Warranty sucks; plain and simple. It is a necessary evil and I really don't mind doing it for my customers. But the box store stuff is another matter. Doing your own warranty is one thing, but why a dealer would want to do someone elses escapes me. I do make exceptions now and then, but not very often.
It is NOT a money maker for the dealer. As Paull001 pointed out, you only get cost on parts in many instances. But there is a lot of lost time with warranty that you can't make up. Diagnostic, phone time with an OEM or distributor service tech, time to process the claim. And on most box store stuff, you actually have to register the unit first since nearly none of them have been registered. That's actually insulting to me to have to type in names and addresses of people to register stuff bought in the box store, and I won't do it.
The rules? Yes, I'm supposed to do it no matter what. The reality? I make the call in my store and no OEM is going to cancel a $300,000 or $500,000 account because of a declined warranty. My view is simple: You chose not to do business with me when you bought it, I choose not to do business with you when it's broke. Free country.
I'm actually a little cranked on this issue from a guy that came in yesterday. A customer that I had spent a lot of time with explaining the differences between saw models, cc's, features, different engine technology, weight, power; the guy had a million questions. Wasted a half hour with him. Goes and buys a saw at a box store because there was some additional card discount available. Then comes in with a problem, which isn't really warranty to begin with. That really takes a set, doesn't it? It's one thing if the guy never knew you were there, but to have been in the store and come back a week later with a saw you bought somewhere else takes balls. My Exact words: " So, you spent a half hour in here and then bought a saw somewhere else and now you want me to fix it? Well, you're out of luck cause I'm going to pass on this one. Take it somewhere else."