Trace wish list [RE-wrenches]

[allan]

Jay wrote:
2. better reliablility.  I think this is the biggest issue, for me anyway.
I can get the wires into the box and work around many of the items to be
fixed, but when it fails with some simple problem that requires a long drive
to repair that they are not paying for ( unlike a washingmachine company for
example) its really expensive.

YES!
    Maybe this is the most important wish list item of all.  In mature
industries, qualified/certified installers know that if they use a
particular name brand of equipment and that equipment fails during warranty,
the installer will be reimbursed for the service call by the manufacturer.
How do plumbers choose their brands of water heaters? By the quality of the
manufacturer's support; not by price or name recognition.  Maytag sends a
certified Maytag repairman out to fix your washing machine, and pays him for
the call.  This is standard practice in established industries.
    Why not our industry? We haven't demanded it yet.  Agreed, it probably
would only apply to the big ticket items, like inverters, modules, wind
generators, maybe some batteries, things that can't be easily swapped out,
or where the value of the product isn't enough to justify a flat rate
reimbursement.  That's the kind of manufacturer's support that is overdue in
our young-but-maturing industry.
    Case in point: Three years ago I installed a Windseeker 503.  It was the
first to try out their C40 wind-version regulator (the "Battery Optimizer"
or something).  I went through two sets of blades before being sent a set
that was equally balanced and didn't cause oscillation.  Sure, I got new
blade sets sent "at no charge", along with words like "that never happens"
and "we check every set before it gets shipped" or the like.  But no
apology, and certainly no recompense for the (at least) three call-backs to
a remote site necessary to resolve it.  And of course, no solution to the
controller that was discontinued shortly thereafter...That was the last
Windseeker or Air we installed, come to think of it...

Michael, please add to the wish list:
*Manufacturer's reimbursement plan for (choose one:)
certified/qualified/licensed service technicians for product warranty
callbacks.

Yeah, some people would try to abuse a program like that...just like in any
industry.  I guess 1/3 of Trace warranty products have nothing found wrong.
So maybe there's a qualification training, like hydronic manufacturers have.
(Wouldn't be a bad idea anyway, to deal with the cheapasssolar.coms.)  And
it would sure establish brand loyalty for this solar bozo.

Allan at Positive Energy

>

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