A Warranty Department That Puts You First

Purchasing a new home inevitably comes with a number of questions for the homebuyer, especially if this is the first time that they’re purchasing a home. With constant changes happening throughout the technology industry, our homes at Homes by Taber are always equipped with high-tech features that make our homeowners lives easier. With the latest tech offerings installed in our homes, some homeowners may need help learning all about their new home. That is where our warranty department comes in!

At Homes by Taber, we are constantly committed to elevating our communication, customer service and outreach techniques to ensure that all of our homeowners are receiving the best possible care throughout the entire process, and our in-house warranty department checks every box with those practices in mind.

First step: Orientation

At Homes by Taber, our in-house warranty department has been working for years to perfect the orientation process for all of our homeowners. At its core, we treat the orientation process as an educational experience. Throughout the world of new home construction, advancements in technology have continuously elevated our Taber homes with each passing year, and with each new system added, we always want to ensure that our homeowners know exactly how they work. 

For the first walk-through, our homeowners will follow our team throughout their new home in order to show them where all of the components are located and how they work to ensure that we’re setting them up for success. Throughout the tour, we’ll show our homeowners where the water shut-offs are, where the gas shut-offs are, how to work their appliances, how to work their fireplaces, where to change out their air filters, how to work their sprinkler system and so much more in order to proactively answer as many questions that they might have had at a later date. 

While the first part of our orientation program is to walk the homeowners through each section of their home for educational purposes, the second step is for the homeowners to lead the way to see if anything still needs to be taken care of before the move-in date arrives. Our homeowners will mark or make a list of any of their concerns, leave it with our warranty team and we will act as a liaison between them and the construction team in order to ensure that nothing is missed when the construction manager reviews all of the items. 

Exploring our how-to videos

After instating our in-house warranty department, we kept working to continuously elevate all of our offerings. While our orientation process goes above and beyond educating our homeowners before their move-in date, we knew that we were giving them an enormous amount of information in a short amount of time. It was for this reason that we came to the conclusion of creating QR codes that lead to tutorial videos for our homeowners to take advantage of. 

Close to the garbage disposal, our homeowners will be able to scan the QR code and watch a video on how to unclog them without a second thought. Instead of paying a plumber a few hundred dollars to flush out your tankless water heater once a year, the QR code related to the water heater leads you to a video on how to easily do it yourself, along with a link to where you can purchase your own kit. Similarly, in the attic next to the HVAC system, we have a QR code set up leading to a video on how to change out the air filter. For outdoor use, additional QR codes can be found on how to operate the sprinkler control panel as well as how to program your sprinklers. We also provide a sheet within the homebuyer guide that lists out all of our main QR codes as well as a few extra ones with information on how to register the appliances and how to work the warranty portal.

Technology is constantly evolving, and in order to ensure that all of our homeowners are completely satisfied with every detail of their home, we put an added emphasis on educating them with our orientation process and providing them with the means to look back on the information we shared whenever the need arises. If questions still pop up, our 24 hour in-house warranty department is always ready to step in and help. 

The benefits of an in-house warranty department

With many new home construction companies, using a third-party residential company for their warranty needs is fairly commonplace. However, at Homes by Taber, we found that since this practice took away our ability for in-person representation, incidents that arose within a home may not have been taken seriously by a third-party company if they weren’t exactly by-the-book. When we began our in-house warranty department, we were able to take those matters into our own hands. 

“If somebody requests a manager to be at their home, there will be a manager at their home,  on-site, reviewing things upon request,” explained Colton Streetman, Director of Customer Care. “A lot of times, we’re proactive trying to set up those meetings instead of trying to resolve things over the phone or email.”

When it comes to using a third-party residential warranty company, many construction superintendents handle any warranty issues since they are typically the ones in the neighborhoods and the ones that have worked on the homes themselves. While this might make sense on paper, it could be difficult for a builder to focus on the current home that he is building while also trying to field warranty requests and offer current homeowners customer service after the sale. 

“At Homes by Taber, we have a full in-house warranty department where the employees in my department are solely dedicated to warranty. That is, I would say, the biggest thing that we have going on at Homes by Taber that other homebuilders don’t have. Even if they do have an in-house warranty department—which is that hands on service as well as that hands on judgment where we’re able to discern what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong versus, if it’s not covered under warranty on paper then across the board it’s always going to be a denial,” Colton said. “A lot of builders like that, because once closing takes place, the home, the customer, everything is out of their hands, but we wanted to take more responsibility and ownership.” 

When we take a look at our own warranty offerings, our homes have a one year limited home warranty, and from there, we select components in our homes that come with manufacturer warranties that extend beyond that one year mark to ensure that our homeowners are getting the most coverage possible.  

Most of the manufacturer warranties that come with our homes transfer to the homeowner on purchase and extend beyond one year, such as kitchen appliances, garbage disposal, shingles, light fixtures, LED ceiling lights, ceiling fans, and even electrical outlets and breakers. For some of the larger items, such as the tankless water heater and the HVAC system, they get warranties for buying and moving in, but by registering those appliances, the parts warranties that they received as a part of their purchase are extended greatly. 

When you first move into your new home, however, registering your appliances could easily be the last thing on your mind as you’re beginning to settle in. That’s why our team gathers up all of the components that you will need beforehand, emails you the registration information and places the printed out version in your homeowner guide so you won’t miss out on any warranty extensions. 

A team that works for you

When it comes to owning a new home, there will always be questions that come up throughout the process, and our in-house warranty team will always be there to ensure that our homeowners have all of the information available to them before the keys are even handed over. If you’d like to know more about the work that we do at Homes by Taber throughout the Greater Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas, give us a call at (405) 984-1185 in OKC and (918) 393-4149 in Tulsa or fill out our online form today.