warranty clerk

[d4dice]

We use an outside service for submitting our Ford warranty claims. Ford Motor Co. thinks we are a star on the 126 form. This obviously means that we are not pushing the envelope and collecting as much as we posibly can. Does anyone have a good outside service that they would recommend.

[fburrows]

Dana:

You may want to rethink this problem. If you hire a warranty clerk and tell them their job is to get you on the high side of warranty expense you will probably get higher up on the list. Then you will be back on this board asking questions about audits and factory relations. If you are at zone average I would look upon this as one less problem that you have with your dealership.

I would get an experienced person to review your existing warranty claims to make sure that you are collecting for things like paint material, GOG and make sure that all the necessary parts are being claimed. For instance, if you replace a leaking water pump is coolant charged out. Make sure sublets are being charged out. There are lots of problems that can occur. An experienced person can tell you a lot by looking at a hundred warranty claims.

If you are properly handling the claims then I would leave things alone. By the way my background is strictly retail and I have been through lots of factory audits and trust me it is not something you should wish for.


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Frank Burrows
Automotive Business Solutions LLC
fburrows@absdata.com

[robc]

Ah, the great silence of the board.

The problem is that since our company is known for providing warranty information then people are afraid to post a reply - in fear that I'll just zap it anyway.

Ok, I'll break the ice a bit and give you some of my thoughts. (These might not directly apply to you - but just the question in a general sense if others have a similar question.) Let me preface by saying I've been on both sides of the coin (actually I've been on three sides if that's possible).

Any processing company is going to get you paid for what you provide them. If the claim is weak then they aren't going to stretch it. Of course, I'd love for someone to coach me along at *potential* areas of lost revenue, but in the end - 'if it ain't on the claim, it ain't getting paid.'

For instance, with Ford claims I could sit down and slam 12650D__ labor op after labor op on the claim and spike your labor costs through the roof. But if the tech never said he performed a PIDs, or fuel pressure, or whatever - then I'd be just making stuff up.

On the other side, if the tech wrote "montior PIDs/roadtest" and the company simply isn't claiming 12650D81 because there were no results or reason for the roadtest, then I might have a problem. Certainly, tech documentation is something that needs to be improved, but getting paid should come first.

With all that ... here's my list that I provide dealers with my own personal running commentary which is hard because I consider several of these folks as friends - and that they are all good, hard-working people. (I also realize that chances are your processing firm is one of these companies).

Summers Dealer Services 800-361-1449 - (MI based - national firm) I met Brad Summers almost a decade ago and we still talk every few months. I've never heard anyone complain that Brad didn't maximize his claims - ever. He also contributes to the FDA so we share a lot of the same views of Ford's dealer policies.

WPI 815-398-2500 - (IL based - National firm)WPI has been around for a long time and we first met up in 1996. You might also read that they frequently contribute to my newsletter Q&A section. Quite simply I am not to level of expertise on claim submission pactices that these folks are.

Quality Claim Processing 508-509-1013 - in my conversations with Craig I am impressed with how much he takes on when battling for every last dime when Ford short-changes a dealer. That is not to say all the companies don't go after you money, but Craig seems to take it to heart. He's East Coast based

Key Dealer Services 716-646-1210 - Charlie Hoskins does a lot of the Ford STAR training sessions for warranty, so to say he's in with Ford is an understatement. I've had many people in the opposite situation (high warranty expense) and Key has fixed them up. Everyone I've ever referred to them has been happy - but since I don't know them personally I am not sure I could add more.

RSA, Inc 800-836-0192 - Randy Shepard is a direct competitor of ours in several areas, so here's illustrating my confidence in providing their number. His company also does provide claim processing. What more can I say - I met Randy several years ago and he's a good guy, they're good people working there, dealers like his service.

WPC 303-795-0612 They are out in CO. I am not 100% positive that they do Ford, but over the years I've referred people to them who wanted someone in that area and I've never heard from them. Zip, nada, nothing. I feel like, ummm, ok, you're welcome.

And finally here are people in my files that I know absolutely nothing about:
DFW - 817-595-3020 (TX)
BMAC - 706-367-4343 (GA)
HCS - 517-265-7995 (MI)
Fred's - 828-890-1717 (NC)

Let me know if I got any of the numbers wrong ... I think I've done enough damage for one day.



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** Rob, Editor WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[Ronc925]

Just to add to Rob's comments...

I had the opportunity to work with WPC in Colorado. For the manufacturer I was involved in they did a great job. They bill based on the percentage of dollars paid at that time.

If is isn't documented on the RO, then it will not likely get paid no matter who is submitting the warranty claim.

Back when I worked for 3 different dealerships belonging to the big-3, I got creative with claims, adding op-codes that were not justified, billable sealers, etc. All 3 manufacturers eventually caught my "errors".

When I was a factory rep on the warranty side of the business, I found several of my assigned dealers being creative with claims. One dealer's service manager went over the line far enough to end up in the Fed. Pen. Keep in mind warranty claims are usaully sent electronically over the "phone lines", Interstate wire fraud can be a big thing.

Most manufacturers now analyis claims by several means, a lot of information is given back to the dealer and some is not. But there is always some computer programmer running special programs, looking to find the dealer's that stand out statistically.

[sheri01]

I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERNS, BUT I ALSO WONDER WHY YOU DO NOT CONSIDER HIRING A COMPETENT IN-HOUSE CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR. A PROPERLY TRAINED PERSON WILL NOT ONLY BE ABLE TO ACCURATELY PROCESS CLAIMS FOR YOUR DEALER, THEY WOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO ASSIST IN MAKING SURE YOUR DOCUMENTATION SUPPORTS YOUR CLAIMS. I KNOW THIS IS OFTEN CONSIDERED A LOW-SKILL POSITION IN THE MARKET. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU LOOK CLOSELY AT YOUR WARRANTY PARTS AND LABOR SALES FIGURES. THIS IS GENERALLY A SIGNIFICANT DOLLAR AMOUNT. WHILE THE PROCESSING SERVICES CAN CODE WHAT THEY SEE, ARE YOU GETTING THE BENEFIT OF ON-SITE ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON DOCUMENTATION, TIME PUNCHING, ETC? IN GENERAL, A GOOD CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR WILL BE ABLE TO SPOT POTENTIAL PROBLEMS BEFORE THE MANUFACTURER WILL. AFTER ALL, THIS PERSON SEES ALL THE CLAIMS BEFORE THEY ARE SENT TO THE MANUFACTURER FOR PAYMENT. THIS PERSON WOULD ALSO HAVE A PERSONAL STAKE IN PERFORMING THIS JOB ACCURATELY. MOST CLAIMS ADMINISTRATORS I KNOW TAKE THE JOB VERY SERIOUSLY. THE PERSONALITY TYPE SEEMS TO BE SIMILAR. MOST CLAIMS ADMINISTRATORS ARE VERY DETAIL-ORIENTED PEOPLE. THEY ENJOY "BEATING THE MANUFACTURER WITH THEIR OWN RULES" SO, WHY NOT HAVE THE PERSON HANDLING THIS IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR BUSINESS HAVE A VERY PERSONAL STAKE IN THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF YOUR STORE????

[Tyler Nathan]

First off, I would like to thank Rob for the excellent referral. I also wanted to point out that Warranty Dollars and Sense Newsletter has been a great help to our company. It is one of the few non-manufacturer references we subscribe to. Which in itself, says a lot.

We have a saying here at WPI. It goes something like this. We cant manage your service center from our office in Illinois but we can free up your management so they can service your business. Every minute of your time you focus on warranty administration is wasted time from your business. There simply is no reason to process your own claims, when we can for you, at the same price or less and consistently do a better job. Especially now that the original documents never leave the dealership. Using our service is also more flexible than an in-house system. When your service center slows down or speeds up, your administration expense adjusts along with it. With the current economy, now is the time to allow your management to focus on profits and let us worry about administration. Call us, the company that has been helping dealers in their fixed operations since 1966. Check out our web page at www.wpi66.com or you may call us for a list of satisfied customers and a free quote. The number to call is 1-888-417-2643.

Sincerely,
Tyler Nathan
General Manager
Warranty Processing, Inc.

[jgroth]

Just another thought on this hot button topic. You said you were a "star" on the 126 but don't forget recent publications from Dealers Edge. One issue with the 126 over time is that the bell curve has become much steeper. In other words, the difference from being a star to being a problem has been greatly reduced in recent years as we have all gotten smarter and apparently more consistent. Just a word of caution to be careful what you ask for - you just may get it. I don't know your variance but you may not be that far off the actual dollars and it may just take a simple in house review of your documentation and claiming process to improve your dollar retention without jeopardizing the 126. Be craeful and good luck.