Our experience of e-stone Mfg. warranties is even worse. I can count on one hand the amount of times we have seen an e-stone Mfg. actually fix a top at thier own expense. [/QUOTE]

Gordon:

I had an DuPont Zodiaq job where the kids plugged a battery charger into the duplex recepticle and when it overheated, the battery acid etched the splash and top. Not only did DuPont send a tech out, they developed a repair for this problem and sent the tech back to perform it.

Over the years, I've seen and repaired many solid surface failures. Virutally all are fabricator error or customer abuse.

When I worked for a local fabricator, I got a callback on a top we had just installed. Sure enough, there were hundreds of pinholes in the Corian. The shop foreman admitted he saw the holes but "didn't want to miss production"! So even when it's bad product, there's fabricator error to go with it. I think we eventually got credit for the bad material.

Joe

I think maybe I understood the nature of the warranties a little wrong.  When the first line reads something like "..warrants against manufacturing defects....."  I guess I kinda get glossy eyed and assume the rest of the verbage is like warranties for other products that basically disavow any reaponsibilty for problems not directly related to the raw materials.

I agree it is absolutely in the best interest of the Manufacturers to cover more than that.  What is it they say " a happy customer tells her family and an unhappy customers tells the whole neighborhood....."

Chris

[QUOTE]Linda wrote
Question to all of you "warranty repair guys",

Have the manufacturers become less willing to take care of claims in the last few years?   I can see that they have cut back on spec reps, sales force, etc. in order to cut costs.  Are they also looking at warranty issues in the same way?  Just curious.

Linda[/QUOTE]

Linda:

Abandoning warranties would be suicidally shortsighted on the part of manufacturers, however, that has never stopped them before, like selling sheets to do-it-yourselfers. Along with integrated sinks and coved backsplashes, warranites are one of the strongest selling points we have against granite.

I want to believe the manufacturer's are smart enough to see this and I have no evidence to the contrary.

Joe

We finished up a cabinet job last week, one that we didn't get the top on.  Far corner of the state, a local shop got the job.

So I was looking at the island, figuring out what kind of storage we could put in after the downdraft cooktop was installed.  Worst cooktop cutout I have ever seen.  Routered, kind of, really, really rough job, no corner blocks, no heat tape, and square corners.  They seemed to have made the cutout too small and hacked it out with a jig saw.

Got to looking around, 2" to 2 1/2" wide seam blocks, no substrate or support under the seam, 1/2" mdf substrate, no seam blocks on raised bar top (bat wing).  Okay sanding and installation, but warranty issues al over the place.

I pulled the customer aside, mentioned the cooktop items, recomended they be fixed before the cooktop was set.  Customer called later, said the guy said he would fix the top if it ever broke, so I sent the customer a copy of the warranty chart.  Other items might not cause problems, so I didn't want to mention them.

HiMacs material, wonder how many jobs these guys have done like that.  Time bomb ticking......

Linda et al -

So many questions since my last entry!! I want to first be clear that I am solely expressing my opinions and experiences herein. That said, we ARE finding that most Mfg. companies are saving $$ by changing warranty paradigms. Dupont has always typically been best at warranty coverage. They DO allow WSAs (Warranty Service Agents) to repair the issues and subsequently backcharge the fabber for errors if any. Because they wind eating the bill too much, some other Mfg. do not. If the failure is caused by fab error, some Mfg. will simply tell the customer to seek out the fabber and deny the material claim outright. That does not necessarily mean that the customer is out of luck, but they will need to prove the fabber is out of business and fight for thier resolution to get it. With as many different  materials as there are out there, getting cut off from one just doesn't have the impact it used to for some fabbers. Sometimes, paying the bill can become a pissing contest between the Mfg. and thier Distributor. All of which, usually, the customer waits on while the issue worsens. The heady days of "fix it now and we'll work it out later to save face" are clearly gone. Also, the experinces I related earlier on e-stone were not really inclusive of much Zodiaq. Out here we find a lot of the other brands. Also, in arenas where customer abuse previously needed to proven (marks, dents, etc.), now we are finding more and more that if another reasonable cause cannot be found, it is sometimes being assumed (evidenced or not). Mfg. seem like they are just getting sick and tired of cleaning up jobs like the one AL described. Can't say that I necessarily blame them. If you can buy the material, you should know how to fab it.

I can only speak from my own experience but I agree with Gordon.  Dupont has the best warranty and customer service out there.  As a WSA for 12 years most of the failures that I encountered came down to fab error.  Whether as a direct cause or simply that they didn't fab to the mnfg specs and thereby owning the failure.  As of a couple of years ago Dupont changed from giving the fabricator first right of refusal to do the repair to having the WSA fix it at the time of the first visit.  This change was realy seen as a big step in tightening up the customer service end of the warranty issue.

I have seen and fixed some failures that were truly documentable customer abuse.  These repairs were still done under warranty and I was instructed to give the customer "use and care instructions", as well as inform them that this was a courtesy repair and will not be repaired again for the same cause.  My area was taken over by Karl at BTP about a year ago so I don't know how tight Dupont is holding their wallet these days.  I have also done a HI Macs sink replacement that was mounted in a Gibraltar top and the raplacement was covered by the Hi Macs warranty.  In this case, I don't think that the distributor was aware that the tops were not Hi Macs.  I was authorized to do the repair and it was done.  Low impact on the customer.

I did another seam repair on a Hi Macs counter that was actually for the High Macs rep in my area.  This rep had taken the ISSFA Fabricator training.  She had a local fabricator do the fab and install.  There was no seam strap on the seam although there was evidence that there had been one when it was fabricated but it didn't go all the way to the back of the front edge.  The seam strap appeared to have been removed for ease of installation so that they wouldn"t have to cut relief in the face frame to make room for it.  When the material were the seam had failed was removed it was apparent that the seam did not have full glue coverage.  Clearly this failure was due to fab error and the Hi Macs warranty excludes coverage for failures due to inproper fabrication.  I have a hunch that the fact that this was in the Rep's house helped getting it covered under warranty.

The quality of the warranty service has always been one of the selling points that we stress to our dealers.

Johnny C

"Dupont has the best warranty and customer service out there."

I have to question this.  Not speaking as Formica, but as a fabricator.  Why is there warranty different for Commercial application than a Residential one? 

I am afraid I do not agree with that statement.

Mdufinetz, fair enough.

We, as a warranty agent for Formica, see that they back up thier product very proficiently. I personally think that thier coverage on mobilehomes, RVs, and boats is really outstanding. Almost nobody does that anymore. 

Dupont still covers all manner of sink crazing and properly fabbed seams, however. And when I contemplate warranty service, I try to keep size (volume of material sold) in mind. I am not intending to downplay other Mfg., but I do believe that Dupont has been able to do a good job of attending to a vast quantity of sales and subsequent claim actions.

I have been in the Solid Surface biz for 25+ years, the first 1/2 of that as a Fab the 2nd 1/2 devoted to restoration. Along the way we have worked with more brands of soild surface than I can name, and DuPont has always stood out in this area, in both Comercial and Residential. There is always room for improvment by all companies, including ours, and over all several of the major brand names do a great job . Please keep in mind that we are only one company servicing about 16 states so others may have some added input. 

[QUOTE]Tom M wrote
Matt,
You said that the best man is a restoration...
Does this mean you are to tying a knot soon?

Tom[/QUOTE]

Sorry should of said was.  Been married for going on 15 years and not ready to make any changes in that area.  I am in Cincinnati, my buddy is in Cleveland, OH.  He does work in OH, MI, WI, PA, NY, IN, IL, mostly, but will go just about anywhere he can schedule a few jobs to make the trip worth it.