Each mill has its own process for handling claims and some are more lenient than others. However, even when a claim is legitimately a manufacturing problem you may have a hard time getting it resolved.

Any little quirk that may afford an opportunity for a denial or a minimal response can and will be taken advantage of. After all, as badly as you may want to get as much as you can from a manufacturer, it, on the other hand, wants to give as little as possible. Certainly you have to understand the mill has its policies. These require it to get a certain amount of information such as inspection reports, test results, etc., in order to substantiate a claim. In addition, yours is not the only claim it may be working on.

However, what happens sometimes is, you get lost in the crowd of other dealers who have filed. The initial claims analyst you talk to likely has no technical background, as he is basically an administrative person. Many have no knowledge of some of the terms that are used to describe defects in a product, surprising as that may sound.

You should also take this route as your practice of filing a claim: Contact the accounts receivable department to dispute the invoice. This way you have the attention of two departments at the mill which will now be talking to each other about your situation. The more people you have involved the greater your chances of getting a response and action on your claim. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

One thing you have to keep in mind is, just because you think what you have is a manufacturing related problem, it may not be. Often we find the dealer just doesn’t understand the product or has too much faith in warranties. As far as understanding the product is concerned, wood tops the list. It generates more complaints and concerns from its normal characteristics which people just don’t understand. You must have a better knowledge of this product if you’re going to sell it—that goes for any of the products you sell and install.

No matter what your complaint is you should register it with the mill. Do not leave the analyst without a claims number. For example, don’t file a claim with the fiber producer without first registering the claim with the manufacturer. The reason for this is, if it is not a fiber issue, you may go six months with the fiber company and then go back to the manufacturer and it will want to know why there was
such a delay in filing. This could jeopardize your warranty period.

As for latent defects, things that manifest themselves after a carpet is put into service, such as delamination, fuzzing, pilling, sprouting, etc., should be filed within one year if they appear in that period of time.

Lately, several dealers have had complaints and claims on carpet which has been installed for years—one was installed eight years ago. No one is going to do anything after that period of time. Some others have been installed for two years but they never filed a claim with the mill. Also, if you think there is a problem or you get a complaint within two months, for example, file the claim. This way you have a record of when the initial problem started and won’t have to explain why it took so long to bring it to the mill’s attention.

If you act in a responsible, pro-active way rather than react later, your chances of a resolution and a denial can be lessened. You’ve taken one of the weapons out of its arsenal for declining your claim. If the options are open to you to help yourself by following a manufacturer’s claims policy or procedures, why shouldn’t you take advantage of them to help yourself? After all, they exist for the benefit of both the dealer and the manufacturer. In the long run it will be time saving for the retailer—even if the claim isn’t a mill defect.

Understand you have to be reasonable and fair to the consumer and the manufacturer when handling a claim. You can’t assume any and every problem you have with a product is a manufacturing related issue. Most of the problems you’ll have, and I’ve said it in my column for years, are from the lack of knowledge and understanding of the products you sell. And, to repeat, this seems to be more so with wood flooring materials today, by far.

Remember, if you have a question, concern or claim you need help with, call us. We have a staff of knowledgeable expert professionals who can help you with answers to most every concern you have. We’ll help you determine if what you have is a manufacturing related problem or something else. There isn’t anything we can’t answer.