How Warranties Work: Who is Responsible? The Installer? The Shipper?

2012 blogpost warranties

How Warranties Work: Who is Responsible? The Installer? The Shipper?

Nov 21st 2012

Installers and/or Contractors

Remember that the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act only governs warranties on "tangible personal property." Not only does it not cover property like land ownership, it also does not cover warranties for services. Not all states have laws requiring contractors to provide guarantees of their work. Absent direct consultation with a lawyer, the best way to get advice for the particulars of your state would be to check your state’s .gov site to read the warranty laws in this area directly, or look at the site of a law firm in your state that offers free pages of advice and explanations. Many do, especially on topics like these.

The best thing you can do on your own is to include guarantees in your negotiations. Get them into the contract, so the state’s contract laws can enforce them. The installer can, and probably should, guarantee that she has installed the product properly, and that the flooring (in our case – why not start getting specific!) will be free from defects once installed. A good installer should know the products she installs, and should only install them according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

Also, just as the retailer can create a warranty for a product he didn’t manufacture himself,

the installer may also do this. She can say that any flooring she installs will last for the following 10 years, if she wants to. Looking from the outside, this might seem kind of risky, guaranteeing the quality of something she didn’t make herself, but it’s certainly legal. The warranty doesn’t say, “I made this and I stand behind it,” it just says the “I stand behind it” part. Anyone can do that. You could do it at your garage sale if you wanted to. Not that I recommend it.

Where things get dicey is when you have purchased flooring, and then the installer installs it. What is normal in this situation is for the installer to inspect the flooring, either at the start, or as it is installed, for defects. The way things generally go between installers and manufacturers is that once the installer actually installs a piece which has a visible defect, they have accepted responsibility for it. The manufacturer will not replace floors with obvious, visible defects once they have been put into place. "Installation equals acceptance." In this case you would go to the installer for replacement of the bad flooring. If the installer sets bad planks aside and does not install them, then you would go to the manufacturer for replacement of the bad planks.

Shippers

Whether written or not, shippers are responsible to deliver material to you which is in good condition. Material damaged in transit? This is the responsibility of the shipping company. In our case, we will usually handle that for you, getting your replacement planks to you right away, and dealing with the shippers ourselves, but you have a big part to play in making sure that goes your way. Watch the following video if you're ordering flooring from us, or anything large and delivered by a truck. We have handled enough shipping issues that we think we've been able to collect the best advice for how you can receive your shipment in a way that makes any issues with damaged material very easy to take care of.

The full series:

pt.1: What is a Warranty?

pt.2: Which Law Governs Warranties?

pt.3: The Express Warranty

pt.4: Implied Warranty #1

pt.5: Implied Warranty #2

pt.6: Full and Extended Warranties