How do warranties work when I buy an electric gate

How do warranties work when I buy an electric gate
Good question. From a manufacturer and retailer point of view, warranties have some set rules depending on which part of the gate kit and who installed it. Basically, the main warranty is on the motor. Lets say we advertise a 4 year motor warranty. That does not cover the control board, remotes, locks, transformer, batteries etc. The main issue with the control board is the weather. Usually storms or water. There is a consumer warranty for the kit of 3 months, 6 months or 12months by law. Most retailers allow 12months warranty on the control board, batteries remotes etc and the full warranty on the expensive part, the motor. The next thing is, if anything fails within this time, then it will be repaired or replaced if returned to the supplier. The retailer is not responsible to come to your property and fix it. All these warranties say back to the seller for repair or replace. This brings up an issue. What if the customer has installed the kit and some part of the kit fails. He or she will be required to remove the faulty part, and return it back to the supplier. What if the customer has used the services of an installer to install the kit and it fails? Most installers will warranty their work for 3 months normally or sometimes a bit longer. So if an installer has been used and the kit fails, the installer will need to return the faulty part for repair or replace and then re-install it. If more time has passed the installer will probably charge a call out fee to check the system and contact the supplier. This is hard for the installer when the kit fails, he has to run around to the supplier to fix the problem, then reinstall. What happens if the installation is bad and this creates a situation where it causes damage. There is no warranty if this is the case. I always get photos from the customer as part of any warranty claim.  I have been sent photos of the control box mounted on a pole close to the ground and you can see a water mark half way up the box. It was raining for days and the area flooded. If I did not ask for a photo, I would not have known. I had another issue where the end of the motor cracked and the customer wanted a new motor under warranty. On looking at photos of the gate open and closed, I could easy see the main post had moved and the gate did not line up with the motor horizontally so the weight of the gate was hanging on the motor  and not on the gate hinge.  Sorry bad install, no warranty.  Here is a copy of my warranty which may help you...

Limited Manufacturer’s Warranty

  1. The warranty shall be liable only for defects which are due to manufacturing or material defects.
  2. The warranty is valid for 4 years from date of purchase.
  3. Manufacturing error should occur within this limited warranty period, the customer must report this immediately and before disassembling the product to the customer service of the dealer. The product should be returned to the manufacturer where it is tested. Before sending the product, the warranty request must be submitted to the manufacturer. Transport costs are charged to the customer. The customer should enclose a brief description of the problem and the receipt as proof of warranty period.
  4. The manufacturers obligation is limited to the repair or replacement of the product. A refund of the purchase price is not possible without specific agreement with the manufacturer. Defective parts will be repaired or replaced with new parts from the manufacturer.
  5. This limited warranty does not cover; Transport costs, maintenance costs of the product or installation, inspection or control of parts af the product for any reason whatsoever, within and outside the warranty period, shall be borne by the customer and never at the expense of the manufacturer.
  6. This warranty does not apply interventions or modifications by unauthorised third parties ar the end user, as well as improper or inadequate installation, it must be taken according to the installation instructions and use only as described and use as described by the manufacturer. Intentional or accidental damage, as described above, are not entitled to warranty.
  7. There is no liability for
    • Installation, periodic inspection, maintenance, the costs for the installation of the repaired or replaced parts.
    • The warranty does not cover wearing parts, such as fuses, batteries, brushes, bulbs, etc.
    • Transportation costs, maintenance or installation, with respect to this product, for any reason whatsoever, including shipping back to the company, in or out of warranty are to be borne by the customer or selling dealer and never at the expense of the manufacturer.
    • Misuse, improper installation, damage or malfunctions that are not due to product defects, damages that are due to external environmental influences of any kind, improper maintenance or repair, improper alteration to the product, with structural problems of pillars, gates, doors, etc.
    • Damage caused by fire, humidity, water, natural phenomena, thunderstorms, lightning, radio interference or interference from other electrical devices; shorts due to a wrong power connection or power fluctuations on the network as well as all other cases beyond the control of the manufacturer
  8. The warranty is subject to compliance with the technical characteristics and correct, proper installation according to instructions. Safety standards and proper application of instruction manual are of fundamental importance.

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