Agilent Announces Standard 3-Year Warranty for Test Instruments
March 1, 2013 – Agilent Technologies Inc. today announced that all new Agilent electronic test instruments sold after this date will be covered by a “bumper-to-bumper” 3-year repair warranty. Ken Woonton, Americas services marketing manager for Agilent's Electronic Measurement Group, said the increase from one year to three years is the result of ongoing quality initiatives that, from 2002 to 2012, yielded unprecedented improvements in product reliability.
The company also said it has earned top marks in an independent customer survey rating RF and microwave product quality.
Agilent said that for customers, the combination of reliability and warranty coverage provides three benefits. First is increased confidence in instrument uptime on the production line, during design projects and in other critical operations. Second is reduced cost of ownership with fewer budgetary surprises due to unexpected repair costs. Third is greater convenience in the unlikely event service is ever required.
Depending on the industry and application, a typical Agilent instrument is in service for eight years and sometimes much longer, the company said. To help customers sustain ongoing confidence in instrument performance and measurement accuracy, Agilent offers assurance plans for repair and calibration services. When included with a new instrument, these plans are available at a lower cost than when purchased later. Woonton said assurance plan costs can be 70% less than the cost of an unplanned repair. The plan includes a 6-month extension in the event a repair is needed, and it covers one ESD or EOS failure.
In addition, Woonton said, new calibration assurance plans are available upfront at prices discounted 15% to 20% for 3- and 5-year plans. Customers receive free calibration if a repair is required.
The Agilent Calibration Assurance Plans also offer OEM-quality calibrations and ensure that instruments will function at their original specifications.
The new 3-year warranty applies to the Americas, Europe, and Asia, except Japan, for which a 5-year warranty continues.
“Our customers have come to expect the highest quality from Agilent,” said Eric Taylor, Agilent vice president, Electronic Measurement Group, in a press release. “The three-year standard warranty is yet another way we’re helping them achieve their business, project and production goals.”
In a video, Taylor discusses the steps Agilent took to achieve the best quality metrics in its history and in the industry: www.agilent.com/find/quality_video.
More information about Agilent Assurance Plans is available at www.agilent.com/find/AssurancePlans.
Country- and region-specific information about the Agilent warranty program can be found online at www.agilent.com/find/ThreeYearWarranty.