Support Document
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Geotab Partner Policies for Geotab Resller Partners
Support Document
0 mins to read
For Geotab Reseller Partners
July 29, 2024
PLEASE NOTE: This document is subject to change and updated on a regular basis. By viewing this document outside of Google Drive, Geotab cannot guarantee this document is the most up-to-date version.
This document outlines Geotab’s policies, providing you, our “Partner”, with guidelines to enhance and clarify our working relationship. The ultimate goal is to help you deliver a seamless and positive experience to our mutual customer, while growing our shared reputation and brand value in the marketplace.
You are encouraged to visit our website (www.geotab.com) and our Partner administration portal (myadmin.geotab.com) regularly for updates and for other relevant bulletins, notices, and news to help you maximize your success as a Geotab Partner.
Please also refer to our Prospective Partner Expectations Guidelines for more information about Geotab’s expectations pertaining to marketing, selling, supporting, and the ongoing consultation of Geotab’s products and services.
For more information related to orders, shipments, RMAs, Rate Plans, and more, refer to the MyAdmin User Guide.
Last Revised: October 2022
Once your Partner Agreement has been fully executed, you will be able to register for access to Geotab’s Partner password-protected content made available on myadmin.geotab.com. Follow the steps in the Account Setup section in the MyAdmin User Guide to register for a MyAdmin Partner account, after which you will be invited to a web meeting tutorial to walk you through the site’s resources, including how to place an order.
Using Geotab’s authorized logo and/or linking to our website, must be done in accordance with any logo or trademark use guidelines made available in the Geotab Brand Guidelines, Partner Marketing Handbook (as may be amended by us from time to time) or at sales.geotab.com. For assistance with adding Geotab content to your website, please contact your Partner Account Manager (PAM).
As a Partner, you are encouraged to review and abide by the Geotab Privacy Policy.
As a Partner, you are encouraged to review and abide by the Technical and Organizational Data Security Measures Statement (TOMS).
Adhere to Collaborating with our Partners and Customers: PR Policy if you choose to issue any type of media announcement that mentions Geotab or any of Geotab’s products or services. For questions regarding the policy or review process, please contact the Geotab Communications team at pr@geotab.com.
As a Partner, you are encouraged to review and abide by the Data and Analytics Policy Statement.
Observe the “one customer, one database” rule. Geotab security policies prohibit Geotab Partners from housing/mixing data belonging to different customers within the same MyGeotab database. Each customer’s data is to be completely isolated from other customers’ data by storing it in its own, separate, customer-specific database.
GO devices ordered after May 1, 2022, activate on the earlier of:
GO devices ordered prior to May 1, 2022, will activate upon installation.
GO devices not installed within one hundred and twenty (120) days after the date of shipment will auto-activate (“Auto-Activation Date”) in the default region for the account that placed the original order. For GO Devices ordered after May 1, 2022, MyAdmin will display the Auto-Activation Date in the First Device Activation Date column on the Device Admin page.
In order to provide Partners with maximum potential, Geotab appoints partners on a non-exclusive and worldwide basis (with geographical exceptions that are specified in the Partner’s reseller agreement). Partners are responsible for investigating and determining that the Geotab solution is lawfully permitted to be sold in the jurisdictions they sell into. Partners are also responsible for ensuring they are familiar with, and conduct themselves in accordance with, Geotab’s Partner Code of Conduct. While Geotab has put in place technical and regulatory programs for the Geotab solution in jurisdictions with an established installation base, Partners may have to take additional compliance and investigative steps of their own to determine any legal requirements in a particular jurisdiction.
Geotab understands and expects that Partners will be competitive and confident in their value proposition. Geotab expects that all Partners and members of the Geotab ecosystem understand the value of the Geotab ecosystem as a whole, take a “best interest of the customer” perspective, and work to maximize customer value rather than pursuing a strictly adversarial “winner takes all” approach.
In addition to your other obligations set forth in your agreement with Geotab, you must comply with the export control laws and regulations of each of those countries in which you market, advertise, promote or resell, directly or indirectly, Geotab products or services (as used in this section, the “Products”), together with the various export control laws and regulations of Canada and the United States.
Without limiting the foregoing or anything else in this policy or in your agreement(s) with Geotab, you shall abide by the Restricted Area List, which sets forth locations in which you shall not sell, resell, test, use or otherwise engage with any of the Products under any circumstances as well as locations where you must first obtain our explicit prior written approval before doing so.
Requests for approval can be initiated by the PAM on behalf of the Partner. The request will be reviewed by the appropriate Geotab personnel with the PAM. A response will be provided after consideration of the matter is complete.
For all hardware and accessories (collectively, “Hardware”), Partner shall inspect the conditions of the outer packaging of the Hardware for evidence of damage and/or pilferage upon delivery of the Hardware and record any defects on the delivery receipt and notify Geotab within two (2) business days (the “Inspection Period”).
Partner may reject such Hardware if the Hardware does not conform to the items listed in the applicable purchase order or, on visual inspection, Partner reasonably determines that the Hardware is damaged or does not conform to what they ordered (“Nonconforming Hardware Orders”) or the Hardware packaging is missing components (“Incomplete Hardware Orders”).
Partner will be deemed to have accepted the Hardware unless it notifies Geotab in writing of any Nonconforming Hardware Orders or of any Incomplete Hardware Orders during the Inspection Period and furnishes such written evidence or other documentation (example: photos/pictures) as required by Geotab. If Partner timely notifies Geotab of any Nonconforming Hardware Orders or Incomplete Hardware Orders, Geotab shall determine, in its sole discretion, whether the Hardware qualifies as a Nonconforming Hardware Order or a Incomplete Hardware Order. If Geotab determines that the Hardware is a Nonconforming Hardware Order, Geotab shall, in its sole discretion: (i) replace such Nonconforming Hardware with conforming Hardware; or (ii) refund the price for such Nonconforming Hardware, together with all shipping and handling expenses incurred by Partner in connection therewith. If Geotab determines that the Hardware is an Incomplete Hardware Order, and the Partner requests, Geotab shall replace such Incomplete Hardware Order with the missing Hardware.
Partner shall ship, at Geotab’s expense and risk of loss, the Nonconforming Hardware Orders or Incomplete Hardware Orders to Geotab’s designation facility. If Geotab elects to replace a Nonconforming Hardware Order, Geotab will, after receiving Partner’s shipment of Nonconforming Hardware Order, ship to Partner, at Geotab’s expense, the replaced Hardware.
The remedies set forth in this section are Partner’s exclusive remedy for the delivery of Non-Conforming Hardware Orders or Incomplete Hardware Orders.
All installations of our products should be validated prior to leaving the installation site. Geotab has developed tools to allow for remote validation and troubleshooting of installation work. You and your installers (or Customers if they are self-installing) should become familiar with these tools. The installer will require internet or email access in order to use these tools. Upon entering the device serial number and other details into MyInstall, or by sending an email to the installation monitor email service at install@geotab.com, Geotab systems will validate that the device is reporting at the time of testing.
Geotab support staff is available for troubleshooting, please refer to the Comprehensive Guide to Support at Geotab for more information. Note that Geotab will not be able to properly support the device installation unless these steps are always performed onsite immediately following installation.
You support our mutual customers by announcing new releases to firmware, software and devices, as you are made aware of upgrades via newsletters, web forums or training. Please refer to our Firmware Product Guide for more information. For more details on how to enroll our mutual customers’ devices in the latest firmware, refer to the Beta Firmware Program.
It is very important that you keep current with Geotab development and that you do not over-sell or over-promise work to Customers that are in Beta. The Geotab platform offers significant value to customers, and we invest heavily in resources and market positioning to establish Geotab as the gold standard brand of quality and reliability. While we do great work in development, and you might learn or hear of some of that work before it is released, it is very important to only commit to what is currently available and be clear with your customers about features that are available to test in Beta.
If our mutual customer is part of a Beta test group, it is important that they are made aware that they are part of a beta test group. An acknowledgment signed by them is required before they will be able to participate in any beta program. As the Partner, you sign the beta agreement in MyAdmin on behalf of our mutual customer, to whom you have explained that the product or services they are testing are in Beta and that we need their feedback on the products and services they are testing.
While our products have a broad range of applications, they are not guaranteed to work in every vehicle or every scenario. From time to time, a situation may arise where we may need assistance accessing a vehicle for testing or reverse engineering. It is the Partner’s responsibility to validate the specific application, conduct a corresponding customer evaluation test with each new customer and/or application, and to ensure that the Customer’s use case — including business purpose, cellular coverage (if applicable), and wire harness installation options — matches our product options and specifications before ordering products that will be installed and used in production. Please refer to the Pilot Program Process for more information.
The warranty applicable to Geotab products is set out in the Geotab Limited Warranty Statement.
Before requesting a Warranty return, Partners are expected to make a thorough attempt to troubleshoot the problem by following the steps in the Troubleshooting Guide for Partners. If troubleshooting is unsuccessful, and you suspect a product is faulty, you can open a Helpdesk ticket in MyAdmin or directly with Geotab Support. If Geotab Support is unable to resolve the problem, and the product is under warranty, then Geotab Support will approve the return and MyAdmin will issue a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number.
Geotab offers replacement of faulty Geotab products, and will issue replacements for the following RMA request types, with a valid RMA number, if certain criteria are met.
If you need to replace a faulty product immediately, you may use your shelf stock to replace it.
✱ NOTE: Geotab allows Partners to hold shelf stock. However, Partners should keep their shelf stock as current as possible to ensure devices have the latest firmware. Older devices with older firmware can take longer to activate while the firmware updates. Geotab recommends that Partners use the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) system of inventory management to maintain a minimized and fresh shelf stock. FIFO is also recommended due to Geotab’s auto-activation policy as set out in the Activation Policy section of this document.
✱ NOTE: Partners are responsible for the termination request of the faulty device in MyAdmin. Failure to terminate a device will result in continued monthly charges.
RMAs can be initiated by Geotab when we detect failed or failing devices, as well as when we identify devices impacted by impending wireless network sunsets. Partners may request an RMA for performance failures, investigation, or sales-related purposes.
An RMA for devices that Geotab detects have failed or are failing, and are not recoverable. Geotab offers no-charge replacement of devices flagged under Proactive RMAs.
✱ NOTE: All Partners are responsible for ordering replacement products under the Proactive RMA Program, even if the Customer is enrolled in a Rate Plan with + Support.
An RMA for devices impacted by an impending wireless network sunset. Whether or not devices are replaced for free depends on the campaign and Rate Plan of the device.
Geotab will terminate devices 60 days after a Proactive RMA or Sunset RMA is issued. When RMAs are created by Geotab, Partners receive email confirmations that include the device serial numbers and information about the impacted databases. To look up future termination dates, refer to the Device Admin Pending Requests column on the Device Admin page.
Geotab-initiated RMAs use the Partner’s private email address for notifications — found on the Admin > Reseller Contact Info page under the Private Email column. To update the email address, select a contact from the table and click the Edit button, then update the information as needed.
✱ NOTE: If you would like more than one person to receive email notifications, we recommend using a distribution list as the private email address.
After receiving an auto-generated RMAs created for GO device(s) email, follow the steps in the MyAdmin User Guide for Replacement Orders section to order a replacement device for a Customer using the Active RMAs page in MyAdmin.
A return that is an in-warranty or out-of-warranty product that has been requested for the purpose of data extractions, collision reconstruction, vehicle interference investigations, or engineering investigations.
Partners and Customers should return these devices in order to resolve the investigation. If the device is not returned, Geotab is unable to close the investigation.
A non-standard return that must be pre-approved by Support via standard channels. Additional charges may apply (e.g. Keyless). Shipping must be paid by the Partner/Customer.
A return of an unused, unopened Geotab product (GO device, IOX, harnesses and Beta hardware) purchased by the Partner, where the Partner wishes to return the product to Geotab for credit.
To qualify for credit from Sales Returns of unused products, or Beta products, the following conditions apply:
To qualify for credit from Sales Returns of unused products, or Beta products, the following conditions apply:
✱ NOTE: All approved Sales Returns are subject to 20% restocking fee. Saleable condition is defined as return merchandise that is in its original condition, and can be readily sold. Geotab reserves the right to determine if an item is saleable. For example, if the original purchase price is $100, then a credit of $80 is applied to the Partner’s account with a $20 restocking fee.
✱ NOTE: Due to regional regulations, additional return limitations may apply for returns outside the United States, Canada, and Europe.
✱ NOTE: Termination of third-party device billing must be performed by Partners in MyAdmin or requested via MyAdmin helpdesk.
As a Partner, you support our mutual Customers by coordinating all onsite services, including those relating to warranty repairs or replacements. Geotab will repair or replace units in accordance with our warranty obligations, and provide technical or web-based support to you when you need it. Geotab will also support our mutual Customers, provided you enroll them in the Geotab Support Services program. You, as the Partner, are responsible for the physical removal, replacement or reinstallation of products that we have repaired or replaced and returned to you. You are also responsible for coordinating other onsite services, such as troubleshooting an issue.
In exceptional circumstances such as unexplained vehicle warning lights or thermal events, Geotab engineers may perform an onsite vehicle inspection in order to investigate any apparent device anomalies. Onsite visits may be requested by you, our mutual customer, or by Geotab. If a visit is requested, Geotab will notify you and expect you to coordinate the visit with our mutual customer, ensuring that you (or your representative) and the vehicle in question are available at the agreed-upon time and place. If the vehicle is not available at the agreed-upon time and place, Geotab will seek reimbursement from you for travel expenses incurred.
Geotab maintains a record of each reported product issue — conservatively classified as vehicle interference. Issues classified as vehicle interference range from a light on the dashboard to adverse vehicle operation. Geotab maintains an end user issues log of each case reported. Cases involving damaged components, such as Geotab hardware or vehicle components, may require a site visit by Geotab engineers.
If compensation is requested, we ask that the damaged components be made available to Geotab, so we can analyze the failure and improve our products. Geotab may request access to damaged components even if compensation isn’t requested. By examining components directly, we gain valuable insights into what went wrong, and how to prevent it from happening again. If a Customer reports a damaged component, please retain all damaged components and immediately contact Geotab Support.
In certain circumstances, it may be appropriate for Geotab to reimburse Partners for “goodwill” extended to Customers. Geotab may reimburse some or all Partner expenses in cases where Geotab determines that the fault was not due to the customer, or the Partner.
A customer has an issue with a Geotab telematics device that inhibits their business performance. They contact their Partner for service to restore business performance and to ensure that the Geotab device can be used without causing any further issues.
The Partner is expected to provide the required service to reinstate customer vehicle performance or Geotab telematics performance as soon as possible. In some cases, at their discretion, the Partner may choose to extend a goodwill gesture that can include Geotab hardware, providing other services, or covering a customer’s related out-of-pocket expenses.
The Partner is expected to notify their PAM of the issue in writing (email) and attach any customer communication, including a description of any goodwill being extended to the customer. In all cases, this goodwill is exclusively at the discretion of, and cost to, the Partner.
Written confirmation to the customer of what is being offered must be accompanied by the following explanation:
“In order to help you recover from your recent incident, [Name of Partner] is offering you [an account credit of $XX, etc.] as a sign of goodwill. Geotab is investigating your incident and will attempt to determine its cause. Further action may or may not be appropriate, depending on the results of our investigation. Responsibility for the incident has not yet been determined.”
Geotab Support will escalate issues within Geotab according to internal procedures for customer issue resolution. Geotab Support may request additional information or field-testing from the Partner or customer, who will be expected to cooperate to the best of their ability and in a timely manner, with appropriate consideration given to the seriousness of the issue.
You consent to us identifying you (including through the use of your company name, trade name and logo, subject to any reasonable trademark usage guidelines you provide to us) as a Partner of our products and services, and publishing or otherwise making available your contact details on marketing and advertising materials, including our website.
Geotab’s End User Agreement (EUA) is a software agreement between Geotab and the customer that is accepted by the customer when they first log in to Geotab software. As a Partner, you are encouraged to review the Geotab EUA and create your sales agreement(s) with our mutual customers to harmonize your selling efforts. Your sales agreement would cover your terms and conditions of sale and collections, as well as the value added services your company provides, including support and any additional training services.
The Geotab EUA includes language covering use of Geotab software, warranty, web-hosting, use of map data, and indemnification, among others. As such, it is important that you read and understand the EUA, so you can answer basic customer questions about its provisions. Please note that the EUA is generally non-negotiable given the nature of the Geotab platform.
Transfers of Customers from one Partner to another are the exception and are often very sensitive and require careful management. Geotab not only respects the relationship with Partners and, in turn, Partner relationships with our mutual Customers, but also supports and works with Partners to help them build strong customer relationships. Occasionally, a Customer may wish to work with a new Partner and the new Partner requires Geotab’s help to switch the customer’s devices from the existing Partner’s account at Geotab to the new Partner’s account. At all times the customer must be a top priority and the goal of all participants involved should be to maintain a positive customer experience. This policy outlines the general principles that Geotab applies and the consequent process that must be followed.
Customers are free to choose Partners, but they must properly terminate their relationship with their existing Partner before starting their relationship with a new Partner.
The contract with the existing Partner and the quality of the customer relationship with the existing Partner always dictate the relative success of the transfer. The Customer must carefully assess their rights and obligations under their agreement with the existing Partner to determine whether there are any impediments to a transfer to the new Partner. The Customer must ask questions such as: “Am I still bound by my contract with the existing Partner?”, “Have I paid all invoices?”, “Do I own the devices?”, and “Does the existing Partner have rights to any proprietary data or functionality in my database?”. Only if the Customer has determined that there are no impediments to a transfer should the Partner transfer process be initiated. The first step is for the Customer to review and sign the Request to Transfer Billing to initiate the transfer process — available from Geotab on request.
The existing Partner should attempt to salvage the customer relationship and may call on Geotab for help. If the customer cannot be convinced to stay with the existing Partner, the existing Partner should act in a respectful manner and leave the relationship on good terms. In this digital world, a poor customer exit can immediately negatively affect potential new customer relationships, and digital posts can linger for many years after the bad exit occurs.
Ending the relationship in a respectful way means that the existing Partner will sign the necessary Request to Transfer Billing form when requested by the customer without delay — assuming the customer has no outstanding obligations to the existing Partner. The existing Partner should refrain from terminating the devices while the billing is being transferred.
A Geotab PAM will meet with the existing Partner and review the case with the purpose of ensuring that other existing customer relationships remain healthy. Geotab will offer additional strategic coaching, advice and/or training to strengthen the existing Partner’s service offering to customers and to strengthen its relationships with remaining customers.
Every transfer will be reviewed by Geotab and if we find that a Partner is actively soliciting another Partner’s customers, we will determine whether such practices are in violation of principles of good faith and fair dealing and whether the soliciting Partner falls short of the standards of conduct that Geotab expects from its Partners. Geotab may ultimately determine that the soliciting Partner is no longer a suitable business partner.
Assuming that the Customer has determined there are no impediments to transferring to the new Partner (there are no obligations owed to the existing Partner, the Customer owns the devices and all interest in the database, etc.) then the Customer completes the following steps to transfer to the new Partner.
✱ NOTE: If the existing Partner refuses to sign, Geotab reserves the right to process the transfer based on the customer’s request and the Request to Transfer Billing form signed by the new Partner.
If the action is not performed as outlined above, the customer may be impacted as a result. For more information, please refer to the Comprehensive Guide to Support at Geotab.
Please note that this policy does not apply to non-standard or white-labelled devices. Geotab will not transfer devices into or out of a white-labelled Partner.
The purchase of any product generally includes the provision of maintenance and support services either for a one-time payment, for so long as the product remains owned by a specific Customer, or for a one-time payment plus monthly payments, subject to a minimum service term as identified on our web-based ordering system. Maintenance and support is provided in accordance with our maintenance and support policies and is only available on a continuous activation basis.
If you choose, you may request credit terms. If you would like to request credit, please request a credit application form from creditapps@geotab.com. Our credit terms are typically net 30 days. For other payment options, please contact AR@geotab.com.
As a Partner, it is your responsibility to identify, bill, collect, and remit to any applicable authority, any applicable taxes between you and the end user Customer. We will invoice for any subscription fees on a monthly basis. We invoice at the end of every month and payment is required in accordance with agreed-upon terms.
Version | Date | Editor | Changes |
1.0 | November 29, 2021 | Product Editing Team | New document published |
1.1 | April 26, 2022 | Product Editing Team | Updated Complying with Country-specific Laws and Regulations section |
1.2 | | Price Desk team | Original Step #3 was removed from the Partner Transfer Process that instructed an order to be placed in MyAdmin. The $40 transfer fee has been waived and this step is no longer required. |
1.3 | | Business Affairs Manager | Added a new Activation Policy section. |
1.4 | | Business Affairs Manager | Changed the reference of specific support hours under the “Validating Installation” section to refer to the Geotab Support Guide instead. |
1.5 | | Business Affairs Manager | Added “the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Region of the Ukraine, the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) Region of the Ukraine” to the “Complying with Country-specific Laws and Regulations” section. |
1.6 | July 21, 2022 | Business Affairs Manager | Updated language from “Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Region of the Ukraine” to “Donetsk (DNR) Region of the Ukraine” and from “Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) Region of the Ukraine” to “Luhansk (LNR) Region of the Ukraine” in the “Complying with Country-specific Laws and Regulations” section. |
1.7 | Aug 16, 2022 | Support Services team | Removed a link to the Support Services brochure under the heading “Providing Onsite Support” which is out of date and will be replaced in the future. |
1.8 | Sept 21, 2022 | Localization team | Beta firmware link updated |
1.9 | Oct 13, 2022 | Business Affairs Manager | Updated Support Guide link. |
1.10 | Oct 19, 2022 | Business Affairs Manager | Added a brief line in the Introduction that explains the MyAdmin Guide with a link to it. |
1.11 | Dec 15, 2022 | Business Affairs Manager | Updated the Partner Conduct section. |
1.12 | March 3, 2023 | Business Affairs Manager | Added Zambia to the list of prohibited countries in the “Complying with Country-specific Laws and Regulations” section |
1.13 | | Business Affairs Manager | Added a new section “Hardware and Accessories Delivery and Acceptance”. |
1.14 | 5/10/2023 | Support | Replaced RMA section with revised content to align with RMA policy. |
1.15 | 05/24/2023 | Compliance and Legal | Updated “Complying with Country-specific Laws and Regulations” section. |
1.16 | 08/25/2023 | Business Affairs Manager | Removed “the” from “the region of Ukraine”. |
1.17 | 10/06/2023 | Business Affairs Manager and Customer Experience Readiness Manager | Updated the Partner-initiated RMAs section to align with RMA policy. |
1.18 | 11/14/2023 | Compliance and Legal | Removed listing of countries under “Complying with Laws and Regulations” section, and replaced with linkage to separate “Restricted Area List” document to list countries of concern to that section. |
1.19 | 04/16/2024 | Business Affairs Manager | Updated the EULA link to the new EULA version. |
1.20 | 04/29/2024 | Business Affairs Manager | Changes to the Validating the Warranty for GO Devices section. |
1.21 | 05/31/2024 | Business Affairs Manager / Legal | Warranty sections removed and replaced with a link to the Warranty Policy. |
1.22 | 06/21/2024 | Business Affairs Manager / Legal | Updated the PR Policy hyperlink |
1.23 | 07/29/2024 | Business Affairs Manager / Legal | Updated the RMAs section to include language for FIFO and auto-activation. And under the Damaged Component Hold section - changed “engine” to “vehicle”. |