The Warranty Code is a ten-character code that can be made of numbers or letters. It is created in the Warranty Code Maintenance program on the ASI Service Center menu (see Warranty Code Maintenance). For each Warranty Code, along with the description you will choose if the warranty period is measured in days, weeks, months, or years, and you will tell it how many of these periods are in the warranty. Additionally, you get to choose if this warranty covers labor or parts or both.
There are three categories of warranty code: original, extended, and repair, which correspond to the three warranty code fields in the Service Item (see Service Item - Warranty Tab ). The Original Warranty is usually given by your company, or the manufacturer or distributor when the item is first made or sold. The Extended Warranty is typically sold as an additional coverage for an extended period. The Repair Warranty generally is applied after the Service Item has been repaired. The Repair Warranty can be automatically applied upon completion and invoice of a service order with the use of Group Codes (see Group Code Maintenance)
In Inventory Item Maintenance there is a button on the Additional tab that allows you to determine if the item is to be automatically tracked in ASI Service Center when it is sold. On the same screen where you make that decision, you also assign a default Warranty Code to use for that item (see Service Tracking). If the Track Service flag is checked, whenever the Item is sold a Service Item is automatically created and the Warranty Code you entered is assigned to the Service Item. The Warranty Start Date is set to the invoice date and the Warranty End Date is calculated according to the information you set up in the Warranty Code.
You can also set up a Miscellaneous Item Code to sell a particular warranty (see Miscellaneous Item Maintenance - Warranty). This Miscellaneous Item Code can be used on the original sales order or invoice where the service item is sold, to apply an extended warranty, or it can be entered on the lines panel of a service order when a service item is being repaired.
You also have the option to sell an extended warranty on the same sales order. The extended warranty you sell will become the extended warranty for the Service Item. This warranty can overlap the original, or it can be set to start after the original ends, depending on the settings in Warranty Code Maintenance. To sell an extended warranty with a sales order, the new warranty must be sold on the same sales order as the original Service Item.
If you wish to sell an extended warranty some time after the initial sale, you can do so through Service Order Data Entry. First you must enter the Service Item that you are extending the warranty for. On a line after that Service Item Entry, you can sell the extended warranty using the matching miscellaneous code.
Inheriting and Preserving Warranties - There are two features of warranty handling that are often confused. In the Service Order Options you can select to Inherit Warranty on Replacement. This applies to when a replacement service item is sent out as a result of use the Loaner/replace button on a Warranty Replacement service order. When you send out the replacement for a service item being returned, if the Inherit Warranty on Replacement box is checked, the new item being shipped will take the original warranty from the item being returned, rather than getting a brand new warranty. That's 'inheritance'. Preserving the warranty, which is a check box on each service item, tells the system that when a service item is returned to stock then shipped out again, it should keep the original warranty, rather than getting a new warranty assigned. If an item is sold out of inventory, the system will look to see if a service item already exists for that serial number. If it does already exist, a new warranty is assigned, unless the Preserve Warranty box is checked for that service item.