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- Although
we at Lumen FX know you love the lighting business as much as
we do, we also know there is a part of it that you hate. Dealing
with defective ballasts and miswired fixtures is always a challenge,
but we have put together some rules of thumb to make it less
painful, and less unprofitable for your company.
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- The first
rule is: Never
perform any work without prior authorization and approval of
labor charges.
Virtually every manufacturer in the lighting business has terms
that strictly state that no claims will be honored unless prior
authority is granted by the manufacturer to perform the work.
This makes sense from many different standpoints. It protects
you against a disagreement over the time spent to perform a repair.
It also makes sense from the standpoint of the factory, because
depending on the nature and scope of the problem, it is sometimes
in their best interest to completely replace equipment rather
than field repair. In other cases, rather than tying up your
people with unprofitable repair work, factories may opt to bring
out their own people to make repairs. Every manufacturer can
tell stories about the legitimate $60 claim to fix a $30 fixture.
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- HID BALLASTS:
Contact
the agent.
- COMPACT
FLUORESCENT:
Contact
the agent.
- LINEAR
FLUORESCENT:
As
much as we would like to assist in the process, lighting manufacturers
cannot handle defective replacements on linear ballasts. This
is a policy that is set forth by the ballast manufacturers, not
the fixture manufacturers. If you purchase a single fixture and
the ballast fails, feel free to contact your local distributor
for a swap. If, however, a ballast fails on a project, we strongly
recommend following the below procedure.
- Instructions:
1. Get the date code off of the ballast(s).
2. Contractor call (preferably from jobsite) appropriate ballast
manufacturer.
3. Ask for warranty service department.
4. Write down the name of person you are given.
5. Advise them of the part number and quantity of defective ballasts
and date code.
6. Tell them you will need labor re-imbursement. (Usually $20.00
ea)
7. Advise them of the job name. Ask that they log the job name.
8. Ask that they send replacement ballasts ASAP (to jobsite)
to replace the defectives. Ask them to enclose the following
in the package with the ballasts: The check for labor. RGA for
the defective ballasts.
9. Repeat process for any subsequent failures. Speak to the same
person every time. Review the previous failure history with that
person. Ask that they log job name again. This will establish
a history, and put you in a much better position to demand higher
labor compensation for every return trip.
- REMEMBER
TO ADVISE IN ADVANCE THAT LABOR WILL BE NEEDED FOR REPLACEMENT
OF DEFECTIVE BALLAST
- Lumen FX
- 801 14th
Street West
- Billings,
MT 59102
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- Voice 406.245.7116
- Fax 406.245.7703
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