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Authorized Distributor
Warranties
Requirements for Factory Warranties
Are you concerned about the Factory Warranty for your purchase? If not you should be! Very few sellers on the internet are Authorized Distributors or Dealers for the products they advertise. And not every purchase is eligible for an Authorized Factory Warranty.
To be safe it is wise to assume that most advertisers of heating and air conditioning equipment on the internet are not Authorized Distributors or Dealers of the products they advertise. If you don't verify this information you may be purchasing equipment which will have no warranty coverage in the future.
There is one thing an Unauthorized Distributor or Dealer can't give you and that is a Factory Warranty.
In the HVAC industry warranties are handled differently than most other products. An air conditioning or heating system is not portable, it is permanently attached to your house. Unlike appliances, automobiles, electronics, etc. most other products are portable. A portable product can be returned to many Factory Service Centers. Those products generally do not require intense installations. However an air conditioning or heating system does require comprehensive sizing of the system as well as installation. For this reason as well as service, HVAC or heating and air conditioning systems were always sold through a distribution chain that included distributors to dealers or contractors who are trained and knowledgeable in those areas.
That distribution network remains today as it has since the beginning of this industry. Warranties are always handled through this distribution network as well.
Illegitimate advertisers would like you to believe that "A." HVAC equipment rarely has problems so a warranty isn't that important or "B." They can provide full warranty support to you. or "C." Every unit or system comes with a Factory Warranty regardless of who sells it. Nothing could be further form the truth.
The fact remains that only one advertiser on the internet addresses warranties and their issues and that advertiser is DESCO.
As we explained earlier the reason manufacturers distribute and handle their equipment through a distribution network of distributors and dealers or contractors is to make certain their products are sized, applied and installed correctly. Only DESCO, An Authorized Distributor of all the products we sell, concern themselves with correct sizing, application and installation of the equipment they sell.
In order to receive Factory Authorized Warranties from DESCO, please read the following requirements. Our first requirement is the system has to be sized by DESCO. Go to our web site at http://descoenergy.com and Click on the Left Menu at Size My System or go directly to this link http://www.descoenergy.com/tools/hvac_sizing/ Or you can simply Click Here to take you to our sizing form.
After filling out the information requested you can automatically submit this information to us. You will receive an email indicating we received the information and notification to call us for the results. We will then provide you with Guaranteed Sizing and Selection of possible systems to meet your needs listed on Ebay. If you have difficulty in answering any of the questions, call us and we’ll be glad to assist you Toll Free at 877-265-9764. Guaranteed sizing means the system will perform at the temperatures we design for your specific house in your specific climate.
Our second requirement is that you have a licensed certified technician of your choice complete and fill out the warranty validation form we provide for final start up and check out of the system. Any technician gainfully employed in the heating and air conditioning industry has an EPA license which qualifies them to handle refrigerant and refrigerant related systems. The technician does not have to be a contractor, nor a dealer, only licensed by the EPA. The purpose of the warranty validation form is to make certain your new HVAC system is installed and operating correctly. There is really no legitimate reason why any homeowner would not want to have the system checked out properly to know that everything is operating efficiently and safely. The warranty validation form must be returned to our office for full factory warranty coverage. Failure to meet these requirements will result in loss of warranty coverage both from DESCO and the manufacturer.
In addition to the factory warranties DESCO will also provide labor allowances on specific products and situations. If a system would be DOA or dead on arrival which is a very rare situation, DESCO will provide complete replacement of the unit and provide labor allowances. Further if there are any major warranty problems during the first year DESCO will also provide a predetermined labor allowance in certain situations. In specific comparisons to a contractor installed system DESCO gives you equal protection.
Some manufacturers even offer limited warranties which include 5 year labor coverage on specific items such as compressor failures. When you purchase your new HVAC system through an Authorized Distributor, DESCO, you can be assured you have total factory warranty coverage and support. With over 33 years of distribution of HVAC products and systems and with 2nd generation management you can be assured that DESCO will continue to be around for many years to come.
What About the Warranty
One of the biggest issues concerning making a purchase over the internet is warranty. Many questions arise such as "Do I really have a warranty and how do you support it?" DESCO handles all warranty issues as urgent.
If your system has a problem or a failure and you've complied with the above requirements for sizing and the warranty validation form, you should first contact DESCO. We will either advise you of how to diagnose the problem if we feel you are qualified or request that you contact a licensed technician. If a part is defective we will send the part UPS or common carrier depending on what part is required. We may request payment for the part at the time in advance. If we request payment we will credit that amount when the defective part is returned to us for evaluation. Our goal is and always will be to have your equipment operating as quickly as possible.
Under no circumstances will DESCO be liable for any labor costs you may incur unless you have received written approval in advance from DESCO.
Before the internet all warranty issues for heating and air conditioning systems were handled by the contractor who installed the equipment. The contractor purchased their systems from a distributor who would provide parts as required through the warranty. A contractor would generally include labor during the first year as well but the labor was at the contractor’s expense. The distributor maintained a stock of inventory and had the process for handling any and all warranty claims from the contractor. The distributor was under contract with the manufacturer to sell their products, provide advertising, training and support for warranty issues. In the event of an unusual failure or warranty claims such as a compressor failure on start up of a new system, the distributor also had the authority to provide labor allowances in addition to parts. Some manufacturers would require inspection of the problem by their field technical personnel before allowing labor allowances or if there were multiple problems. So in summary HVAC warranties are handled from the installing contractor to the distributor to the manufacturer. In this chain all parties are Authorized by the Manufacturer. The Contractor is a Dealer Authorized by the Distributor and the Distributor was Authorized by the Manufacturer. To purchase the equipment from the Distributor the Contractor had to be licensed and meet the Manufacturers requirements for purchase. This is the method used by all manufacturers from the beginning to today.
During this process of establishing distributors and dealers the manufacturers set up requirements and contracts for their Authorized Distributors and Dealers. The Distributor has many responsibilities including product inventory, parts inventory, training, certified technical and sales staff and most importantly product knowledge and application. The Distributor also has the responsibility to provide factory training for contractors to keep them knowledgeable and up to date. The Distributor also has a large financial commitment in providing for all these services. Remember that the products the distributor is selling is only as good as that particular distributor supports the products. The distributor is then responsible for setting up dealers. The dealer is the contractor that you would normally call to provide pricing for the installation and the equipment.
With the advent of the internet and more Do It Yourself Television, more and more consumers who have a decent level of skills are now beginning to tackle their own installations of heating and air conditioning equipment.
This occurs for several reasons including:
1. Self Accomplishment
2. A better installation
3. $$$ Money Saved on installations amounting to thousands of dollars $$$
5. Reducing energy costs
6. Increasing comfort levels
7. More technical information available to assist the homeowner
More often homeowners tell us they are doing their own installations because they can't find a local contractor who has the experience or knowledge to properly apply today's new energy efficient equipment. Many consumers tell us they are amazed with the contractors who have little or no experience with 2 Stage High Efficiency Heat pumps with Variable Speed or In Floor Radiant Heating Systems with Ultra Efficient boilers.
The bottom line is most consumers are trying to save money while at the same time increasing the overall comfort of their homes.
So where do homeowners turn to when looking for more information? The Internet.
The internet has changed many things in our lives as well as the availability to better information. This has also changed the way many companies now do business. Because of these changes there is now a new method of distributing heating and air conditioning equipment. That change is eliminating the dealer or contractor and purchasing direct from the Distributor.
Unfortunately as these changes occur other problems develop. The biggest problem of all is advertisers selling on the internet who are not Authorized or Qualified to do so. These advertisers are not even recognized by the manufacturers of the products they claim to represent. Further adding to this problem is heating and air conditioning equipment that is not properly sized or installed. This problem creates a nightmare for the manufacturers. As with any other good idea comes some real problems. That problem is are you buying your system form an Authorized Distributor or somebody who simply is working out of their house trying to imitate themselves as an Authorized Dealer or Distributor.
Further an Authorized Distributor has to qualify their customers to be certain they are going to do what is required for a proper installation. There are those customers who wish to bypass any legitimate procedure and ignore sizing and installation requirements until they have a serious warranty issue. Generally these homeowners complaints to manufacturers go unresolved because they failed to follow proper guidelines. It is always these same homeowners who will purchase over the internet and pay absolutely no attention to required sizing or installation and use price as their only guideline.
If you check all the competing ads on Ebay you will find only one heating and air conditioning advertiser states they are an Authorized Distributor, DESCO!
In fact only DESCO requires sizing of all systems we sell and a warranty validation form. Only one advertiser requires that the final installation of every system requires start up and check out of the system by a qualified licensed installer.
Buyer Beware
You will find an ever growing list of advertisers on the internet who are not Authorized by any manufacturer. In fact you will find many of them not even licensed with the simplest and easiest to obtain EPA licenses. With just a little leg work you will also discover many or most of these advertisers are working out of their homes without any license within their own state to be selling the products they advertise on the internet.
Go to the manufacturers web site for the products they advertise and you won't find them listed. Call the manufacturer and you'll most likely discover the seller isn't even known by the manufacturer.
These sellers are easy to spot by their ads and the misleading or lack of information they list.
Take a look at the ads. A picture of a furnace or air conditioner in a box doesn't really explain anything about the product. . The ads only have information that is a direct copy from the manufacturer or robbed form another web site.
In our industry these types of sellers are called Box Sellers or Bootleggers.
Can they provide a factory warranty? How can anybody working out of their homes that isn't licensed in the industry or even a dealer for the product they advertise provide a factory warranty? They can't!
They can tell you they will send you a part if necessary or buy the part if required.
Most advertisers say nothing about the warranty.
Some tell you the equipment rarely breaks down and so a warranty isn't really that important.
But where's the Warranty??
Did the seller put anything in writing?
And what happens when that seller is no longer in business?
And what do you do is the seller decides not to honor anything?
What happens if there is a major catastrophe such as a fire or damage caused by a defective system?
Are they insured?
If they're not a legitimate Authorized Dealer or Distributor, do you believe the manufacturer will stand behind the warranty?
Do you think the manufacturer will stand behind a warranty claim when there was no correct sizing of the equipment and no verification the system was properly checked out by a licensed technician?
How long has the seller been in business?
Is the seller qualified to be in this industry? If so what are their qualifications?
Does the seller have any financial commitment to this industry such as warehousing, inventory, trained technical staff and service?
If none of the above are important to you now, when you have a failure you will see how quickly the costs add up and just how important warranty coverage becomes.
In order to combat this epidemic Goodman took the first stand and inserted a special clause into their warranties that states "There is no Warranty for this product if ordered over the internet." Further all other HVAC manufacturers and their distributors have taken an equal position declaring they will provide no warranty support for internet orders. An internet order is an order that is placed directly to the internet with absolutely no requirements for sizing or proper application or installation.
It’s very easy to understand why no manufacturer wants their products being sold over the internet by illegitimate sellers. First and foremost is the problem of selling the wrong size system for the application. There are enough problems in our industry today caused by incompetent contractors oversizing equipment. In fact reading our trade publications, manufacturers and the federal government’s Department of Energy are reporting the problem of oversizing equipment is of epidemic proportions.
There is also the problem of the wrong system being offered. For example a heat pump is sold instead of a gas furnace or a propane furnace where an oil furnace would be more efficient and less costly to operate.
The other major problems plaguing our industry is improper installations resulting in premature equipment failures.
These problems are caused by lack of contractor education and a very competitive construction market. If homeowners were more knowledgeable in this field they could demand better installations. But when a homeowner has no clue as to what they’re purchasing there is no way to know if the system was sized or installed correctly. In fact the results of the problem of oversizing or improper installations usually show up several years after the system was installed. And that's usually long after the contractor or seller is out of business.
When you consider these problems in epidemic proportions caused by the very contractors in this field who are supposed to be knowledgeable and competent, imagine the possibilities added when a Bootlegger starts selling HVAC equipment to an even more incompetent homeowner who is generally very misinformed or has no knowledge of the equipment they are purchasing nor how to install it correctly. That is the perfect scenario for failure. The Bootlegger with no formal training or experience, selling a product they know little or nothing about to an even more ignorant homeowner is an automatic recipe for failure. Worse yet is the homeowner who has no intention of using a technician to check out the final installation. That’s enough to make any manufacturer cringe.
The ignorance of the Box Seller’s ads are even more incredible. Some state the reason manufacturers have this closed loop of distribution is to protect their contractors. The ignorant Box Seller rambles on about them being some type of pioneer by offering you the opportunity to purchase equipment and bypass the traditional distribution loop. They also attack contractors for ripping people off. But it’s the Box Seller who’s ripping off his customers and the public. What the Box Seller doesn’t even realize or seem to care is if the equipment was sized or installed correctly. And when it comes to warranty the Bootlegger’s customers are totally dependant on that Box Seller. When any manufacturer finally catches up to the Bootlegger and shuts off their supply of products that Bootlegger’s customers are left without any warranty support whatsoever. The information provided by manufacturers today in their installation manuals is not designed to assist the Do It Yourselfer who has little or no knowledge of this industry.
DESCO is an Authorized Distributor and/or Dealer for all products we sell.
DESCO Verification
But don't take our word for it. Verify Us!
For Goodman products we are listed as an A+ distributor, the highest level. To achieve this A+ level we must purchase and inventory a large amount of product every year, maintain a certain level of inventory and parts and support our customers. To check us out enter our zip code of 17403: Click Here
For York products we are listed as a York Dealer. To check us out enter our zip code of 17403 at this site: Click Here
For Tappan, Gibson and Kelvinator products we are listed as a dealer/distributor. To check us out enter our zip code of 17403 at this site: Click Here
For Trinity Boilers from New York Thermal Email to Clifford Taite Sales Manager United States and Canada Click Here
Go to the Better Business Bureau. To check out DESCO Click Here
Now do the same for any other advertiser. You will most likely be shocked at what you won't find out about any competitor.
Exactly how does a Bootlegger or Box Seller offer a warranty or warranty support on products that have 10, 20 and lifetime warranties? Their customers hope they don’t go out of business or the manufacturer catches up to them and shuts off their product supply. No seller can offer a factory warranty when they aren’t even part of the Authorized Dealer or Distribution loop.
If you simply take time to investigate any advertiser on the internet and go to the manufacturer’s web site and check out and see if this is a legitimate distributor or dealer you can save yourself a lot of unnecessary problems in the future.
DESCO’s Credentials
DESCO has been in the heating and air conditioning business for over 33 years providing design, sales and service to residential commercial and industrial customers throughout the United States.
We have designed projects as large as $40,000,000 to as small as a $1,000.
Our technicians and phone technical support is NATE certified providing you with the best trained staff available. To learn more about NATE and what this means to you go to: http://www.natex.org/ or Click Heree All our staff, technicians and sales support are also EPA licensed and NATE Certified. EPA licensing is a minimum requirement for anyone gainfully employed in the HVAC field and should not be misconstrued to indicate the competence level or expertise. An EPA license is a basic requirement to handle refrigerant only and is very easy to obtain. NATE certification however does indicate competency and knowledge of the HVAC field. We also have registered certified engineering services available for large commercial and industrial projects.
DESCO has a total of over 32,000 square foot of warehouse and we stock all the products we advertise on the internet.
DESCO also has a 3,000 square foot area for showroom and training purposes.
DESCO also has a complete fiberglass duct fabrication area to make a complete heating and air conditioning system like an erector set.
The largest selection of over 5,000 products and manufacturers from furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioning system, boilers, radiant heat, accessories, indoor air quality and much more.
We handle manufacturers such well known names as York, Honeywell, White Rodgers, Robertshaw, Trane, Goodman, Gibson, Kelvinator, Tappan, Nutone, New Yorker Burnham, Peerless, Utica, Trinity, and much more.
Questions?
Call us Toll Free at 877-265-9764
Or Email at
info@descoenergy.com
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