Girard awning warranty: Fair or unfair?

[laurier]

My Girard slideout awning awning has broken stitches. The tissue seems to be OK. (sunbrella I think)
Girard say on their site that the warranty is good for 5 years to actual owner.
My problem is that they claim that the warranty do start when they ship it to the manufacturer, Newmar in my case, not the delivery date from local dealer.

Do you think that this is fair business?
What if the MH sit on the lot for one year?

The way they manufacture it was certainly a source of problems since that now they fused it and dont use stitches.
What is your opinion?
I taught they were first class products......

[palehorse89]

Warranty starts when a product is bought , in this case after reading your post and thought about it, Newmar bought them from Girard as a customer and that is when the warranty started, and yes if it sat on a lot for 2 years before selling, you would have a 3 year warranty, The catch here is Newmar is the expressed customer that bought and paid for these and the term of conditions start like any warranty. It doesn't seem right and fair though, Most all equipment in a RV is warrantied through the mfg. How old is your Coach? Newmar might pick up the slack here and step up to the bat.

[TQ60]

The fine print on warranty states your rights may vary...

Most but not all states require the warranty clock to start only when the item is accepted by the customer.

Further, if said item has an issue that is covered by warranty and a claim is filed while warranty is active the clock STOPS until the issue is resolved.

So if you have a "new"
2011 coach that was on the dealer lot sold "as new per DMV" and it had a 1 year warranty, it would be in force for one year from the day to drove it off the lot.

If on the last day the awning fell off you contacted the manufacturer of the awning to make claim the warranty clock for awning stops and it is covered.

Also of note...

If said item is out of your possesion for warranty work the clock stops on the unit.

So if you take it in and the shop keeps it for two months arguing with manufacturer over warranty the clock stops because you are deprived of the use of your item.

Check with your consumer protection department or state att. Generals office to confirm.

The above were in place in California years ago, our consumer office helped us with the extended warranty on a large TV that we had issues with.

On the last week of coverage we had intetmittent, service contract provider wanted to patch it, but we did our homework and the state sent a letter to the insurance company, they sent us a check for enough to replace the 5 year old TV.

[rexabbot]

Fair is where you buy cotton candy.

[laurier]

Originally Posted by palehorse89

Warranty starts when a product is bought , in this case after reading your post and thought about it, Newmar bought them from Girard as a customer and that is when the warranty started, and yes if it sat on a lot for 2 years before selling, you would have a 3 year warranty, The catch here is Newmar is the expressed customer that bought and paid for these and the term of conditions start like any warranty. It doesn't seem right and fair though, Most all equipment in a RV is warrantied through the mfg. How old is your Coach?

The MH is a late Essex 2008. I am the second owner
I believe it was delivered in Illinois. For me it does not make much sense that the warranty started from the time the manufacturer sold it to the first customer.
Imagine if the awning had been in stock for 5 years
I shall be at Newmar premises in April and will see what they will charge me.
I would be willing to pay for labor but not material.
Do not have much choice do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gary RVRoamer]

Most warranties on OEM components "pass through" to the first retail purchaser of the finished product and require a proof of purchase (bill of sale or similar) to show when the retail use began. Without such proof, it reverts to the date the component was shipped to the RV manufacturer. Whether that is "fair" or not, it is the standard practice for such things.

It is also standard practice to limit the warranty to the first retail purchaser, so you are probably out of luck anyway. But maybe Newmar will smile on you - good luck!

[TQ60]

Unless it is craftsman or snap on you may be out of luck.

Warranty is valid to "first customer" and usually not transfered to secondary folks.

However some manufacturers do very well to maintain their Brand, so you may get parts support and some labor if you are "nice".

[laurier]

Even if you are the first owner, warranty should start from day of customer delivery, not the date sent to manufacture it.
In the case of my awning, it is specified on Girard site that it is for 5 years and not only to original owner (why a difference it makes if you are the first or second owner.
Aniway now I am dealing with Newmar and not Girard anymore......

[Tony Lee]

Unlikely that any legislation would allow warranty to start from the date a product was delivered to a wholesaler or manufacturer. They are always a protection for the retail customer and that this must be the case otherwise many purchasers of products such as motorhomes would have zero warranty on all of the components and materials.
Countering that, most legally-mandated warranties are for one year only, so if a manufacturer wants to extend it, I imagine they could put any conditions on it they feel like.

regardless, if all else fails, it never hurts to remind people that their penny-pinching nit-picking is being viewed by x,000 members of a premier RV forum and even if they lose one sale as a result, fixing your awning for free would likely end up the cheapest option

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by TQ60

The fine print on warranty states your rights may vary...

Most but not all states require the warranty clock to start only when the item is accepted by the customer.

Further, if said item has an issue that is covered by warranty and a claim is filed while warranty is active the clock STOPS until the issue is resolved.

So if you have a "new"
2011 coach that was on the dealer lot sold "as new per DMV" and it had a 1 year warranty, it would be in force for one year from the day to drove it off the lot.

If on the last day the awning fell off you contacted the manufacturer of the awning to make claim the warranty clock for awning stops and it is covered.

Also of note...

If said item is out of your possesion for warranty work the clock stops on the unit.

So if you take it in and the shop keeps it for two months arguing with manufacturer over warranty the clock stops because you are deprived of the use of your item.

Check with your consumer protection department or state att. Generals office to confirm.

The above were in place in California years ago, our consumer office helped us with the extended warranty on a large TV that we had issues with.

On the last week of coverage we had intetmittent, service contract provider wanted to patch it, but we did our homework and the state sent a letter to the insurance company, they sent us a check for enough to replace the 5 year old TV.

Guess I should go after Newmar then. Our DSDP has failing siding, was at the factory before the warranty expired, showed the spiderweb to them, they buffed the paint out. Now they say I have to pay close to $20,000 to replace the whole side material on an 11 year old rig.
Since I reported it to Newmar during the time it was under warranty that should have "Frozen" the clock so it should still be warrantied.

[Hikerdogs]

Originally Posted by laurier

My Girard slideout awning awning has broken stitches. The tissue seems to be OK. (sunbrella I think)
Girard say on their site that the warranty is good for 5 years to actual owner.
My problem is that they claim that the warranty do start when they ship it to the manufacturer, Newmar in my case, not the delivery date from local dealer.

Do you think that this is fair business?
What if the MH sit on the lot for one year?

The way they manufacture it was certainly a source of problems since that now they fused it and dont use stitches.
What is your opinion?
I taught they were first class products......

A change in manufacturing process doesn't necessarily mean the previous process was faulty. Manufacturers change the way they make things every day. What may have once been sewed by hand may now be fused by a machine to save money. It doesn't mean the previous process was faulty most likely it was just more expensive. In fact the previous sewing process may have been superior to the newer process.

Reading through your previous posts it sounds like you aren't the original owner of the motorhome, but rather bought the unit used.

"The MH is a late Essex 2008. I am the second owner"

Most consumer products warranties are to the original retail customer only. Some companies offer the second owner the option to extend a warranty, but that usually requires a registration process and is rarely free of cost.

This doesn't sound like a case of the manufacturer being considered the first owner and the warranty starting at the time it was purchased for production. Rather it sounds like warranty was in force for the original retail customer when as you say "I believe it was delivered in Illinois".

If the warranty was to the original retail customer, and you are not the original retail customer I doubt there is any recourse other than to appeal to the good will of the manufacturer.

[SteveLevin]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Guess I should go after Newmar then. Our DSDP has failing siding, was at the factory before the warranty expired, showed the spiderweb to them, they buffed the paint out. Now they say I have to pay close to $20,000 to replace the whole side material on an 11 year old rig.
Since I reported it to Newmar during the time it was under warranty that should have "Frozen" the clock so it should still be warrantied.

Indeed you can do so. If it weren't for that companies could just delay fixing issues until the warranty ran out.

They may argue this is a second case, or unrelated, but if that's not the case, they absolutely "own" the issue until it's fixed, which buffing out would hardly qualify as in any reasonable court.

Steve

[TQ60]

On the siding repait the clock stops until it if repaired to as new period.

In your case the late date may be issue.

But do contact state consumer protection department, hot nothing to loose but your time

[laurier]

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

A change in manufacturing process doesn't necessarily mean the previous process was faulty. Manufacturers change the way they make things every day. What may have once been sewed by hand may now be fused by a machine to save money. It doesn't mean the previous process was faulty most likely it was just more expensive. In fact the previous sewing process may have been superior to the newer process.

Reading through your previous posts it sounds like you aren't the original owner of the motorhome, but rather bought the unit used.

"The MH is a late Essex 2008. I am the second owner"

Most consumer products warranties are to the original retail customer only. Some companies offer the second owner the option to extend a warranty, but that usually requires a registration process and is rarely free of cost.

This doesn't sound like a case of the manufacturer being considered the first owner and the warranty starting at the time it was purchased for production. Rather it sounds like warranty was in force for the original retail customer when as you say "I believe it was delivered in Illinois".

If the warranty was to the original retail customer, and you are not the original retail customer I doubt there is any recourse other than to appeal to the good will of the manufacturer.

I have checked first and for the warranty it do apply to actual owner, not only to the first one.
Incidently I do not find very logic that a warranty only apply to the original owner. This is only one way to avoid applying it.
Why don't they do it for cars also?
Often like for tires, it is cheaper to buy new ones when they are on sale than applied the offer warranty.
Ther is a rule of thumb for manufcturing process: Do not change what is working well" This is to say that in most cases there is a reason to change a design, money saved is one but usually not the most important reason, especially when your product is supposed to be the BEST and priced accordingly