A written warranty is a legal document in which you set out what you promise to do if something goes wrong with your product. Clear organization makes it easier for consumers to compare what you promise in your warranty with what others promise in their warranties. Only by comparing warranties on similar products can consumers decide which warranty offers the coverage that most closely meets their needs.
A written warranty is also a guide for customers to use to find out what to do when something goes wrong with the product. When this happens, customers understandably want to find answers to specific questions quickly and easily. The warranty document should be organized so that they can do this.
The following sections offer some practical suggestions for organizing your warranty so that it is clear and informative.
What Your Warranty Should Include
Use Headings
Use a Chart for a Multiple or Pro Rata Warranty. Some warranties provide different coverage on some parts than on other parts or different coverage during one time period than during another. Warranties of this type are called "multiple" warranties.
A multiple warranty is by its very nature more complex and therefore more difficult to understand than a warranty with only one level of coverage. Using a chart is often the best way to make a multiple warranty clear.
In a multiple warranty, provisions which are common to all the portions of the warranty should appear in the document only once under the appropriate heading.
Charts may be useful in organizing pro rata warranties, although this is usually not necessary if the method of calculating the credit or refund is clearly explained in the text.
