SPECIAL REPORT: MICROWAVE WARRANTIES
FEJ NOVEMBER 2016
Please attributes any quotes to Ray Hall, Managing Director, R H Hall
How are warranties evolving in the commercial microwave market? Is the standard one year parts and labour warranty still acceptable today?
A one year parts and labour warranty should be the very minimum that any user should consider when purchasing a new machine. A 12 month warranty is to be expected with light to medium duty machines – although some leading manufacturers, such as Sharp and Maestrowave, are introducing warranty extensions of up to 3 years on parts such as the magnetron – the heart of the microwave! Most of the leading brands will also offer a 3 year parts and labour warranty on their heavy duty machines – with some stretching even further when certain pieces of additional equipment or maintenance techniques are used with the microwave. A good example of this is the Sharp range, which comes with a ‘Lifetime’ cavity warranty when purchased and used with the Microsave Cavity Protection System.
Is there any correlation between the length and conditions of a warranty and the quality of the appliance? ie if the length of the warranty is longer and there are fewer caveats, does that mean that the equipment is likely to be better?
Absolutely! Any repair work or parts supplied under warranty come at a cost to the manufacturer, so the length of warranty provided as standard will be indicative of the quality of the machine and its history of faults. If a machine is proven to be long lasting, with infrequent faults or breakdowns, then the manufacturer will almost always back this up with a good warranty offering.
Manufacturers in the past have been guilty of boasting about longer warranties, but when operators read the small print they often find that the warranty contains lots of exclusions. What should they be looking out for to determine whether a warranty is really as good as it sounds?
All warranties contain exclusions and users should ensure that they check the small print carefully to protect themselves from any unexpected costs. A good warranty should not exclude things for no reason and with most areas, regular maintenance and cleaning will ensure most of the exclusions don’t apply. It is important that the manufacturer provides clear instructions on these areas – both to the customer themselves and also to any dealers or re-sellers that may be involved. By educating the market on these areas, warranty exclusions should be kept to a minimum.
R H Hall are the Sole UK & Eire Distributor for the Sharp range of Commercial Microwaves and Exclusive Worldwide Distributor for the Maestrowave Combi Chef 7 and iWave® Automated Foodservice Solution.
For more information:
Press Information Contact: Emma Smith, Marketing Assistant - emma.smith@rhhall.com - 01296 663400
R H Hall, Hallco House, Beacon Court, Pitstone Green Business Park, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9GY
T: 01296 663400 F: 01296 663401 E: sales@rhhall.com W: www.rhhall.com
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