Harvey Norman Warranty Hard Sell

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8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#563565 1-Jan-2012 18:42

b0untypure1: Hey guys, I'm also a salesperson and the rewards from selling extended warranties (in my opinion) are minimal and do not influence the way I sell them.

First of all, I let the customer know what it covers (full replacement, wear and tear, and not water/physical damage).

at this point if they say "No" I stop immediately and load the EFTPOS while bagging their items.

Otherwise, I let them know the normal prices (eg. $30 for 1 year and $60 for 2 years)
and if possible I will discount them so that the customer is getting a deal.

Personally $60 i would not pay for another 2 years, however $20/$30 would be taken into consideration.

My experience: Broken ipod classic from 4 years ago. I had the 4 years extended warranty which only cost $50 on the day. The warranty company paid out in vouchers, and with those i purchased a 32gb ipod touch with camera. The vouchers came in the mail the next day. Amazing service.

From the sales side: If a product is inside the extended warranty I am more than happy to call on behalf to get it sorted for them (a claim). However, without the extended warranty (1 yr manufacturers) the most I can do is leave a note for the service company, politely asking them to repair it for free. Out of the requests I have done, only one of them was approved (broken ipod touch screen was replaced for free! although physical damage was obvious). Otherwise service costs will be charged to the customer.

in terms of helping customers, the extended warranty does not alter the service you receive. I don't work at Harveys and I am shocked at how they can tell people "do not bother coming back". Where I work, most of the time we help people out, the product is not even from our store.

One time I helped a lady set up her cell phone, create a google account for andriod and so on. After activating the sim card and redeeming the top up voucher, I said "I didnt know we sold these phones"
she replied "no you dont, its from the warehouse".

In terms of the CGA, If the customer does not want the warranty, that's it. If they want the warranty, sell it. Don't be rude and say what is right and wrong.

JUST state the benefits, what it does, ask if they want it. Listen to their response. Just like sex, No means No. and Yes....well...you know!

Haha I'm pretty sure you must work at the same company as me, from what you said above. PM me lol and we can check, but I'm 99% sure it must be the same company we work at.

CGA is brilliant sometimes, got a customer a brand new camera today from Fujifilm because of it - and I'm not even a manager! Ha. Proves that you can't really beat the law.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#563574 1-Jan-2012 19:27

gzt: What are the incentives? If they are going to go hard to push a $13 warranty, maybe there is some logarithmic reward scale based on the number sold rather than the face value of it. Profit on these must be huge.

profits are not huge if there is a claim. Infact, i remember giving one away the other week on a xbox 360. The customer stated he had a bad experience with an extended warranty, so i offered him one free of cost, which provided complete peace of mind and free of charge. Usually profits made on the product are just enough to allow salespeople to reduce the warranty to cost. Unless its boxing day lol. As stated before, a $80 on an ipod does nothing, may aswell purchase a new one if it breaks. However the same coverage for $30-$40 is much fairer and is a small price to pay to ensure the product lasts.

Lastly, some things (ipads and iphones off the top of my head) rarely get returned, and i would not 100% recommend the warranty. On the other hand, xbox 360 or ps3 break more often and a deal with discounted games/controllers and a warranty would be swell.

Evolbob

58 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#563629 1-Jan-2012 23:55

I don't believe any extended warranties provide anything except the false experience of 'piece of mind'. When offered I say no thanks, and for some reason I'm not nagged about it, so I was surprised to hear the extent of the harassment you guys had to put up with! I just give them a steely look, and they back off ha ha.

The CGA should be more robust, to avoid any doubt on either side, for a reasonable length of time one would be covered from for defects/failure of the purchased product! At the moment the public is concerned over this silly 12 months cover for the majority of electrical goods that easily last longer than this, all things being equal.

I checked the HN site for computer prices, then added their extra cover (4 years). I looked at 2 computers, a $1,350 unit and one at $2,450. For the first one, $500 is added, the second one, $1000 is the cover. WTF? I wonder how happy you would be, if your computer repair would double if you paid more for it? More expensive parts for expensive computers doesn't fly here, because if your machine fails the labour costs are the highest. After only a few years the parts are now a lot cheaper. Imagine a 4 year warranty, the computers processor fails. "Sorry the new CPU for your machine is not available, the best match requires a new Motherboard and"...I don't see this changing much whatever computer was purchased. Retailers are exploiting customer fears and will continue to do so, as long as legislation is as lax as it is in New Zealand. Capitalism sucks.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#563633 2-Jan-2012 00:27

System: I agree completely bountypure. I see it all too often, some extended warranties give more benefits than the CGA, it is not meant to replace the CGA it is supposed to compliment or go above the CGA. Some things you can get with a extended warranty is things like a fast replacement on the item rather than a repair or with things like large TVs an extended warranty can give you a on-site repair option rather than having to take it back to the place of purchase.

Sometimes yes, although depdns of the terms and conditions of the warranty. I was told one story by the staff selling me the warranty, but when I read the full terms later on, I found they differed from what I was told.
Also if the extended warranty only kicks in after the manufactures warranty runs out, then during the period of the manufacturers warranty, you may have less coverage than you will have after the manufacturers warranty runs out and the extended warranty then applies. eg if the manufacters warrenty has return to base repair, but the extended part has inhome pickups.

LostBoyNZ

583 posts

Ultimate Geek

#563652 2-Jan-2012 08:36

Recently Seagate and WD reduced the warranties on their hard drives, in many cases from 3 years to 1 year. I don't think it effects their external hard drives yet (?) but that could be interesting. Because the CGA states a product should last a "reasonable period of time"... customers will still expect the same length of time from a hard drive, but the manufacturers have reduced the warranty to 1/3 what it was.

It's a shame to see what are nearly the only two hard drive manufacturers in the world get together and shorten the warranty on everyone.

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Geese

1028 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#563655 2-Jan-2012 09:03

Other than the hard sell, the worst extended warranty experience I had was buying new contract phone from Telecom, got extended warranty which they said did not begin cover until after the manufacturer warranty run out.

2 weeks after I got the phone, a friend trashed it by accident. So I went back to Telecom and said since the warranty hadn't started and been under 14 days, can I cancel it for refund or credit, and they said no. So I asked if it could be transferred to a new phone, and they said no.

So I have NEVER bought an extended warranty for anything portable since.

riahon

946 posts

Ultimate Geek

#563656 2-Jan-2012 09:14

IlDuce: Other than the hard sell, the worst extended warranty experience I had was buying new contract phone from Telecom, got extended warranty which they said did not begin cover until after the manufacturer warranty run out.

2 weeks after I got the phone, a friend trashed it by accident. So I went back to Telecom and said since the warranty hadn't started and been under 14 days, can I cancel it for refund or credit, and they said no. So I asked if it could be transferred to a new phone, and they said no.

So I have NEVER bought an extended warranty for anything portable since.

Warranty vs insurance?

"Trashing" by accident or intentional is always going to get a NO when claiming under warranty.

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Azzura

603 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#563662 2-Jan-2012 09:45

I've often told sales people when I am buying a product - "Please don't mention extended warranty....if you so much as mention anything about an extended warranty...I won't buy this item and will go somewhere else".

By not buying extended warranties on anything in the house.....I have enough money in saving to replace anything in the house.

They don't sell these extended warranties cause they lose money on them.

I had an experience back in Canada..Sears called me up to see if we wanted to buy an extended warranty on our Sears kitchen appliances.
I said no thank you...and then they asked me if I wanted to buy a warranty on anything else in the house.

Anything in the house I said?

They said sure....what would you like covered?

I said ....even if it isn't a Sears product?

They said sure...if you want it.

I just started laughing!

Stores don't sell extended warranties to save you money....they sell em to make them money.

Geese

1028 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#563664 2-Jan-2012 09:52

riahon:"Trashing" by accident or intentional is always going to get a NO when claiming under warranty.
?

You misread my post.

My point was I paid extra for an extended warranty that had not yet commenced, and the phone received cosmetic damage which I knew would be an "out" for any warranty claim (manufacturer or extended), so I asked to cancel it, or transfer it to a new phone, and they said no.

I know and understand the reasons why, but the fact they couldn't transfer the warranty to another new phone when the cover had not commenced, to me was the single greatest putoff to ever buying an extended warranty on anything that is portable and *could* get cosmetic damage before the initial manufacturer warranty is up.

itxtme

2102 posts

Uber Geek

#563666 2-Jan-2012 10:08

Azzura:
Stores don't sell extended warranties to save you money....they sell em to make them money.

Deep and thoughtful insight - businesses always sell products to make money, I dont think many consumers can honestly say they thought the business was selling them to save them money.

I have had one on a laptop, this laptop has lasted 4+ years with several repairs that far exceeded the cost of the warranty. Could I have won under the CGA, possibly, but it was hassle free for me once outside the manufactuers warranty. Buy them for convenience not as an essential item.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#563798 2-Jan-2012 17:07

IlDuce: Other than the hard sell, the worst extended warranty experience I had was buying new contract phone from Telecom, got extended warranty which they said did not begin cover until after the manufacturer warranty run out.

2 weeks after I got the phone, a friend trashed it by accident. So I went back to Telecom and said since the warranty hadn't started and been under 14 days, can I cancel it for refund or credit, and they said no. So I asked if it could be transferred to a new phone, and they said no.

So I have NEVER bought an extended warranty for anything portable since.

thats crazy!! oh wait, telecom...

jahc

92 posts

Master Geek

#563800 2-Jan-2012 17:33

Back when I was young and dumb, I bought a 60" tv with a 5 year extended warranty..

Fortunately, 4 years and 10 months later, it broke down and made the nearly 5 year old decision worthwhile. hehe

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#563805 2-Jan-2012 17:43

LostBoyNZ: Recently Seagate and WD reduced the warranties on their hard drives, in many cases from 3 years to 1 year. I don't think it effects their external hard drives yet (?) but that could be interesting. Because the CGA states a product should last a "reasonable?period of time"... customers will still expect the same length of time from a hard drive, but the?manufacturers?have reduced the warranty to 1/3 what it was.

It's a shame to see what are nearly the only two hard drive?manufacturers in the world get together and shorten the warranty on everyone.

Seagate used to have 5 year warranties. They are a dying technology though, so they probably won't be around in ten years.

Still covered by the CGA though, where I believe desktops should last 3-5 years for a reasonable life.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#563807 2-Jan-2012 17:44

jahc: Back when I was young and dumb, I bought a 60" tv with a 5 year extended warranty..

Fortunately, 4 years and 10 months later, it broke down and made the nearly 5 year old decision worthwhile. hehe

That is great when that happens. I had a monitor that had a 5 year warranty(business use) and it developed faults after 4 years. They sent me the new model albeit a refurb.

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#563808 2-Jan-2012 17:48

b0untypure1:
IlDuce: Other than the hard sell, the worst extended warranty experience I had was buying new contract phone from Telecom, got extended warranty which they said did not begin cover until after the manufacturer warranty run out.

2 weeks after I got the phone, a friend trashed it by accident. So I went back to Telecom and said since the warranty hadn't started and been under 14 days, can I cancel it for refund or credit, and they said no. So I asked if it could be transferred to a new phone, and they said no.

So I have NEVER bought an extended warranty for anything portable since.

thats crazy!! oh wait, telecom...

????

Regards,

Old3eyes

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