On June 25, 2019 at 02:18, buzz said...
Do any of the warranty companies fairly compensate me for my time to manage the removal, shipment, and reinstall/reprogram the item? Or, does the deal assume that I sell a warranty package with each system and apply the cost of a service call against the overall profit from my warranty sales?
Third party warranties are just another thing to sell, if we want to. When I did car audio, the last place sold their own extended warranty, self-funded. It was really a way to collect cash, but for car audio, it actually made sense because of a car's harsh environment- if they didn't buy it at the time of sale, they had 15-30 days to add it and as the manager of an installation shop, I had discretion over the time period, depending on the customer and to an extent, the equipment. Not only did it cover P&L for three or five years, it also covered removal and reinstallation for service, for the life of the warranty. Depending on the AV extended warranty, it may cover removal and reinstall, but it also depends on how & where the item is serviced- large TVs may be serviced on-site, smaller ones may be sent to a regional repair center, like Electronic Express in Chicago or the place in New Jersey that do repairs for most brands. If the client doesn't want to pack & ship things, they can pay us. It's not a cash & carry transaction, right?
Overall I think that, if the customer has the cash flow to absorb the loss, they are long term better off without this sort of insurance. (“Self insurance” if you like) On one level it is a wager: consumer bets that the unit will break, insurance company bets that the unit will not break. Guess who knows the real odds and makes money on the deal.
Yeah, it's a wager, like any other insurance. It's also better than paying for a display screen when the brand charges service shops over a grand just for the part, like one did in the past.