*This article is only intended for retailers selling to end users/consumers.

There is no straightforward answer on this topic. Our company’s position since our establishment is that we warrant our goods are fit for purpose and if any product is found to be defective, we will replace or refund. All of our products have gone through a vigorous quality management control stage and due to the high volume of products we produce at our facility, we have perfected our processes and the probabilities of faulty products that are able to make it past our QC are very low.

Part of our quality control process is that we log all complaints and have done so for over a decade. As a retailer yourself, it is perhaps unsurprising to know that our data suggests almost all failures are caused by improper installation, usage, maintenance or a combination of any.

The durability of any flooring products is mainly based on the aforementioned three factors: installation, usage, and maintenance. It is common sense that if all three were carried out correctly, they would last for many years. The same can be said for many other things: carpets, cars, clothing etc. On one end of the spectrum, we can have a floor that’s been installed meeting the BSI 8201:2011 standard and cared for by a user who takes all necessary precautions and adheres to a schedule which is carried out by professionals. And on the other end of the spectrum, a floor could be fitted without adherence to manufacturer guidelines, no mat to keep grit from footwear, using normal household cleaners containing chemicals which are detrimental to wood flooring and never carrying out any maintenance to revitalise the wood. Of course, the latter type usage will wear and deteriorate much faster on the flooring.

Consumers in the UK enjoy great statutory protection, and it takes precedence over and above any warranty or guarantees they may have with the retailer. The warranty you offer is an addition to their statutory right. Giving out a warranty inspires confidence and is a great marketing tool, but must be used with caution. Our recommendation for the warranty length should be conditional and based on how much control you have over the three key elements – Fit, Use, and Care.

For example, if you supply our product under the following conditions:
1) Fitted by your own team who have delivered care instructions & other recommendations to the customer.
2) Fitted coasters on all their furniture, matt both inside and outside the house.
3) Gifted the Q-Care range of genuine aftercare products for cleaning to the customer and provided details of how they can obtain refills.
4) Provided a maintenance schedule based on assessments made on factors such as footfall volume.
5) Your customer has already purchased a 3-year care plan with you.
Then your warranty period should reflect the amount of control you have over their floor.

Contrast this with a floor you supply over the Internet under the following circumstances:
1) You do not know who fits the floor/it could be a DIY job.
2) Very little you can do to make them download and read the care leaflet.
3) You are not able to convince them of the importance of using a proper aftercare product.
4) They have not made an assessment and/or planned a maintenance schedule.
Without this face-to-face interaction and the assurance of the floor being fitted correctly, you have very little control over all three elements, therefore the length of the warranty should be limited.

Assessments such as channel of sales, demographics, and value of goods, can all be taken into account to form your decision on what guarantees you should offer to the end user. The length of warranty can be viewed as your expectation and/or estimate of how long the product should last in the environment of your purchaser. Of course, the warranty would be invalidated if the product failed because of improper fitting, improper usage or improper care which is often the case. But this still results in an unwanted confrontation with an upset customer. With online reputation being so important today, in our opinion, the guarantee windows should be used as a tool to manage customer expectations. At the same time, we highly recommend our authorised resellers adhere to good selling practices which would be beneficial to both the seller and the user in the long run.

To learn more about our genuine care products. Please follow the link here.