Qn for Bryant Dealers: What's the deal with extended warranty?

[jeffw_00]

Ah, see? That's why you'd need an extended warranty. You get that, think you['re all set and then WHAM-O. You need a big repair and the warranty company asks for copies of the maintenance invoices for the last 8-years. Don't got 'em? No warranty. Sorry. Breach of contract on your part.

Our techs perform a 50-point check-up on each and every annual maintenance. There's a 25-point for the 6-month safety inspection. And if you have both furnace and AC attached to it, both units are covered under our maintenance program. Many people think there's little or nothing to be done to an AC unit or HP. Nothing could be further from the truth. A good service tech can find many things to check, lubricate and take readings on. The average AC unit or HP gets the equivalent of 30,000 to 50,000 miles per YEAR on it, using an analogy to a car. So what's the price of regular maintenance? Many if not most companies offer some form of agreement where you get the tune-up(s) included in the price as well as some form of discount and/or priority service, should you need it. If you want the company to be there when you need them, you need to have a relationship with them that's ongoing. IMO.

Skippedover - With all due respect, semi-annual checks of a system that only runs 5mo/year (i'm in New England) seems a bit excessive. I'm sure a tech "can find" many things to check, but that doesn't mean they need to be checked that often. I can tell if my system is showing symptoms of not running right, and I change my filters myself. So how many things need to be checked that wouldn't cause symptoms, and how often do they really need to be checked? My prior York system ran 18 years with no maintenance at all. I suppose it's a good idea to check the freon every couple of years (but if the system is cooling efficiently (i.e., no long cycles), and the lines feel -cold- to the touch, how much freon could be missing? I know it may make sense to clean coils and fans once every N years. Locally, about 1/2 the mid-to-large size dealers offer contracts, the other half don't as they said "we don't think people need them". I get that it's a religious issue to some in the trade, and I don't want to start a range war. But my point, I guess, is this - if an ~1.5K extended warranty also required annual contract visits at a cost (locally) of near .2K for the warranty to be valid (bringing the total cost over 10yr to ~3.5K), I suspect I'm better off to self-insure. 8-}

sorry to be ranting
/j

[jeffw_00]

One other thought for everyone. If the new Bryant warranty program sells me a warranty only good at the dealer who sold it to me (which it does). What happens if the dealer disappears (or easier, just stops carrying Bryant) before the end of the warranty period?

Do other companies limit you this way? Why is Bryant making such a mess of this?
/j

[Freezeking2000]

Skippedover - With all due respect, semi-annual checks of a system that only runs 5mo/year (i'm in New England) seems a bit excessive. I'm sure a tech "can find" many things to check, but that doesn't mean they need to be checked that often. I can tell if my system is showing symptoms of not running right, and I change my filters myself. So how many things need to be checked that wouldn't cause symptoms, and how often do they really need to be checked? My prior York system ran 18 years with no maintenance at all. I suppose it's a good idea to check the freon every couple of years (but if the system is cooling efficiently (i.e., no long cycles), and the lines feel -cold- to the touch, how much freon could be missing? I know it may make sense to clean coils and fans once every N years. Locally, about 1/2 the mid-to-large size dealers offer contracts, the other half don't as they said "we don't think people need them". I get that it's a religious issue to some in the trade, and I don't want to start a range war. But my point, I guess, is this - if an ~1.5K extended warranty also required annual contract visits at a cost (locally) of near .2K for the warranty to be valid (bringing the total cost over 10yr to ~3.5K), I suspect I'm better off to self-insure. 8-}

sorry to be ranting
/j

And if you do not service the equipment regularly you will have no warranty.

[ClassicDave]

So over the last year-and-a-half I replaced my forced-hot-air furnace (in the basement), and central A/C (in the attic, with separate duct system), with 2 Bryant Evolution systems. Based on comments in the forum I decided I should at least get quotes on extended warranty. It turns out that Bryant overhauled their extended warranty program last spring, that it costs the dealer money to offer extended warranties, my dealer doesn't offer them, and
the local distributor (who is owned by Bryant) tells me now that -no- dealers in my area offer extended warranties.

[yes, those who know me know my situation is a bit more complicated because a bad dealer installed my systems and then a good dealer fixed them, but the good dealer doesn't offer the extended warranty either].

On one hand, I'm told that if a dealer offered them, I could be looking at several hundred for each system, on the other hand, I'd like to think I could negotiate, but I'm not even getting a chance to do so.

I'm wondering if there's something wrong with the new program such that no dealers are signing on. Are there any Bryant dealers out there who can shed some light on what's going on?

Thanks
/j

I am in the process myself to get my company able to sell extended warranties. I can only talk for the state of Florida because I am not sure of other state policies.

To answer your question if you were in Florida,
A Bryant Dealer here has to register with the State and be qualified to issue extended warranties then the company can apply for Extended warranty through Bryant. Once they are eligible to sell extended warranties they can and it is a very good deal for the customer to get an extended warranty. Yes there is 3 labor rates I'm not sure about 4 like the previous poster said but a contractor must choose one rate since the warranty cost is slightly effected by the labor rate. I will say being in NE the cost of living is high so the highest labor warranty rate a contractor could choose may even be too low for an A/C business to do warranty labor.


In the State of Florida,
The Bryant Dealer here can mark up the cost of the warranty but the HO will be getting an invoice of the direct cost of the extended warranty through the Bryant warranty service. So for me, I sell at cost, there is no negotiation with the home owner because I'm just the middle man that does not benefit in making any money from this. I do have 3 choices of warranty labor rate if the customer does want a labor warranty added. I will be using the highest labor rate do to the cost of living in my area. It still is a fantastic deal. It is just a tool for me to use to help sell the Bryant product and it is not any sort of money revenue for my company. It is all peace of mind for my customer and that is my bottom line to make my customer worry free.

Other states may be different, but here in Florida this is how my company looks at it.

[jeffw_00]

So, just for the heck of it, I recently re-checked Bryant's site and discovered that a very local (to me), well-considered HVAC dealer had switched to Bryant (used to be Carrier). I called them, and with little detail asked them to quote me extended warranties for my Evolution systems. After a little exchange of information, they offered me a 10yr Parts and Labor warranty, for high hundred dollars/year/system - this is similar to what was previously mentioned in this thread.

However, they ALSO offered me a 10yr PARTS-only warranty, good at ANY Bryant dealer, for low hundreds per system. This seems like it may be worthwhile.

Does anyone know if this is a new offering? A valid offering? (I.e., do you other Bryant dealers also offer this?) Or is this company either mistaken in what they're offering me, or perhaps offering me a company-backed warranty even though they say it's from Bryant?

Don't get me wrong, I have no reason to mistrust these people, but there has been so much 'mystery' around these Bryant warranties (at least, as presented to me from the last dealer and the distributor rep) that I thought it prudent to check my facts here 8-}

thanks in advance for your thoughts
/j