Tom Hayward, Managing Director of I Need Spares Ltd, which specialises in the recycling of vehicles and the retail of Green Parts discusses how his company manages their warranty policy and what benefits can be gained from implementing such a policy.
You have probably heard the word ‘Warranties’ more in the last 12 months especially as one of the requirements for the new UK VRA Certification is to offer set terms of warranty on particular products. A warranty provides assurance to the customer purchasing your product that it can be replaced or refunded if necessary, within a specified period of time.
Providing a standard warranty is, as a matter of law, required. Here at I Need Spares Ltd we are taking a leadership position and making our offering better, and as a result, using it as a tool to market our business and our products.
We started promoting our warranty offering just 18 months ago after discussions with top professionals in the industry and, in doing so, we saw an increase in our online orders. Chris Daglis of Auto PARTnered Solutions, an advisor and consultant to the insurance, collision, parts industries and eBay UK, who has been heavily involved in the development of the ‘Green’ parts story in the UK over the past 18 months, states that “offering a warranty that exceeds the expectation of the consumer is critical if the automotive recycler is to win the trust and confidence of the consumer, especially garages and the collision repairer. If it was my business, I’d offer a lifetime ownership warranty on every collision panel I sell.”
Currently, we are offering a standard 3 month’s warranty on electrical/mechanical parts and 12 month’s warranty on non-electrical/mechanical parts. We are confident in our company processes and are proud to promote the products we sell. We are able to provide a quality customer service in the event of an issue, as is now required by the certification process on becoming an official certified vehicle recycler.
It is important to be clear about the terms of the warranty – in our case we offer a replacement part if available and, if not, a full refund for the part cost within the time periods set out above. Also, we stipulate that the item should always be fitted by a competent person to ensure the product is installed correctly. Ultimately though, if we have a genuine warranty claim, our goal is to get it sorted with as little impact on our customer, or our customer’s customer.
Many businesses we talk with are interested in how we manage our warranty program. We follow three simple steps;
- We have set up a Management and Quality Control System. This helps us keep track of all the checkpoints through the part lifecycle from inventory and dismantling to storage and delivery.
- To reassure the buyer that their product has a warranty on it. We include with the sale a warranty card with information and have had these great tamper proof warranty stickers made, these have also helped identify our products when they are going through a returns process. (ref photo)
- Finally, just as we have a process to eliminate the risk of selling a part that is not what is expected by our customer, we have built a streamlined process to deal with issues with parts that develop a fault during the warranty period.
- Again, our guiding principle is to fix any problems as quickly and efficiently as possible for the customer and us.
Chris Daglis said:
“There is a clear and compelling argument for the use of high quality Reclaimed Original Parts in the repair of vehicles. The numbers are irrefutable! But there are some non-negotiables, and one of these is to offer a no-fuss warranty to the trade buyer, the collision repairer and garage. What Tom is working towards is offering his product with that level of consistency and surety that will give his customer the comfort that when they buy a part from I Need Spares Ltd, it will be a high-quality part, provided with high standards of service consistently, with an industry-leading warranty supporting the product in the unlikely event of something going wrong with it at a time in the future.”
The future is looking GREEN and we are looking into offering an amazing extended warranty package in the near future as we learn and develop from the ongoing discussions within our industry.
Make it one of your goals in 2021 to get warranties implemented and enjoy the benefits from consumer confidence and increased sales.
A recent webinar hosted by the VRAC invited Chris Daglis from Auto PARTnered solutions to explain more around warranties. I would highly recommend watching it through the VRAC website, and if anyone would like to discuss any of the above further, please do get in contact.
To find out more, visit www.ineedspares.com, alternatively reach out to Tom Hayward on Linkedin at www.linkedin.com
