What’s in a warranty? Have you really read the warranties on floor covering closely? Do you believe they warrant what you think they do? I’ve said, since the inception of warranties, that what they give you in the first paragraph, they take away in the next three. If you sell flooring based on what you think the warranty says or because you think it will help you make the sale, you’re unfortunately wrong. I had a conversation with a dealer today who, it would seem, has an iron clad case of a complaint that would favor his customer. The warranty is for matting and crushing. Now all carpet will mat and crush to some degree. It is a textile material and is positioned vertically so compressing it with traffic will cause it to crush. The denser it is the less it will compress or mat and the more resilient it is the more it will spring back and not appear to be matted or crushed. The warranty at question in the conversation with the dealer however has no exclusions we can see. Stairs are covered, which they virtually never are, hallways are too and the warranty is transferrable. The kicker is, with all that would seem to be covered; the claim for matting and crushing was denied on a carpet that is only one year old.
How can that be? I asked the question of him myself. With there being no exclusions, caveats or gray areas it would appear on the surface the warranty was an iron clad guarantee the carpet would not mat and crush. An inspector said the carpet was dirty and needed to be cleaned. The dealer said the carpet is not dirty and the warranty doesn’t mention anything about soiling or dirt or anything else that would negate it. Talk about frustrating! This situation makes the dealer gun shy about selling this product, which he thought he could do without paranoia. He has in fact sold the same product a lot without issue so why is this different?
Certainly the economy has an influence. When times are slow claims increase and with the increase in claims denials follow as well. If you’re a manufacturer and sales are down by double digits would you tighten or loosen your claims policy?
If you’re selling any flooring material based on the warranties it carries, stop, right now. Sell the product based on how well it will perform not on what a bunch of words says. Often you and the consumer will believe that just because a warranty says what you think it does, doesn’t mean it does. The paradise of coverage you think you’re entering could be laced with land mines. These are not times to gamble blindly by putting your faith in a warranty. You have to know, first hand if what you’re selling will actually do what the end user wants it to do. If it won’t sell them something different or send them to a competitor you don’t like. If you don’t take the gamble out of the sale you’ll be left holding a very hot potato that unfortunately you’ll own all by yourself.
Heed these words harsh as they may be, never trust a warranty on floor covering. Even when they do cover everything, without exception, they can still be interpreted as not covering the one thing the complaint is filed for, the one thing the customer comes to you for and you go to the manufacturer with. It might be a good idea to actually sit down and read what the warranties say on the products you sell so you can sell the right ones and keep the money you’ve worked so hard to earn.
Questions? Call us. We’ll help you.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts