For anyone who sells equipment, appliances, electronics or machinery, warranty is a promise with a long tail. A unit sold today can come back for repair in two years — and by then, the bill is lost, the seller has changed, and the only proof of purchase is the customer's word.
That is how warranty leaks: free repairs on units that are no longer covered, claims that cannot be verified, and no idea which units are in the field when a component turns out to be faulty.
Where warranty management breaks
- Serial numbers are not recorded at the sale, or are recorded in a different system from the one service uses.
- Warranty start dates are guessed, often from the manufacturing date instead of the sale.
- Service teams cannot see sales records, so they decide coverage on the spot.
- Dealers sell units without registering them, so the brand has no record of who owns what.
Start at the sale
The single most effective fix is to record the serial number on the sale line. From that moment the unit has:
- an owner — the customer it was sold to,
- a start date — the day it was sold,
- a cover — the warranty that came with it,
- a history — everything that happens to it from now on.
How Zaqnet connects sales and service
- Serial numbers are recorded on sales. Products that need them ask for them, and the sale line shows each unit's serial.
- Sold units register under warranty against the customer, building your installed base automatically.
- Service cases are raised against the customer's unit, with its warranty or AMC cover visible — see AMC management.
- Work orders send a technician, with the job's history attached.
- Waivers of charges on out-of-cover jobs go through approval, so goodwill is a decision, not a habit.
Everything sits in ControlRoom, with technicians working jobs in GroundLink.
A warranty you cannot verify is a discount you did not decide to give.
Worked example: what unregistered units cost
A brand sells 50,000 units a year, 60% through dealers who don't record serial numbers. That is 30,000 units a year with no registered owner or start date.
If 5% of those bring a claim that a registered unit would have failed — expired cover, wrong product, damage not covered — that is 1,500 claims a year paid on trust. At ₹2,500 a claim, ₹37.5 lakh a year of repairs the warranty never promised.
Registering serials at the sale doesn't stop genuine claims. It stops the ones you were never meant to pay.
Checks every claim should pass
Before a technician is sent or a part is replaced free:
- Is the unit registered? Serial number found, against this customer.
- Is it within its cover period? From the sale date, not the manufacturing date.
- Is the fault covered? Physical damage, misuse and consumables are usually excluded.
- Was it installed or serviced by an authorised party where your terms require it?
- Has it been repaired for the same fault before? Repeat faults are a product signal.
When the answer to any of these is unclear, the claim should go for a decision, not be granted by default.
Warranty, extended warranty and AMC
| Standard warranty | Extended warranty | AMC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comes with | The sale | Paid add-on, usually at sale | Paid contract, often after warranty |
| Covers | Manufacturing defects | Defects, for longer | Preventive visits plus agreed repairs |
| Paid by | Included in price | Customer | Customer, yearly |
| Revenue | Cost to you | Revenue | Recurring revenue |
A registered installed base is what lets you move from the first column to the last: you know who owns what, and when their cover ends.
The numbers to review monthly
- Share of units sold with a registered serial, by dealer.
- Claims by status — valid, out of cover, not covered, unclear.
- Repeat claims on the same unit or the same component.
- Units leaving warranty next quarter — your AMC pipeline — see AMC management.
What it gives you beyond claims
- Renewal sales: units nearing the end of warranty are AMC prospects.
- Recall readiness: you know which customers have units from a faulty batch.
- Dealer accountability: who sold the unit is on record.
Use the calculator below to estimate what unverified warranty claims are costing you.