How to Deal With Warranties

It is pretty much standard that all new computers come with a one-year warranty. Some computer parts such as brand name RAM often have lifetime warranties, and some hard drive brands like Seagate have a 5 year warranty. As small businesses, should we pass on the extend warranties of certain parts to our customers?

The answer is no. The main reason why you shouldn’t is because those extended warranty exchanges take time. Its not uncommon that you will have to send the product back to your local supplier, who has to send it to the manufacturer, who have to test it before they can give you a replacement one. This can take a couple of days up to a month.

Also, It is not wise to give new parts to the client to replace their faulty part (which is out of warranty), while waiting for the faulty part to come back from the manufacturer. Often the item is repaired instead of replaced, which you can no longer sell as new.

Another reason for not passing on those extended manufactuer warranties is that it puts too much pressure on you to keep around the paperwork relating to those parts. For example, to make use of a stick of RAM’s lifetime warranty. You would have to keep the receipts from your supplier indefinitely.

I have once told one of my clients that they had an extended warranty on a part which failed after my 1 year warranty. I told them that they could contact the manufacturer directly and they would arrange a replacement one. Unfortunately, I ended up getting dragged into it all when the manufacturer asked questions that the client couldnt answer, such as where I brought it. So it ended up being a huge hassle anyway.

If a part fails within the standard one year warranty, bite the bullet and replace it. If it fails outside of one year, it might be a good time to sell them a new one.