Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Appliance & HVAC Warranty Report: The HVAC manufacturers have lower warranty expense rates but keep vastly more funds on hand in their warranty reserves. And while the HVAC system makers have seen a recent upturn in their warranty expenses, the appliance makers have seen their lowest expense rates in more than a decade.
May 30, 2019
ServiceBench Signs HomeServe: When it came time to upgrade its field service management system, the home warranty company turned to Asurion's ServiceBench unit for a cloud-based service platform that could connect its customers, contractors, and service center team, helping them to make sure that the right contractor is assigned for the job and that they show up at the appointed time.
August 23, 2018
Solar Equipment Warranties: While product warranties that last for one or two decades are reassuring to buyers, they're not worth much unless funds are available to pay claims. That means betting on young startup companies eventually becoming old industry veterans. But who knows how reliable a system installed now will be in 10 or 20 years, and how much it will cost to repair or replace?
July 28, 2016
Computer Supplier Warranty Report: Data storage system manufacturers have been steadily reducing their warranty costs for more than a decade. But the cost reductions seem to have slowed down in recent years. Meanwhile, for peripheral manufacturers, warranty expense rates are now almost back to normal, following years of elevated costs.
April 23, 2015
PCMI's Extended Warranty Management System: Service contract administrators and underwriters need software that helps them manage both claims and revenue. And increasingly, they need multilingual and multiple-currency systems that can travel with them as they expand internationally.
September 5, 2013
Appliance & HVAC System Warranties: While they haven't made much progress with warranty cost-cutting, they also haven't seen much increase. And given all the financial problems reported by builders lately, merely staying the same looks good in comparison.
May 17, 2012
Appliance & HVAC System
Warranty Report: Every journey includes a few bumps, and both appliance and HVAC makers have hit a few in the past couple of years. But like other building material suppliers, they're doing much better than the homebuilders, because they have both home renovations and replacements to fall back on.
June 2, 2011
Warranty Fraud Detection: SAS says send us your claims data and we'll show you the fraud. If upwards of 10% to 15% of claims are in some way suspect, such a system could pay for itself in just a few months. Does it sound too good to be true? GE Appliances was the first customer.
February 25, 2010
Warranty Software: Good planning pays off as Ingersoll-Rand converts its first, second, and third business units to a new Web-based warranty claims processing system. Now, as other departments eye all that warranty data, the company looks for better reporting and analysis tools.
February 28, 2006
Warranty Conference,
Part Two: Members of the AIAG detailed their effort to create an early warning system that uses new warranty data communications standards to improve product quality.
March 15, 2005
Is the TREAD Act Working? It may still be too early to say for sure, but recent auto safety-related announcements have been filled with specific quantitative data about warranty claims and failure rates. Could it be that the TREAD Act's Early Warning Reporting system is really doing its job?
March 16, 2004