The Hidden Labor Costs of Warranty Processing

Warranty claims make up less than 3% of sales for most HVAC distributors. Yet a single claim can touch up to six departments, eat 15–20 minutes of counter time, and cost more than $200 in manual labor before the manufacturer credit ever arrives. Using benchmark data from APQC, this report breaks down where those labor costs hide, what top-quartile performers do differently, and how to estimate the ROI of automating warranty processing at your own claim volume.