Shorter warranty crusade sparks interesting feedback
David Perry, Executive Editor -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2007
The message has come through loud and clear: Keep up the heat on the warranty issue. So I will. My crusade for shorter bedding warranties — three years would be nice but one year would be awesome — has been welcomed in a number of circles, some of them public and some of them private.
There are some very interesting ideas out there on ways that shorter warranties can create new business opportunities. Selling extended warranties is one option being considered, and it's one I like. Tell me why an extended warranty is good for a refrigerator but not for a mattress?
One challenge on this issue is that not everyone agrees with us that shorter warranties will help the industry sell more beds. One of my retail friends gives me support here: "Lengthy warranties affect the retailer's ability to sell new product to the consumer, because they assume that if their mattress is still covered by its original warranty, it is still 'good as new'."
That same retailer raises an intriguing point: Are our bedding leaders setting the proper example? "It would be interesting," my retail friend said, "to know how many leaders in the bedding industry sleep on mattresses newer than the car they drive. If we do not realize the need to replace product in our own homes, how can we expect our customers to do otherwise?"
That's a fascinating question. My quick take is that most bedding leaders on the wholesale side of the business do sleep on relatively new mattresses. I hear of executives trying out their company's newest bedding to see what they think. I'm not so sure what is happening on the retail side of the business, I must admit.
Another of my supporters calls attention to the disparity between the useful life of the mattress and the length of the warranties. "We inform our customers that the functional life should be between seven and 10 years, regardless of the warranty given," this producer noted. "Therefore, it would seem practical for the manufacturers to first scale down the warranty to five years, for manufacturer's defects. No other industry that I am familiar with warrants past the effective life of the product."
We like to say the bedding industry does a great job of marketing. Not on the warranty issue.
Many household appliances now have basic warranties of one year. We use (or should use) our mattresses eight hours each night, but we provide warranties years longer than those commanded by the ranges or washers and dryers that we use for just a few hours each week.
Those washing machine marketers are spinning circles around us.
To be continued...
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
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