question I have is why, if your local distrubtor carries the machine you bought

Yes, they(local guys) carry the machine and yes we tried to buy from them. However, they acted like used car salesmen. So, we bought the machine from the place I felt I could trust and still do. If a client feels the the work on unit is not done correct, should they have to go back to the same place? That's it, that's the story... The warranty is supposedly good anywhere, so why am I expected to pay cash and get reimbursed from TM maker?

did you talk to the BIG WIG to get them to sign off on you going around your local guy?

Nope, didn't have to, made our deal and had the machine installed.

 

[jcooper]

It's a lease, all taxes were/are being paid...!

 

[John Olson]

Yes, they(local guys) carry the machine and yes we tried to buy from them. However, they acted like used car salesmen. So, we bought the machine from the place I felt I could trust and still do. If a client feels the the work on unit is not done correct, should they have to go back to the same place? That's it, that's the story... The warranty is supposedly good anywhere, so why am I expected to pay cash and get reimbursed from TM maker?


Nope, didn't have to, made our deal and had the machine installed.

ok wait do you or don't you trust where you bought the machine? First you say you trust them then you say you don't and that's why you don't want to take it back to them? You feel the people that sold it can't fix it now you want the people you didn't want to buy it from to fix what the people that made the money for the sale at a loss to them? So basically they lose the sale and now you want them to lose money on the warranty work as well. Does that sum it up? Sound reasonable to you?

 

[John Olson]

I'm just trying to get you to see the whole picture. I wouldn't turn you or anyone away that owned a Machine I carried but think about the position you have out these guys in. You don't trust them. You didn't buy from them. You bought elsewhere and and are unhappy and you want the people you didn't trust to buy from to fix someon else's problem and to do it at a loss. Oh and you do know we do not get an check for warranty work we get a credit. We can't pay the bills or make payroll with a credit.

 

[Lars]

I looked into buying my TM out of state but found out my local guy wouldn't cover warranty work... So I bought it from my local but had him price match and bought it from him. Glad I did because I have had it in for a few things.

Just trying to save on CA tax... Worth it to just buy local

 

[pinosan]

Nice and Easy plain and simple. Lars covered it. negotiating with your local guy can save you lot's of headaches. It would opnly be fair that you brought it to the person who sold it to you. after all he saved you money during purchase right? Now you want to turn to your local guy when you took away the chance to make a buck out of your machine? I would deny guarantee coverage also.

 

[Larry B]

No matter where the machine was purchased if the distributor is selling and warranting that product line they should take care of the machine. If they cant cover warranties then maybe they shouldnt be carrying that product line. If you go buy a new Chevy and it breaks down on the other side of the country another dealer repairs it they dont make you tow it back to the dealer its purchased from. If the distributors think they are getting screwed by the manufacturer on warranty work then they should work this out with the manufacturer and not whine to the customer about a deal they signed to sell the machines.

The best way to go is learn to repair yourself and get the parts from the manufacturer.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Larry the problem is if cleaners keep buying out of area the local guy won't be there at all. He won't be there to back a warranty on a machine he didn't sell because he didn't get the profit from the sale. It's easy for the out of area guy to be cheaper, he knows it's rare he will see that machine again. No loss on free labor for warranty work because the other guy will take care of that.

I'll admit it is hard not to take the cheaper deal but if I know ultimately it could sting me I'd just work the local guy for the best he can do and hopefully meet somewhere in the middle.

 

[Goomer]

No matter where the machine was purchased if the distributor is selling and warranting that product line they should take care of the machine. If they cant cover warranties then maybe they shouldnt be carrying that product line. If you go buy a new Chevy and it breaks down on the other side of the country another dealer repairs it they dont make you tow it back to the dealer its purchased from. If the distributors think they are getting screwed by the manufacturer on warranty work then they should work this out with the manufacturer and not whine to the customer about a deal they signed to sell the machines.

The best way to go is learn to repair yourself and get the parts from the manufacturer.

+1

I can't think of any other industry or situation where a warrantied item is brought to a authorized distributor/repair center, and it is up to the distributor to decide if they will agree to perform the necessary repair, based on if they sold it or not.
If warranty work is a "loss" as stated, then the issue lies between the authorized dealer and the manufacturers agreement.
Sounds to me like the customer is fooked because the manufacturers do not want to pay enough to have their machines worked on, and the distributors have agreed to the deal.
If the end result is a distributor getting to pick and choose who's machine to work on based on where they bought it, then the authorized distributor system and agreements are flawed.

 

[Desk Jockey]

You're missing the issue, there is enough margin for all this to happen when you buy from the distributor that you expect to warranty the sale.


How happy would you be to service a spot warranty program sold by another cleaner from another cleaner in a nearby town. You'd be paid by Dupont to cover the warranty but just enough to cover your time no profit. Dupont expects you to do it since you apply their products and it's only a couple of miles from you. The other cleaner made the big bucks for selling the program and he doesn't even have to back the warranty, you do.

How happy are you going to be to get that call?

 

[Ken Snow]

We would love to be paid for that Richard. Remember there is contribution to overhead that is also being covered, even if not true profit. Numbers can be manipulated many ways. If I have a service tech making 18$ an hour guaranteed 8 hours a day and the warranty work helps make that day fully productive that is better than having him sweep the shop for 18$ an hour not generating any revenue.

I agree that if the system is flawed this is a distributor/manufacturer issue, not the cleaner. Personally I wouldn't try to take something to a dealer I didn't buy from, cause I think it's tacky but I don't believe it is smart business for the dealer to make a big stink about it. I also won't buy from competitors if possible and in our market it has been common practice that distributors are also cleaners, though this is changing. In the late 80's I bought a bunch of Kleenrite's from Jim Pemberton because the MI dealer was one of our biggest competitors. Fortunately we service everything ourselves so that is never an issue.

 

[John Olson]

You guys have missed everything...sigh...This isn't really about covering a warranty issue....re-read everything jcooper has said...The people he bought from, the ones he trusted, can't fix it and he doesnt trust them to try to fix it again so he wants the people he didnt trust to buy the machine from to fix it and to fix it at a loss (remember waranty work isn't cash it is a CREDIT)...Took a long time to get to the truth but I am pretty sure thats what is really going on right jcooper?

 

[John Olson]

Oh and if you called me a used car salesman and said you didn't trust my boys in the shop I would strongly recommend you find another place to do business.

Who knows though maybe they can't be trusted and if so why would jcooper want them to work on it in the first place? It just doesnt add up guys..

 

[Desk Jockey]

I used to go out of my way to make sure that I didn't buy from a competitor, in fact i would pay more not to deal with them if I had to.

Now it doesn't bother me to buy from a competitor as long as I benefit in the long run. I certainly wouldn't pay more like I used to. I think I've mellowed a little...well maybe just a little.

 

[Mikey P]

Was the actual issue with the unit ever mentioned?

 

[John Olson]

Thanks John,

The issues with the TM were originally repaired by the disty we bought the machine from.

Example: engine leaking oil from gasket(their solution tighten bolts), waterbox dumping water, gauge leaking and so on... All these thing were supposedly fixed, however I'm still having the same issues.

At this point, I really have no idea if they know what they are doing. That is why we are trying a different disty.


Trust me, I'm the nicest guy you'll ever meet, pissing someone off who is going to bill me... Not a good idea!

He mostly says what is wrong here..