A quality guarantee is an assurance of quality and customer satisfaction issued by a company and offered primarily to paying customers who have purchased products or services from the company. These guarantees can take a number of different forms and functions, depending on the type of services or products provided by a company, but can typically involve a partial or full refund of money paid, as well as a replacement of products and providing the service again. A quality guarantee is typically handled by individual companies, and while there is not necessarily a specific industry standard for what it might cover, the guarantee will usually be posted or explained in detail for customers to be aware of before buying a product or service.
As more and more companies arise to provide similar products and services, customer satisfaction becomes increasingly important as a way for businesses to establish customer loyalty and repeat business. One of the most reliable forms of providing excellent customer service is to provide customers with some form of quality guarantee behind the products or services offered to them. For manufacturers of products this guarantee typically comes in the form of a limited, extended, or lifetime warranty on the product.
This type of warranty is a form of quality guarantee that provides customers with a way to replace a product that is defective or otherwise does not perform as well as it should. A lifetime warranty is especially useful in that it indicates to customers that a manufacturer is confident in the products it produces. For retail stores and outlets, flexible return policies that favor honest customers are typically an excellent form of quality guarantee. While a retail store may not be able to control the quality of the products another company produces, a return policy that allows for returns for at least 90 days or longer typically indicates to customers the company stands behind what it sells.
For businesses that provide services rather than products, a quality guarantee will often come in the form of assurances that if a service is not performed to the standards of the customer, then it will be repeated without charge. This might mean an automotive repair shop will do further work without cost if the first set of repairs did not fix a problem, or that an insect exterminator might come back and spray a second or third time if the first service does not get rid of the insects. Regardless of the type of business, partial or full refunds for products or services can also be common aspects of a quality guarantee, especially if a customer is especially displeased with the experience.