GMAT in few days, could you please rate my AWA

I am taking the GMAT next Monday and I am a bit worried of my AWA skills. Could you please rate this essay. Thanking you very much in advance for your help.

"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.


The argument claims that the company is spending too much money on free services after sale and should reduce the warranty time on its product to two years in order to enhance its profit margins. The argument also argues that customer service employees are paid a premium because their skills cover the entire range of product sold by the firm, including products which are not longer offered. Stated in this way, the argument fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion relies on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Therefore, the argument is rather weak, unconvincing, and has several flaws.

First, the argument readily assumes that a reduction of the warranty time of its products will improve the profit margin. This statement is a stretch and is not substantiated in any way. The warranty time of the firm products was possibly a key selling argument. Consequently, reducing it will be detrimental to the customer satisfaction and will deteriorate the brand image. Therefore, the reduction of the warranty lifetime may increase the profit margin on the short term but will be noxious to the company business on the long run. The author argument would have been strengthened if he had précised the current lifetime warranty and presented the one the firm competitors offer.

Second, the argument claims that employees working in the customer service are too expensive and overqualified, given the fact that they master skills that are not needed. The author nevertheless does not specify any solution or idea to solve this problem. The author overall argument would have been more cogent if he had provided a solution to this phenomenon and explained how this solution would impact the profit margin. For instance, the author could have mentioned a reduction of the premium paid to the employee, or the hiring of new and less qualified workers at a lower cost.

Thirdly, the argument completely ignores the macro and micro economic environment. Actually, in case of tough economic situation, company sales will drop as customer will spend less. However, a higher than the competition warranty lifetime can be a dramatic sale argument allowing the firm to maintain its sale level. The argument would have thus been more convincing if the author had drawn an analysis of the current economic environment.

In summary, the argument has several flaws and is therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all relevant facts. In order to assess a specific situation, it is crucial to have full knowledge and understanding of all contributing factors.