Warranty Parts Retention

[Mike Cummings]

I'm looking for thoughts on warranty parts retention. Does your parts dept. or service dept. perform this function? When the time comes to ship parts back to the Manufacturer do you ship all claims back in one box or do you have a "One Claim One Box" policy? And which Brand do you work for?

[Richard]

GM Dealership; Parts holds the warranty parts in a 10 box bin (one bin for each of the #'s at the end of the RO); Parts handles the return if needed; Service gets paid the extra money for the return; Parts 'eats' any parts not found, or claims rejected.
One Claim, One Box.

Sound fair?

[This message has been edited by Richard (edited 12-20-2002).]

[Parts007]

Another GM Dealer here Mike. Richard, you failed to mention the most important part about which department gets to 'eat it!' when a part is missing.
Our counterperson signs and stamps the repair order when all warranty parts are returned. If the parts are found to be missing when GM asks for them, the first thing I do is go to that original copy to see if the warranty parts were signed for back when the work was done. Most of the time, when a part is missing, it was never returned by the technician. In that case, service gets to 'eat it'.

[Richard]

Doesn't matter if it was signed off or not, the Fixed Ops Manager is the Service Manager 1st and foremost, and if we can't find a part, FOR ANY REASON, it is billed to 067F. Had a case the other day where I KNOW the tech didn't turn in the part, so I refused to sign off on the ticket, in FACT marked the ticket "Part not returned" and when the WPC called for the part, of course we didn't have it, but the FixedOps manager attempted to charge it to 067F...I caught it in the office, showed the controller my proof, and it ended up charged to 067D, but boy it was a fight.....

[This message has been edited by Richard (edited 12-20-2002).]

[greg01]

VW Dealer. VW's policy is one claim, one box. We use a date based system (I know, I know... even VW doesnt like it, there is a long story). Parts keeps the parts. If they need to be returned for warranty inspection, the return shipping UPS cost is charged to the service dept. If the part can not be found, the cause is determined, and charged to the appropriate dept. If the cause can not be determined, it is split.

[Mike Cummings]

I'm replying to my own topic. Has this been done before? I'm a VW Dealer also and just recieved a fax saying VW Warranty has amended their policy for shipping parts back to Auburn Hills. The new guidelines will be for a maximum of 15 claims and/or 50lbs per box with proper documentation to be included. This is a fantastic step for VW and will help to make the process of shipping parts back a lot easier.

[Becky]

With Ford a call tag is sent to the dealership requesting parts to be sent back. We take the call tag attach it to the requested part and return it to the address given on the call tag. As for packaging if the adress is the same for a multiple of parts then we put them all in one box. Otherwise each part is handled seperately. If a part is called for and it was not returned by the technician then this claim is charged back to the service dept.

[DanaC]

BMW Dealership, We also print a return tag and sign off the parts ret'd by the tech. If a part is missing and signed off by parts, the parts abosrbs the write off. If it is not signed off, the service absorbs it. Our loss is at most less that 5 parts per month. BMW does not limit claims per box, they just ask that you use common sense when packing the boxes so parts are not physically damaged. We get daily parts return tags from BMW and as soon as a claim is paid, if the parts are not requested, they are scrapped.

[mh]

One claim, one box is the easiest to track. We have a "retired" tech who handles the warranty parts organization and return, maintaining and inventorying Special Tools and whatever bulletin filing we have. Also assists in minor parts functions. Salary split between Svc and Parts. We have absolutely no problems with Warranty Parts now that we use him. Money well spent.

[pkwalsh]

Volvo,VW, and Jeep dealer...Parts hold warranty parts in bins by last digit of RO#. RO's are stamped for parts return..if part is not found we refer to the original to see if it was stamped..then decide who pays, usually all rejections are billed to parts and I fight to get them switched to service. I recently got the updated packing info from VW about new packing lists and more parts in one box, but I don't know if anyone can write small enough to fill in that packing list!!!!!!

Parts does all the shipping, packing etc. of returns, also scrapping and carrying it all to the dumpster. It is a thankless job.