Warranty information needed by companies

14 years ago

I haven't posted in quite a while but I used to post regularly. I have been working for a major manufacturer of furniture in their customer service parts department on the phone and answering e-mails. I thought I'd share so you would have a little insight into why keeping information for warranties is so important.

It absolutely amazes me that people will throw away their boxes as soon as they take the furniture out of it even though they will need to assemble the furniture. There is information on the box that we need in order to complete an order for parts. This information is also available on stickers that customers take off or that we (by mistake) did not put on the furniture. Customers can send us photos of their furniture and we will try to figure out the information that we needed which is the model number, where it was manufactured and the date of manufacture. People will argue long and hard that this is ridiculous since it's our fault that items were received broken or were not in the box. I agree with them but when you are selling hundreds of units a day, things like this do happen.

Another thing that customers do when sending us e-mails is to say they bought a piece of furniture (with no specifics of which one) and they want us to ship them a part (giving a general description). Besides not giving us the information we need in order to process this order, they don't supply their address or even a phone number. I can only assume that they think we know exactly who the stores sell our product to but we do not have this information nor can we guess at what you need.

There are, of course, some customers who have older pieces of furniture and have all the information handy. I end up thinking of this forum when they call.

So, when calling a company for parts, have the box handy or copy information from it such as the model number, where it was made, any dates given, etc. This information is important. Do not take any stickers off of the furniture that has information on it. Or, if you do, keep this information with the manual.

When e-mailing a company for parts, give as much information about the product as possible. It's easier to read if it's in a list instead of a complete story so that we don't have to weed through everything looking for a few pieces of information.

Comments (5)

jannie
14 years ago
Years ago I bought a La-Z-Boy recliner chair. I safety-pinned the receipt and guarantee papers (the company guarantees the mechanism forever) underneath. When it got broke, I merely reached underneath for the info I needed. I made two phone calls and had a repairman in my house within days. And the chair is fixed. This was even though the original La-Z-Boy store where I bought it is gone.
bspofford
14 years ago
Hey, Marie! Long time no hear. How is everything in Vancouver?

Barbara
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marie26
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Barbara. Thank you for remembering me. It really is a beautiful city with many beaches and places to hike as well as great shopping. Unfortunately, the recession has hit us here too so hubby is out of work. It's been rough.

We came back to Canada because my adult daughter is ill and needed health care. Don't believe anyone that tells Americans that the health care system in Canada is bad. She is not working and (as an example) is now paying only $1.25 (not a typo) for a medicine that would cost about $300.00 a month cash. All hospital stays, doctor visits, lab tests, mammograms, etc. are free. Psychiatrists are also free to go see. Also, we are able to see any doctor we want to see.

Hubby's taken on (for the first time) a couple of "jobs" around the house that he'd never done before. They are cleaning up after supper (which I still cook), being in charge of loading and unloading the dishwasher and taking out the garbage. I think, though, he must have read somewhere that if he puts things away after unloading the dishwasher in any open spot, I'll take that job back. I had everything organized in the drawers and cupboards but he still manages to put everything into only two of the drawers. I'd still rather him do that than me do it! Every so often, I'll gently give him a bit of advice which he does end up following.

I haven't been on this forum because I'm living in a tiny rental with no room for my stuff. There's not much point in doing an extreme organizing here. Besides, I know where everything is. I've thought of getting rid of a bunch of stuff but can't bring myself to do it. I keep thinking that I might need it someday or have room for it in another house.
mariend
14 years ago
Thanks for reminding us about keeping the information. Problem--I never remember where i put the stuff. File? Box?? drawer? Your job sounds like a challenge. Sorry about the lay off. Some states are better than others like where we live now in ND. We do have some Canadians working here, but don't know how they do it. I think it is mostly in the oil fields. I know the feeling about getting rid of stuff--I always think I will use it some day.
Hope you can keep in touch even with your busy life.
Marie from ND
jannie
14 years ago
My best friend is an American living and working in Ottawa. She told me stories about Canadian health care. For example, she developed an abcess on her back and paid only $200 to get it treated.