Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Swappable Battery Service Contracts: Instead of wasting hours waiting for an electric car to recharge, why not design the vehicles to use swappable batteries? Though it may never be as quick as a NASCAR pit stop, it could take about as much time as pumping gas. And a new industry, based around the sale of energy in a rented "tank," could spread among dealerships, parts stores, and filling stations.
October 5, 2017
Extended Warranty Software: Unlike most other solutions, which are designed to integrate with passenger car dealer management systems or retail point of sale software, the new Mize offering is aimed at manufacturers engaged in the business-to-business sale of commercial service contracts.
September 14, 2017
Fulcrum Analytics Spins Off After Inc.: The experts in extended warranty analytics and post-sale marketing services have spun off the business unit so it can stand on its own.
September 17, 2015
Warranty Apps: Smart phones need warranty coverage. But they also can be used as platforms to better control their own warranty coverage. Some apps focus on the consumer, either before or after the sale. Others aim to assist the repair crew, after a claim has been filed.
February 2, 2012
Solar Warranties, Part 1: They can last up to 25 years, but what does that really mean when the technology is changing so fast? And even if a company really expects to pay claims in 2036, how do they prepare for them now by making the right amount of accruals at the time of sale?
December 1, 2011
Ford's Warranty Costs: Figures presented at the Warranty Chain Management Conference last week showed a massive drop in the automaker's warranty expenses. But that had much to do with the accounting for the soon-to-be-sold Jaguar and Land Rover divisions. Still, even after adjusting year-ago figures to account for that impending sale, Ford's warranty costs are down significantly.
March 12, 2008
Copy/Print/Scan/Fax Warranties: While in this digital era it has become increasingly difficult to find standalone office machines on the market, it has also become very difficult to find anything for sale with more (or less) than a year's warranty.
October 11, 2006
Warranty Exam: If you pass the test, you get the sale. But Sub-Zero didn't even tell SAS what to look for in its warranty data.
February 15, 2005
Unusual Warranties: Ever since it pioneered the sale of extended warranties for VCRs almost 25 years ago, VAC Service Corp. has boldly gone where no administrator has gone before.
December 7, 2004
Extended Warranty Profits: For many manufacturers, the sale of extended warranties contributes heavily to net income. But only a handful of companies have made the financial disclosures needed to figure out how important it really is to them.
October 26, 2004
Responding to the
European Commission's
WEEE & RoHS Directives: Electronics & appliance manufacturers must consider environmental impact beyond the point-of-sale.
November 24, 2003
Warranty Services: While most of the service providers in the warranty industry focus exclusively upon the sale and administration of extended service plans, a handful of intrepid companies have outsourced product warranty claims processing for manufacturers in the consumer electronics industry, where repairs can be performed by any of tens of thousands of service centers.
August 11, 2003
Online Warranties - What's In The Box? Pre-sale warranty disclosures are sparse among online retailers
January 6, 2003