TAKING THE TEMPERATURE ON WARRANTY Is it still a sore point for dealers? by Service Dealer Editor, Steve Gibbs
It's that time of year when there is plenty going on for our dealer readers - and indeed for ourselves here at Service Dealer.
Following on from last week's SALTEX (who have announced their official attendance figures this week), the team at your favourite magazine dedicated to the dealer network has been full-steam ahead, preparing for our Conference & Awards in a couple of weeks. It's looking like another absolutely cracking event for our dealer delegates! You can check out the agenda for the day's activities here - and can be safe in the knowledge that following on in the evening, we shall be celebrating our wonderful network in quite some style!
Beyond that, we have been putting the finishing touches to a comprehensive Digital Special Report, covering this year's Equip show in Louisville, Kentucky. This will be published very soon and is packed with video content to give UK dealers a flavour of what to expect from the OPEI's mammoth show should they choose to attend in the coming years. The report is brimming with chats with U.S dealers, manufacturers, trade associations and business trainers. You can view a trailer ahead of its release, below
And on top of that, we are hard at work on your first magazine for 2026. This will contain reports from trade shows around the world (SALTEX, Equip and Agritechnica); full coverage of our Conference & Awards; further analysis of the Plant Hire & Construction sector; a profile of a dealership fully immersed in getting the robotic mowing message out to their commercial customers - plus all our regular features.
Warranty woes?
Also included in the Jan-Feb '26 edition will be a fascinating and timely article written by industry expert Keith Christian, examining whether dealers are currently receiving a fair deal with warranty? Keith has been researching his piece by speaking to many dealers based around the country, as well as drawing upon his years of industry experience and knowledge - so you can expect a balanced and well-reasoned story.
I won't spoil or preempt Keith's findings, but it seems accurate to say that warranty can be one of the most emotive subjects for dealers. Judging by the conversations we hear at events and in our day-to-day discussions with dealers, warranty processes remain a sore point that can pretty much guarantee a strong reaction from anyone within the industry.
Therefore we are always fascinated to gauge our readers thoughts around this topic, which is why we are running a brief survey to gather your feedback today. We last asked you to share your opinions at this time last year, so we’re keen to understand whether anything has shifted over the past 12 months?
When we asked for your views previously, the majority of respondents shared clear frustrations. A handful of representative quotes we received included:
"Some companies are making warranty claims procedures very difficult. I suspect it is to make it more unlikely for dealers to lodge a claim."
"Agricultural machinery manufacturers significantly impact their dealers when they fail to provide adequate warranty reimbursement and process payments promptly."
"Warranty is a huge cost to the business, not only are the rates greatly reduced compared to our standard charge out rate, it reduces available hours to charge out at the higher rate for routine service work and repairs."
"Manufacturers’ allowed times are unrealistic. They seem to be based on a 'perfect world' scenario."
Some strong words there. And I'm not just cherry-picking the most extreme. I don't think we had a single response in praise of manufacturers - but please, if you do have great experiences with your suppliers, let us know.
All your responses to our survey are entirely anonymous, so do speak freely. As ever we shall publish the results and as many of your comments as we can in the next issue of the magazine.
