Warranty warning stickers illegal, FTC says - News Article

[BLUEVOODU]

I noticed this article in the paper the other day:
Warranty warning stickers illegal, FTC says - Washington Post - www.journalgazette.net

So... those stickers on the bottom of a console (and other various areas) that cover screws... if you remove them it voids the warranty.  This has been a practice for a long time... and supposedly is  illegal.  In my opinion, I shouldn't have been allowed in the 1st place.

This was also done to thwart people fixing their own consoles.  There are some practical reasons for these stickers in my opinion.  It's very easy for some people to botch a fix and then dish it out on a company... but really this was to void your warranty and get the problems off their hands.  I never was a fan of this.

Per the article:

The FTC offered a few examples of terms of service claims that violate the law, including:

• The use of [company name] parts is required to keep your ... manufacturer's warranties and any extended warranties intact.

• This warranty shall not apply if this product ... is used with products not sold or licensed by [company name].

• This warranty does not apply if this product ... has had the warranty seal on the [product] altered, defaced, or removed.

The FTC declined to say what could happen to companies that continue to use these warnings.

I'm not sure on the 1st bullet point.  If you replace with crappy parts that do damage to your system... that doesn't seem like a good and fair solution for both sides of the transaction.

Interesting article... post up your thoughts and comments.

[targetrasp]

All companies will do is be more strict on repair claims... evidence of alteration, moisture sensors, some sort of logger to note any bios changes - there's no way these companies are going to foot the bill for a botched "repair."

On the other hand this isn't manufacturing, so whatever damage done by ESD (if any) would probably only rear its ugly head well beyond the warranty period (if ever). It'd take some effort (or dumb luck) to wipe out most consumer electronics with ESD. I'm sure it'd only be a small fraction of the population that even dares open one of these things up anyway.

I like the idea of being able to own the actual device I purchase and the manufacturer being accountable for a certain time frame barring I use the item in the manner in which it is intended. If I want to take my ps4 apart to clean it out, retrieve that penny my kid stuck in it, or just to see how it ticks, I shouldn't be on the hook for it not reading discs in 45 days.

[Grindspine]

From a company stand point, they do not legally have to offer a warranty for their products at all.  It makes sense to me that a warranty would not be intact if 3rd party parts were used to modify or repair the original work that the company was modifying.  The warranty cannot realistically extend to work or parts that they did not originally use in the manufacture of the product.

[BLUEVOODU]

Resurrecting an old post.  I agree @Grindspine and @targetrasp

now... in the case of opening it up... I guess it depends.  Cables are so thin these days... it's super easy to break them.  While the fix is cheap... they can also be engineered to be easily replaceable (I'm looking at you Dell I regard to my G5 15" laptop - replacing the keyboard should've been WAY easier).

I can imagine the repair work coming in if they didn't have safe guards in place.  And you're right, Target... they would just think of other mechanisms.  BUT to that point, equipment shouldn't stop working easily.   I get there's a sweet spot where there's a cost benefit to both sides... to be fair to both sides of the transaction.

Someone told me back in the PS2 days... that the system was engineered to somewhat fall apart of you opened it.   I didn't try it... didn't feel like trying it.  Not sure if it was true - original model, not slim.   He said he tried to open it like most of his other electronics to see wat made it tick... and the cables instantly fell out and something happened where he couldn't repair it.   It's been a long time... lol...

[targetrasp]

When I started working on the ps2 I did something similar. I was really overconfident and did get one or two torn down so far I couldn't put it back together. The laser assembly and the disc drive in general were intricate and without pictures I wound up using my first one or two for parts. There were so many different models of the fat ps2 so certain parts wouldn't fit every iteration, it wound up helping to have a few ps2s worth in the parts bin.

The worst was that stupid spring on the gamecube lid. I had the spring go flying when I was tearing down a gc to clean and it took hours worth of googling to figure out how that thing went. None of the tear downs at the time had pics of the spring.

[retro junkie]

Not sure how much I should chime in on this one, just saw this post. One of my jobs at my company is "Warranty Manager." I deal with customer returns of our product. We manufacture heat exchangers, example, radiators. We only cover workmanship and material. I guess one advantage I have is that I can look at a warranty and know what they will cover when I purchase something. And I completely understand why. I ask my customers, or dealers, one thing, as long as it is in the warranty period, don't touch it, return it as it is. If someone monkeys with it, that creates a situation where the product is not in its original failed state. I cannot tell what caused the failure, that is bad for me and bad for the customer. I cannot tell if this is something that can effect other customers or an isolated issue. I usually reject it. But past the warranty, its your baby. Do what you want to do. During the warranty period we do not warrant repairs made to our product due to the nature of what we manufacture.
And I think I can understand where they are coming from when it comes to electronics. I would not want to warrant a piece of electronics that some shop down the street places a cheap Chinese board in and it burnt out the whole system. And I also understand the other side as a consumer.

(Cough) Companies usually try to produce a product that will last past the warranty period (Cough)

[Grindspine]

Companies usually offer a warranty within a specified period of how long the failure rate is within reason of cost effectiveness to repair.  This is to raise consumer faith in the product, but does not guarantee 100% that the unit works, only that the unit can be repaired or replaced at discretion of the manufacturer if the unit does not work.

In the past, I purposely have tinkered and modified with gear early on in ownership, knowing that I was voiding the warranty, pushing the unit out of spec, and aware that I was taking responsibility for this action.  I had an understanding of what "limited warranty" meant though.

From a manufacturer standpoint, there is no reason to offer warranty (warranty itself is not required by law to my knowledge), so any offering of warranty terms should be left to the manufacturer.

Because of the above statement, I would say the FTC is overstepping their regulatory agency jurisdiction.  Warranty policies should be left free trade, in the discretion of the manufacturer.  Those who do not make a good product will lose business while those who make a good product and stand behind it should thrive.

[CreepinDeth]

If I'm not mistaken, this is all because a lot of companies (*cough*Apple*cough*) still charge you for repairs even under warranty for certain things. So because of this, customers want to be able to take it somewhere else to fix their electronics for cheaper.

Seems like a comparable market would be auto manufacturers. You can either go to a dealer or go to your own shop and have them use official parts.

I feel it's reasonable in this case. If companies are still going to charge you to fix items even under warranty, I would prefer to get the best price I can.

[Grindspine]

Apple disgusts me.  Their dealer policies are terrible, but people seem to love their Apple Care!