Manager Forum

Posted: **Wed Apr 15, 2015 3:59 pm**

Over the years I have read differing methods by shops to handle warranty situations. I am tasked with developing a brief video for customers who ask tech support how they should go about this. I started this thread to get a discussion started that reflects the current thinking on this. In the past I have heard concerns of how the warranty invoice sits on the books, business rules, effect on average R.O. dollars and all the rest. Maybe a few new wrinkles will be brought up here? Once the regulars have posted their thoughts, I will do my best to distill the warranty methods into a poll to determine what the most popular method it. Thanks in advance.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:28 am**

We generally just list the parts and labor that are warranty as we normally would and charge nothing for them. It's easy to spot in history because everything is no charge and we still have all the information we need to see what has been done to the vehicle.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 5:09 am**

DynaBMan wrote:We generally just list the parts and labor that are warranty as we normally would and charge nothing for them. It's easy to spot in history because everything is no charge and we still have all the information we need to see what has been done to the vehicle.

Thanks for the input; I will refer to this as the "0 Dollar invoice with full detail" method in the POLL. Is it safe to say that Shop Supplies & HazMat are turned off and the order made non-taxable?

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 5:20 am**

The method we use depends on the nature of the warranty. We break down failures into 4 categories. We make use of the 'Come Back' feature in Manager and also use a note to 'code' each failure into one of the 4 categories. We place this code in the work performed field so it shows up in the Comeback report. These are reviewed periodically and action taken when needed.

Our categories are:

Part Failure
Technician Error
Other
Goodwill

Part Failure

The part that failed will be billed at zero cost and zero sell. Any additional parts will be billed at their respective costs and zero sell. Labor will be billed as usual with hours and dollars. A discount will be added to offset the labor so the total to the customer will be zero. We like to see the labor documented on the order here so if a labor claim is pursued it will show on the Invoice. Our techs get a bonus for hours billed, so we need to show this so they don't get penalized for something out of their control.

Technician Error

Parts are billed at their respective costs and zero sell. Labor is billed at zero dollars, zero billed hours and the other labor fields as usual. Here the technician becomes responsible for their failure. Filling out the Invoice like this shows us the true cost of the failure in F12.

Other

These are billed just like the Technician Error except the zero billed hours. We will input the billed hours here but still keep the dollars zero. Other is the catch-all when fault can't be determined easily.

Goodwill

Sometimes there is no fault on the shops part, or at least none that we can determine. Here we have a discount (100% parts and labor) and apply it to the order after all is billed as a customer pay.

Over the years we've felt that this approach gives us a good balance between treating the technicians right and allowing these incidents to affect our figures in a fair manner as well.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 5:42 am**

timbre4 wrote:
DynaBMan wrote:We generally just list the parts and labor that are warranty as we normally would and charge nothing for them. It's easy to spot in history because everything is no charge and we still have all the information we need to see what has been done to the vehicle.
Thanks for the input; I will refer to this as the "0 Dollar invoice with full detail" method in the POLL. Is it safe to say that Shop Supplies & HazMat are turned off and the order made non-taxable?

That would be correct. Shop supplies are calculated off the total ticket, so they are zero.

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:59 am**

When I Finish the original invoice I have the warranty information included and if the part fails and they come back. I start up another invoice and add the parts and warranty in there. I just zero out the prices.

Posted: **Fri May 08, 2015 8:34 am**

Circling back to this topic to summarize the details we should recommend in a potential SE video; let's see if I know enough to create 2 or 3 choices for a poll: (or adopt it right away if a single choice emerges)

1. The Warranty work is recorded on its own Invoice?
2. Is the Comeback designation used?
3. The cost of labor and parts is entered and then a) Priced at $.00 OR b) 100% Discount applied?
4. Technician assigned; with commissions off?
5. Taxes turned off
6. Shop Supplies / HazMat turned off
7. "Paid" by a Warranty (internal account) payment type

What are the specific concerns about Average RO values?
What are the specific concerns about applying 100% discounts?

Thanks again for all input!

Posted: **Fri May 08, 2015 8:45 am**

Thanks for the input; I will refer to this as the "0 Dollar invoice with full detail" method in the POLL. Is it safe to say that Shop Supplies & HazMat are turned off and the order made non-taxable?

This is exactly how we do it also. I do add a line item noting that it was warrantied from Invoice # 1234 and the date of the original repair. This is the same for our mistake or parts defect.

Posted: **Fri May 08, 2015 8:48 am**

timbre4 wrote: 1. The Warranty work is recorded on its own Invoice? >>> Yes
2. Is the Comeback designation used? >>> I do not (but I do not track on reports or I would.
3. The cost of labor and parts is entered and then a) Priced at $.00 OR b) 100% Discount applied? >>> correct cost entered sale price adjusted to $0
4. Technician assigned; with commissions off? >>> I still pay tech so hours are set. If a place does commission they will need to plan accordinally
5. Taxes turned off >>> its zero sale so no tax collected or needed.
6. Shop Supplies / HazMat turned off >>> yes off
7. "Paid" by a Warranty (internal account) payment type >>> I just pay cash buts its a zero balance.

Posted: **Fri May 08, 2015 8:54 am**

Thanks Brian, that makes it very simple.

So maybe the last question is: can anybody tell me why they DON'T think $.00 pricing for the invoice is OK? (because I'm very close to saying that is the way to go with this)

Posted: **Fri May 08, 2015 9:09 am**

I personally do not. But then again I far from know it all so hopefully others chime in.

Posted: **Fri May 08, 2015 10:22 am**

I create a new invoice

Then I add the part we are warranting out and leave the Item # but zero out the cost/extended price

I add the Labor and leave the time in there for the tech but I zero out the cost so it shows $0

I cancel out the shop supplies and haz mat

I then do the same as Brian and Enter a Note stating Previous Invoice #, Date, previous Miles and the new Miles and add WARRANTY

Not sure if there is a way for Mitchell to have a warranty option in there that would just transfer all of this over to a new invoice if you go to the previous invoice and just click warranty.

Posted: **Sat May 09, 2015 3:12 am**

Pretty simple here. Show the ticket as a full pay and discount 100%. Remove haz and SS. Customer gets no charge. Come back is used when it is written up. Since I am pretty much a one man band it is mostly for tracking part failures. If I make a mistake I know it.

Posted: **Sat May 09, 2015 12:40 pm**

Jeff @ Able Auto wrote:Pretty simple here. Show the ticket as a full pay and discount 100%. Remove haz and SS. Customer gets no charge. Come back is used when it is written up. Since I am pretty much a one man band it is mostly for tracking part failures. If I make a mistake I know it.

how do you do a come back in the program, i've never done that.

Posted: **Sat May 09, 2015 12:46 pm**

Open the symptoms drop down. On the right side there is a box to check for comeback and a place to put previous Invoice number. HTH. Jeff.

Posted: **Mon May 11, 2015 11:09 am**

The problem with the Comeback tracking is that you can not fill it after the fact. You have to know it is a comeback before you look at the vehicle. Sometimes the vehicle might be coming back for the what the customer says is one but it turns out that it is something different. Or it was a while ago & we forget that it is a comeback until the customer or the tech mentions it. I would like it that you can track the comeback after the fact easier. (The symptoms lock up!)

For Warrantys, we usually put the parts & labor & then subtract it back off- then we can give the warranty to part failure or to the tech if it is mistake. They get the negative time.
We take the shop supplies off.

Thanks, ARS

Posted: **Mon May 11, 2015 11:18 am**

You have to know it is a comeback before you look at the vehicle.

No you don't. While it's true you cannot *MODIFY* an existing one, you can create a *NEW* symptom line on the existing order and fill out the come back information. Then copy the symptom and other info from the original line to the new one. Then delete the original symptom. We do this all the time.

Posted: **Tue May 12, 2015 5:24 am**

Very true.. I have to do that when the symptoms lock me out- either for spacing or we added stuff to the order (amazing when you copy & paste the old symptoms to a new one & then keep typing-you do not run out of spaces) - when we have to add more symptoms or more of a description to the symptoms... that is a real pain.... I really wish we would not be locked out.

That is very frustrating whenever we have to do it...
So it would be nice if it was easier to track comebacks or add more to symptoms without being locked out.

Thanks, ARS

Posted: **Mon May 18, 2015 1:40 am**

What I've been doing is I just basically start a work order and under the notes option for the order I will type in the # for the work order that the warranty work is being done for. After work is completed and all is well I will discount the order by 100% and post it so it will keep in the customers history. I print out the original order and start a bill using the part supplier as the customer and bill it out for warranty reimbursement. On that order I'll include original order and present order in the note option. After all that is done I'll print out the warranty order in the suppliers name and put it in a file I keep for warranty so I can keep track of company and part failure rate. In the suppliers section I have sub folders as parts. I can look up by manufacturer and by part. If I notice a certain part failing from a certain supplier I'll switch. I have the same set up for tech's.
I know it's a very simplistic way of doing this but it will deal with any inventory issue, keeps an active order until I get paid by the supplier and unless it's a complete and utterly tech failure I will not dock the tech and pay him for his time. Don't know if this helps but I wanted to make this an active subject for me so I can keep on top of it.

Posted: **Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:46 am**

We use the zero dollar invoice. In terms of dollar average, we simply don't use the zero dollar invoice toward our car count.

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