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Warranty Issues and Expectations

Updated

For homeowners looking to utilize warranty services, please keep the following considerations in mind:

 

Claim Initiation Process:

  1. Start the warranty claim with the warranty company and include Next Brick as a point of contact.
  2. Send the claim number and ALL pertaining details to the Next Brick team.

 

Warranty Process Insights at Next Brick:(Warranties are typically designed for homeowners and may not always align perfectly with the needs of rental properties.)

  1. Note that the warranty process may disrupt our usual control and workflow with our vendor network. Communication delays and miscommunication can occur as many warranty companies transfer control to ground vendors who we found are of low quality.(Poor ratings on google)

  2. Common Challenges with Warranty Experiences:

    • Lack of standardization among warranty companies causing unnecessary disruption in management service and tenant experience.
    • Warranty claims are coordinated by less-trained staff, sometimes with language barriers, leading to delays.
    • Significant delays and increased tenant dissatisfaction in warranty cases.
    • Low tenant ratings due to incomplete issue resolution, vendor professionalism issues, tenant privacy concerns, unpredictable timing, and communication challenges.
    • Rapid escalations: Tenants may demand rent reimbursement or reductions in some cases.
    • Tenant turnover: Our "Release" data indicates that tenants may refuse to lease homes again due to poor experiences with warranty claims.

We want to ensure a smoother process for all parties involved, but it's important to be aware of the potential challenges and uncertainties that can arise when dealing with warranty claims.

 

Actual example of a warranty case:

Here's a timeline summarizing the stove burner issue and the resolution process with opting warranty:

  • August 20th: Tenant reports inoperative stove burner.

  • August 21st: Appliance technician dispatched to address the issue.

  • August 22nd: Work scheduled for August 23rd.

  • August 23rd: Owner expresses the desire to go through warranty.

  • August 24th: Warranty claim filed by owner.

  • August 27th: Owner provides warranty claim information.

  • August 27th-28th: Next Brick frequently receives repetitive spam messages with the notification "A vendor is scheduled and will contact you within 24 hours."

  • August 29th: Owner needs clarification with warranty company for details.

  • August 30th: Tenant instructed to stay by the appliance for warranty technician on September 7th.

  • September 7th: Tenant reports that no technician showed up for the repair.

  • September 8th: Homeowner contacts warranty, confirms additional 1-2 days delay.

  • September 10th: Still no technician, Next Brick contacts warranty.

  • September 10th: Warranty mentions their contracted vendor is unresponsive, opting for reimbursement to the owner.

  • September 11th: Tenants frustrated and consider not paying rent for September.

  • September 12th: Next Brick regains control and dispatches an appliance vendor.

  • September 13th: Vendors are scheduled.

  • September 15th: Issue finally resolved.

The standard resolution time at Next Brick is 4-5 days, but this issue took a month to resolve, prompting the return to using our own vendors to address the problem.

 

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