Is Your Digital X-Ray Sensor Warranty Really Much of a Warranty

Have you read your digital x-ray sensor warranty thoroughly? Do you really know how your covered or if you are covered.

A Higher Percentage of Sensors WILL FAIL In Their First 3 Years Then Will Last 7 Years

This article comes from a recent experience we had with a customer who sent in their sensor that was only 3 months old. The sensor is one of the 7 most popular sensor brands among dentists in the United States. It is a name you would be immediately familiar with but we will not mention it here.
The sensor came to us with a slight bend in the USB cable tip but the problem with the sensor turned out to be in the sensor head. The manufacturers date on the sensor was 3 months prior to this case. Our first thought was that the customer made some type of mistake because every dental sensor comes with at least a One Year Warranty when it is brand new, in the case of this company they advertised a Two Year Warranty.

So we called the customer and we first told them that we received their digital xray sensor and would very happily help them with a sensor repair but we asked them if they had talked to their sensor manufacturer and the person who sold the sensor because the sensor is so new it should be under warranty.

Our customers response was that the company told them the warranty was void because the USB cable was bent and offered for them to PAY 4800$ to get a replacement sensor with a 6 month warranty if they turn that one in.

So the customer went forward with a repair with us and asked us if there were any sensors they could buy other than the brand they had (Since that brand really hadn’t taken care of them).

First, the company that wouldn’t service their own product felt self assured they would keep the customer because they had scared the customer into thinking they were locked into there image management and sensors because of their practice management.

So I told the customer that they will need to spend 3500$ on Xray Vision and then they could use any sensor they wanted. The doctor understandably was concerned the software would have a huge learning curve, was concerned it wouldn’t work well in their practice management software and was even concerned that my company wouldn’t be around to take care of him. The doctor really felt that they had to have a big company so even after finding out how terrible he was treated he believed that big company meant reliability.

Does Your Digital X-Ray Sensor Warranty Really Cover You

  1. Get a copy of your Digital X-Ray Sensor Warranty and ACTUALLY READ IT
  2. If your warranty doesn’t specifically say it covers accidental damage then it likely doesn’t
  3. Does your warranty specify a price you pay in the case that your is accidentally damage?

Do you only have one sensor in your practice?

  1. Do you get a loaner in the case your sensor needs to go in for repair?(Is it in writing, what does the loaner cost?)
  2. How Long is Your Warranty?
  3. Did you finance for longer than your sensor is covered under warranty?

 

In my experience most people do not know that their sensor is only covered with a 2 year warranty and that that warranty is probably going to be unusable for over 50% of the sensors that break in that 2 years because of a claim that the sensor was damaged by the staff in a manner not covered.

Your sensor is your ability to take X-Rays, how much of your practice income in a day is dependent on your access to a sensor?

Here is a little mental Exercise to think about, if you have a small practice maybe 1 or 2 Hygienists and the doctor and you all share one sensor because you bought that really expensive one that kind of claims that you only need one sensor.

So if that sensor breaks

First Day it is broken you miss 4 BWX series and just do exams – Lost 360$

Second Day, you miss 4 BWX series and 1 crown because you needed an xray – Lost 860$

Day Three, you miss 4 BWX series, you miss 2 fillings that you needed xrays to know to recommend  fillings to- Lost 720$

So three days went by and you lost close to 2K$.

Your sensor is important, find out what your sensor warranty is! Would you drive your car without insurance or buy a new car without a warranty?

 

If you just never want to deal with the warranty issues you can always just rent sensors from Sodium Dental and this way your sensor is always under warranty, always supported and we are always available to help you. Most importantly you are never down losing hundreds of dollars a day.

Mithril Sensor Rental