I'll start off today, with a little peek behind the curtain of this Service Dealer Weekly Update. As this edition is being sent out, I'm not really here like I am normally.

Usually on a Friday at noon I'm sat at my desk, waving each and every individual email off on their journey into the internet and on to your inboxes - but not this week. Today (yesterday) I have had to set this up in advance (previously), to send automatically for you readers to receive at the regular time in the present (future) from here in the past (now).

Basically, before I get too Back To The Future Part II confused, today as you receive this, myself and Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke are in London, on our way to attend the Independent Publishers Awards. It's exciting for us as the magazine is shortlisted for Business Publication Of The Year, which we are all immensely proud of. In the publishing world, it really is quite a big deal for an niche title such as ours to be slugging it out with some well-known, mainstream publications like Top Gear magazine and Time Out.

In our diverse category we're up against business-to-business magazines for the fire safety, nursing and investment banking sectors - so I have no idea whether we are likely to win or not? If we do, expect of plenty of post-awards triumphant publicity. If we don't, I suspect there will be a quiet, 'it was just an honour being nominated alongside such esteemed company' - said through gritted teeth!

I suspect there will be similar feelings for the dealers at the Dealer Of The Year awards ceremony which is taking place next Thursday. It's less than seven days now until Service Dealer's Conference & Awards - which don't forget is taking place at a new venue this year, the Crowne Plaza, Stratford upon Avon.

The organising and planning going on behind scenes currently, by the amazing people at TAP, is simply off the charts. I'm one of those lucky people who gets to just turn up on the day, along with all the other delegates, to enjoy the fruits of their labour. But I am aware that there are quite phenomenal efforts being put in, to make for a smooth running and highly beneficial day and evening for all.

It really is shaping up to be a special event next week, with so much valuable content on the schedule. You can familiarise yourselves with all the expert speakers here - which now includes a couple of extra additions since we went to press with our last magazine. Everyone involved with Service Dealer is looking forward to welcoming all our dealer delegates next week and of course, the representatives of our sponsors. I know it will once again prove to be a memorable occasion.

Warranty claims

You may have noticed we're running a short survey today on warranty claims that, as ever, we'd very much appreciate our dealer readers' feedback on. We've run a survey on this topic for the past couple of years at this time of year, so it'll be fascinating to see if opinions have changed much these past 12 months.

I believe the first time that we asked for your thoughts on the situation, it came about following a conversation I'd had at the Conference with a dealer. I remember they had voiced some serious concerns they held regarding certain supplying manufacturers and their rates of pay, plus the hoops they made dealers jump though for warranties.

This issue of course, raised its head again just recently via all the comments we received following a dealership saying they were considering giving up their Honda franchise, at least partly due to the way they felt the manufacturer handled warranty claims.

When we asked you last year for your take on the situation, it's fair to say there were some strong views shared. Some examples of your comments included:

• "Not happy at 'subsidising' online retailers where we have not sold a machine but must undertake warranty work on it, having made no profit on the original sale."
• "Manufacturers should pay dealers a realistic hourly rate and throw away the allocated time charts they use."
• "Manufacturers prices are the first thing to increase on parts and machines - but trying to get a fair and responsive warranty labour rate increase is impossible."

So please do take a few moments to update us on how you feel regarding warranty claims this year. Has the fact that dealers are openly discussing the situation meant that anything has improved from your point of view? Or are we, with certainly suppliers, in the same (or worse) place?

We will publish the results and a selection of your comments in the next edition of Service Dealer magazine. Once again, I thank you in advance for your help.

TAKE THE SURVEY.