Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Service Contract Market Research: Protection plan buyers are more loyal to both the brand and to the retailer, according to results of a consumer survey commissioned by The Warranty Group. And they're also happier with their purchases than non-buyers.
March 9, 2017
Reflections of a Warranty Researcher: One of the world's leading warranty researchers takes a look back at the most recent 35 years of his illustrious career, noting some of the people, places, and publications he's connected with over those decades. But he's not done yet, and he's proposing three additional topics for further research.
December 22, 2016
How to Buy Extended Warranties: Step One: Read the contract. Research the terms and conditions of the service contract while you compare the prices and features of the products themselves. Then use your common sense and Google to decide if the extended warranty offer is a deal worth adding, or if you should shop elsewhere.
August 25, 2011
Vehicle Service Contract Underwriters, Part 2: Numerous corrections need to be made, and multiple explanations need to be given, before we can move on to the final phase: Tracking the administrators. And it's becoming obvious that the reason there's so little market research on the VSC industry may be because there's so many moving parts to consider.
September 2, 2010
Vehicle Shopper Survey: Buyers in 2010 will take more time, do more research, and ask more questions. But these "tire kickers" may also be the best prospects for sales of add-ons such as extended warranties and other vehicle protection services, according to a survey being released this week at the WCM Conference.
March 1, 2010
Warranty Research Report: There are only a few more days to download free copies of the latest report from the Aberdeen Group. Using survey data, it finds a huge correlation between metrics, analytics, and success in warranty management.
July 30, 2008
Warranty Research: As one important new warranty research project concludes, another is beginning. AberdeenGroup's warranty report is now available for download, while APQC's survey questions are available for a first look.
July 18, 2006
Auto Warranties: While the Big Three sold two-thirds of the vehicles purchased in the U.S. in 2003, they settled three-quarters of the warranty claims. On average, Detroit pays twice as much in claims per vehicle as Toyota and Honda. But that's not the only quality gap. Recent research finds striking gaps between perceived and actual quality levels.
January 27, 2004
Don't TREAD On Me: Estimates of the cost of TREAD Act compliance vary all the way from the U.S. government's own $89 million figure up to a $1.7 billion estimate recently published by AMR Research. While small manufacturers continue to count their actual costs, the government continues to insist those costs will be close to zero.
November 3, 2003