Water Heater Warranty

[kcv]

What is the name of your state? Washington, DC
Upon returning home from vacation, I found an e-mail from my property manager saying that the water heater in an investment apartment I own had had to be replaced due to malfunction. The e-mail was about 10 days old when I read it. I immediately contacted the property manager only to find out he was unaware that the water heater had been under warranty. When he contacted the plumbing company (the same one that had installed the original water heater), they admitted it was under warranty but said they were under no obligation to honor the warranty because the property manager had not informed them about it when he made the service call. The plumbing company reduced their charge by $200 as a "goodwill" gesture but are still charging me $800 for parts and labor. I don't think I should have to pay given the fact that the water heater was under warranty. Any advice on how I should proceed?

 

[CraigFL]

I understand your distress but the plumbing company seems to be interested in satisfying you in some way and they really had no way of knowing because they deal with so many of these. This is one of those difficult cases because you were gone and apparently the person in charge did not have the information you had about the warranty. It's not like you couldn't have forseen this and done what I do -- put copies of the warranty in a plastic pocket on the water heater and write the intall date with black marker on the side.

Another option that you may have is to ask if the plumber would give you anothe water heater, not installed, to compensate for the warranty. You could store it until you need it or sell it and recover some of your cost. Remember, they may not want to extend the $200 discount if they have to provide another water heater.

 

[kcv]

Thanks very much. You gave me two good ideas (attaching the warranty to the heater and asking for a new heater). But I really want to understand the plumber's point of view. Why don't they want to honor the warranty? Would they have done something different if they had been informed during the initial service call?

 

[acmb05]

Thanks very much. You gave me two good ideas (attaching the warranty to the heater and asking for a new heater). But I really want to understand the plumber's point of view. Why don't they want to honor the warranty? Would they have done something different if they had been informed during the initial service call?

Write them a very nice letter explaining that because of their low handed tactics you will no longer be requiring their services and will deal with another company from now on.

If they installed the water heater in the first place then it would have been in their records and for them to say that since the manager did not mention it that they will not honor it is rediculous.

Then try small claims court to see if you can recoup some of your money for the water heater.

 

[CraigFL]

... If they installed the water heater in the first place then it would have been in their records and for them to say that since the manager did not mention it that they will not honor it is rediculous....

I think what the plumber is saying is that they can't honor the warranty for the transaction that was already made. They needed to know upfront that this was a warranty claim and had they known, they would have handled things differently. Maybe the failure was not even a warranty claim.
My suggestion of seeing if they would honor the warranty for the removed, defective water heater may not even be possible because the defective unit may have been disposed of already. Analysis of the failure may be required for warranty replacement.

The real responsibility for this lies with the OP. Even though the same plumber installed it, it is not their responsibility to know if there is warrantly left on it or not.

 

[BoredAtty]

Ask the plumber what the outcome would have been if he had been informed that the water heater was under warranty.

If the outcome would have been the same as what took place, then the plumber needs to honor the warranty. If the outcome would have been different, then the plumber has a point.