gomocs wrote:
I have my GMAT on Saturday 8/24 and I am trying to make sure that I am in a decent spot on the AWA. Can someone please review my essay? I truly appreciate it.
"We are spending too much on free customer service after a sale has been made; we need to limit our warranty to two years in order to improve our profit margins. The current lifetime warranty can lead to costs decades into a product's life cycle. Also, we pay our customer service employees a premium because they must possess expert skills across the entirety of our very diverse product line, including products we no longer sell."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
In this argument, the company concludes that they are spending too much on customer service after the sale has been made, which is cutting into their profit margins. Therefore, they believe that if they limit the warranty on their products to two years that they will be able to cut costs associated with these claims. Although this argument could be true, it has a couple fundamental flaws based on some unaddressed assumptions.
Firstly, the company is assuming that their lifetime warranty is not a primary selling point. It is possible that many consumers choose their brand because of the lifetime warranty and customer service that accompanies their products. For example, several hand tool brands such as Craftsman and Kobalt, have advertised their lifetime warranties on tools for years. They have differentiated themselves according to their warranties. Therefore, if either one of the these companies limited their warranties customers could become frustrated, which could result in the loss of a significant number of loyal customers. The same could be true for the company mentioned in this argument.
Secondly, the company is assuming that a significant portion of their costs associated with warranty claims are coming after two years from the date of sale. It is possible that the majority of claims occur in the two year window following the date of sale. Therefore, in actuality the company will not reduce their costs by doing away with a lifetime warranty in favor of a two year warranty. However, they could still frustrate customers by changing their warranty, which could have a detrimental effect on sales and profits.
Therefore, the company should address these core assumptions before changing their warranty. They should determine if their warranty is a primary selling point. If it is not, then it is possible that customers will not notice this change. In addition, they should determine if the majority of costs associated with warranty claims occur within two years or after two years from the date of sale. After these core assumptions are invested the company will be able to make a reasonable decision, but as the argument is presently presented it could have a significant detrimental effect on sales and profit.
In conclusion, the argument that the company could reduce costs and improve profit margins by limiting their lifetime warranty to two years is fundamentally flawed. The company should determine if the warranty is a primary selling point and when the costs associated with warranty claims occur before they can make an accurate decision regarding their warranty policy.
You are well on track to a great AWA score--I'd give this a 6, without reservation. Well done! The only errors are minor punctuation issues (you need more commas!). Otherwise, you have excellent style, perfect reasoning, sterling examples, and wonderful structure. Congrats, and good luck on Saturday!