The Lifetime Warranty Claim

The Lifetime Warranty Claim

So you are shopping for a new heating and air conditioning system? You have spent hours researching the internet, calling local dealers and asking family and friend for opinion and now you are more confused then ever. That’s ok. You should be doing the due diligence necessary to make sure you are doing the right thing. HVAC, even in the best of circumstances is expensive and not something we ever really plan on dealing with. It is usually a crisis management issue.

You have decided what type of system you want. You have come to a conclusion on size. And you have a budget that you are working with. Now all you have to do is decide on the brand.

With your eyes crossed from this entire information overload, you see “Lifetime Warranty” for a manufacturer. You think, “The longer the warranty the better”, or “if they can offer that kind of warranty, it must be the best equipment”, right? Time to burst your bubble.

First a few stats. There are over 37 brands of heating and air equipment on the market today. Of that 37, there are only about 7 manufacturers. How can that be? Well, it means that many of those brands are just other brands in disguise. The next thing that you might find interesting is that many of the components that go into these 37 brands built by 7 manufacturers are identical. For example, Copeland™ manufactures the majority of compressors that go in to air conditioners. Electrical components are much the same with only a couple of manufacturers building for all of these brands.

So, if that is the case, and a human in Texas is much like a human in Ohio or South Carolina, then the people that are employed in the manufacturing process really can’t make up enough difference in quality to separate one from the other, how can one company offer a “Lifetime Warranty”, while most of the rest have standard 5-10 year compressor warranties, given that they have the same compressors in them?

Whew! Finally, I am ready to get to the answer J When an insurance company sits down to create an insurance product, they don’t just say “what are the odds?” And then build the product. They hire “actuarial scientists”. These folks use probability formulas to determine what can be offered, and I guarantee you that it plays in the favor of the house. In the same way, different HVAC manufacturers do the same thing with its product warranties.

So, again, how can they offer these “Lifetime Warranties?” These companies, through actuarial predictions, know that a certain amount of consumers will not utilize their product warranty. Some have fine print that limits the meaning of the term “Lifetime”, and this is where the magic happens. Below, I have reprinted a portion of a warranty for a product that has a “Lifetime” warranty. If you will notice, one the first things that the manufacturer claims is that the “Lifetime” term is only valid for the original purchasing homeowner and only valid at the original property it was installed.

Sound reasonable? It is, except for one little glitch. If you take the hundreds of millions of people and the millions of homes in the U.S., there is a little known statistic that takes the “Lifetime Warranty” and throws it out the window.

Drum roll please……. The average length of homeownership in the United States in 2006 was 7 ½ years. That means that even though you may have been in your house for longer then that, the average American is moving every 10 year and less, and they aren’t taking their heating and air systems with them. So, the “lifetime Warranty” that only belongs to the “Original” homeowner, is reduced to a 5 year warrant and is now at the bottom of the warranty ladder compared to its competition. Most of that talk about “Lifetime Warranties” was smoke and mirrors to persuade you to buy that product that is the same quality as most of the other product that is on the market.

Knowledge is Power – This is Boyd from www.askboyd.com giving you the POWER.

To the original owner and his or her spouse (“owner”), the COMPRESSOR is

warranted for the owner’s LIFETIME or for so long as the owner owns the home in

which the unit was originally installed (whichever ends first), and all remaining parts

are warranted for a period of 10 YEARS, except as provided below. These warranties

apply only if:

1) The unit is installed in an owner-occupied, single family residence, and

2) For lifetime warranty coverage on the compressor, the unit is installed with a new

indoor coil or air handler to which it is properly matched by the installer, and

3) The unit is properly registered with Xxxxxx online within 60 days after the

original installation. To register, follow the instructions found at xxxxxxx.

• If the above warranties do not apply, then all parts, including the compressor, are

warranted for a period of 5 YEARS.

Neither warranty continues after the unit is removed from the location where it was originally

installed.

Neither warranty applies to, and no warranty is offered by Xxxxx on, any unit ordered

over the Internet.