All covered services hinge on the calendar

By Janice Salmon, JustPressOne

The most important field in a warranty claim is the purchase date.

This is the only informational logic coupled with the service request date that is used to determine if the product is within the warranty period and whether the service is covered by the manufacturer.

Additionally, certain product models may have a limited parts warranty and extended parts and/or labor warranty. Therefore, always check the model entitlement to verify the warranty period, and calculate it according to the following example:

Customer reports product performance issue on Jan. 1, 2022, and the product was purchased on Jan. 10, 2021. The product is still in the first-year warranty by 10 days.

If there is an issue with the purchase date, claims will be rejected, and you will receive one of the following error messages:

  • Missing Purchase Date,
  • Invalid Purchase Date,
  • Purchase Date Changed,
  • Out of Warranty,
  • Purchase Date Too Early

There are two very important steps to take when your customer calls for repair service or a manufacturer or third-party administrator requests service. They are:

  1. Check entitlement. Understand how to access the manufacturer’s entitlement database to validate when the model was issued (Manufacturer Issue Date) or, if the customer registered the product, there will be a purchase date on file. Always be sure the purchase date matches what is in the entitlement file and that it comes after the manufacturer issue date.
  • Get a copy of the sales receipt/proof of purchase from the customer. Technicians take pictures of the model/serial tag of the appliance when they are in the customers home, so why not take a second picture of the sales receipt? With a copy of the sales receipt showing the matching model/serial from the tag, there is a very limited chance your claim will be rejected.

Best Practice Tip:

When you sell an appliance automatically register it with the manufacturer on behalf of your customer. It takes just a few minutes, and you will eliminate any issue with the purchase date for the next year if your customer requires product service.

Janice Salmon is the founder and CEO of JustPressOne, a business process outsourcing company and AVB partner that provides claims administration services for independent service companies and self-servicing dealers in the home appliance industry. For more information call (877) 311-6602 or visit JustPressOne.com.

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