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Re: [OM] John Hermanson

Subject: Re: [OM] John Hermanson
From: Joshua Putnam <josh@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 04 May 2002 11:09:34 -0700
Matt Haber & Jane Diamond wrote:


Second, I think the notion of "warranty" in this case applies only distantly. The problem that I have was identified to John early, so we're not talking about a failure two years after the repair, but rather failure identified and agreed to in the time frame, and then perhaps too much time elapsed before I acted on the agreement.


The notion of "warranty" applies quite directly IMHO. Any
business that offers a warranty must make some provision for
covering that warranty, since it's work done with no revenue. If
the warranty period is six months, then for every repair sold,
some portion of the revenue must be reserved for six months to
cover the possibility of a warranty repair. If no warranty work
comes in, then at the end of six months the reserved revenue can
be recognized as income. (Now, in reality, most businesses don't
do this item-by-item, they just do a percentage of sales, but the
logic is the same.)

If suddenly we expect this business to accept warranty work
submitted two years after the repair, instead of six months, then
we're reaching back into the owner's pocket to take out income he
earned *eighteen* months ago and give it to a customer who
couldn't be bothered to meet a clearly-stated deadline. I'm
sorry, but there's no way you're going to convince me that's a
reasonable expectation.


A wise judge might say: "John, you're not required to follow through on this. But if you negotiate with your customer, and offer something, you'll create a lot of goodwill. If you offer nothing, you'll merely create a pissed-off customer."


A wise judge might say: "If someone offers to fix your camera for free if you get it to him within six months, don't unilaterally tack on another eighteen months without bothering to tell him."


--
josh@xxxxxxxxx is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Updated Infrared Photography Books List:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/irbooks.html>


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