Guest Comment: Tom Barry-Cotter of Maritimo

The WIN–WIN of warranties

The purchase of a luxury motor yacht is, almost invariably, one of the biggest and most rewarding purchases a person can make in their lifetime.

Often it is the reward for many long years of hard work and effort, and it represents a lifestyle-enhancing decision that will bring many hours of pleasure for the owners, their family and friends.

To that end, the backing of a comprehensive factory-backed warranty program is vital. Maritimo adopted the factory-backed warranty model in 2013 and it has proven to be hugely successful.

Maritimo’s principle designer, Tom Barry-Cotter, says the key to Maritimo customers’ satisfaction is a complimentary nine-month full checklist inspection by Maritimo Warranty, which ensures that any issues are resolved to the owner’s satisfaction prior to the end of the warranty period.

“Since we implemented this program in 2013 the response time for resolving warranty call outs has improved by fifty percent,” said Barry-Cotter.

“Factory Direct Warranty provides a direct link from customer to dealer and into the very engineering heart of the company.

“It gives our owners a sense of comfort and reassurance that is paramount.”

The success of the program can be largely attributed to the high degree of experience and knowledge of the Warranty Manager. 

“That person must know all there is to know about past and current product, and in our case our Warranty Manager, Chris Spriggens, was formerly a production manager so he has extensive factory floor experience and knowledge,” said Barry-Cotter.

He said monthly warranty reports are communicated through all divisions of the company, ensuring that issues can be rectified at their roots and solutions configured in production and design.

“Relationships with suppliers are enhanced and leveraged to a greater degree through this process and more often than not in favour of the customer as there is direct communication between manufacturer and supplier,” Barry-Cotter said.

“The customer has the ability to have a direct link with executive management and outcomes can be achieved faster and with less issues.

“Ultimately, faster resolution of issues, rectification of issues at their source and open lines of communication means greater reliability and durability of our product, and a greater overall experience for our customers.”

Barry-Cotter said the luxury boat manufacturing sector needs to concentrate more heavily of factory-backed warranty programs to ensure customers’ needs and expectations were well-met.

He said the Maritimo experience since 2013 showed that such initiatives provided a win-win overall for both the manufacturer and the customer.

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