Manage coffee machine warranty claims the smart way. Learn how Moqa CMMS speeds up approvals, tracks coverage, and cuts café downtime.
Imagine this: you walk into your café one morning, fire up the espresso machine, and … nothing. Dead boiler. Or maybe the grinder’s burrs have packed up. Panic, right? Every minute your machine is offline translates to sales lost, frustrated customers, maybe a downstream meltdown.
Now imagine you had the right documentation, the right workflow, the right tool to hit “submit claim” and get the manufacturer or service vendor working while you focus on what you do best: coffee. That’s what this blog is all about. We’ll walk you through how to manage coffee machine warranty claims using a CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) like Moqa, so you stay ahead. Let’s get brewin’!
Okay, first things first: what even IS a warranty claim in this context?
From the field: Warranties vary dramatically between manufacturers – even for ostensibly “the same” kind of machine. Some cover 90 days, others 3 years; some cover labor, some don’t.
Let’s talk real: Many cafés or beverage ops still handle warranty claims the old-school way – email, spreadsheets, stacks of PDFs, scattered photos on phones. And it is painful.
Here are the issues:
All of this adds up: lost revenue, unhappy customers, service level agreement (SLA) misses, maybe rental machines to patch the gap (extra cost).
Here’s where the hero arrives: your CMMS tool (in this case – Moqa). Let’s walk through how it makes claims easier, faster, smarter.
Each machine (asset) in Moqa gets a record: make, model, serial number, supplier, warranty start date, warranty end date, policy PDF or link, coverage terms.
Then: Moqa sends alerts when the warranty is about to expire (30 days, 7 days, etc). So you’re not caught off guard with a claim just after coverage lapses.
When a failure happens, you launch a work-order/claim ticket in Moqa. Attach: photos, the asset’s maintenance history (PMs, filter changes, shot counts), error codes, technician notes.
Then hit “Create Evidence Pack” – Moqa compiles that into a PDF/ZIP (with everything the manufacturer might ask for). Upload or email to the OEM/vendor. No rummaging through old files.
Want to ensure only approved techs and OEM parts are used (a major requirement in many warranties)? In Moqa you maintain a list of authorized service providers and approved parts.
When you dispatch a tech, you pick from the approved list. Parts used in the job link back to your inventory, recorded with OEM part numbers. Claims that respect those rules face fewer denials.
In Moqa you can set up the workflow:
This transparency reduces “Who said what to the manufacturer?” headaches.
Once the claim is approved and paid (or denied), you can track cost codes: “Warranty – parts”, “Warranty – labor”, “Non-warranty – parts”, “Non-warranty – labor”.
Moqa reports let you see: how much we recovered via warranty, how much was out-of-pocket, which models are costing us most in warranty claims. Good for business intelligence.
Here’s your practical workflow you can embed in Moqa (and share as a checklist). Think of it as “how it should go” rather than “how it sometimes goes”.
Here’s the secret: the better your maintenance game, the fewer warranty claim rejections you’ll face. And guess what? That means less downtime, fewer cost surprises.
Many manufacturers stipulate that you must follow certain maintenance tasks at specific intervals (eg backflush every 1,000 shots, replace water filter every 6 months, clean group seals monthly). If you can’t show logs, they might say “Sorry, claim invalid.” As one guide puts it: “Scale build-up is the #1 claim-killer – and the easiest to prevent.” (coffeelogik.com)
For high-vol cafés, you might use shot-counts or hours to trigger PMs rather than calendar time. That aligns nicely with warranty conditions (which often assume “normal use”). Having your CMMS monitor shot counts/hours and trigger PMs automatically? That’s a win.
If a warranty says “water hardness must be < 3 gpg (grains per gallon)” and you can’t show water test logs, they may deny the claim. So treat water quality, filtration, descaling like you treat your espresso shots: seriously.
Let’s cover some of the “edge” or “bonus” scenarios – your questions likely will cover these.
Sometimes you pay extra for an extended warranty or service contract. These might cover beyond the standard 1-2 years, or include labor, or cover repeated maintenance. But: they still ask for documentation. And if you ignored your maintenance schedule, the extended warranty may be void.
If you’re managing multiple cafés (say 3, 10 or even 50 sites) you’ll want centralized oversight: which machines across all sites are still under warranty? Which models have high claims? With a CMMS you can roll up to brand- or chain-level dashboards.
Templates, automated alerts and aggregated data make sense when you’re not just one juice-bar but a network.
If you rent or lease machines, the warranty claim process may flip: who owns the machine and who pays the downtime? The lessor often owns the asset and warranty, but the lessee (your site) handles daily operations and maintenance. Make sure that the CMMS clearly tracks responsibility, asset ownership & maintenance obligations.
If you want to move from reactive to proactive management, here are key performance indicators (KPIs) you should monitor – yep, your CMMS handles this.
These metrics turn warranty from “hope it works” to “we control this”. Some industry data show claims rates around 1.5% of product sales in general manufacturing sectors (warrantyweek.com). While that’s a broad average, your café chain should aim for better.
Let’s say “BeanTown Café Group” (fictional) runs three sites, each with five commercial espresso machines (total 15 machines). They were handling warranties with emails and spreadsheets – typical chaos.
Result: Over 12 months, they reduced time from failure to approved repair from an average of 12 days to 4 days. They recovered $18,000 in warranty parts & labor credits that previously wouldn’t have been claimed. Machine downtime dropped by 23%.
Yes, this is a simplified story – but it shows what’s possible.
Here’s how you roll this out without flipping your entire shop upside down.
Because you deserve a tool built for your world. Moqa is not “just another maintenance system” – it’s designed for beverage equipment workflows: espresso machines, brewers, grinders, chillers, pods, bean-to-cup machines.
If you’re a café, roaster, beverage equipment rental or service company – Moqa helps you treat warranty claims like a strategic cost-recovery channel instead of a chaotic annoyance.
Usually yes – many manufacturers require that you notify them before doing the repair. If you just go ahead and fix it, you risk denial.
Possibly. It depends on the terms. If the warranty says “only our approved techs may service” and you don’t follow it, you could lose coverage.
The PM logs. Photos. Dates. Water test reports. Shot counts/hours. Chain all of these together to show you kept up your end of the deal.
It varies. Some standard warranties are 1-2 years for labor, maybe 3 years for parts on certain components. Premium machines might go longer. But always check the fine print.
Not directly submit to the manufacturer in some cases – but it can compile all the required documents, trigger your email workflows, and store everything. That means you’re ready to submit with one click, instead of scrambling.
