Previous discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16803512" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16803512</a><p>Slightly different in that it concerns the use of "warranty void if removed" seals.
I had a Husqvarna lawn edger attachment that broke during the warranty period. After a back and forth with customer service, their only solution for me was to bring to an "Authorized repair center". I would have no problem with that if there wasn't a diagnostic fee, that would be waived if the repair was going to be covered under warranty, or I would have to pay if it was not. The potential fee was $50 on a $100 item. The thing is I could literally hold the broken part in my hand and say "this is what is broken, here is the part number, is it covered?". They could not answer that unless the repair center looked at it. It is a known issue with the flex shaft that many people have documented online. Husq doesn't care, in fact most of their twitter feed is filled with customer complaints.<p>Credit Card warranty couldn't help because it was within manufacturer's warranty.<p>I got the Attn. General involved who basically arbitrated the conversation, ultimately did not help one bit. I even cited the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act mentioned here by the FTC.<p>This has re-invigorated me to try going down the FTC complaint route. It's not about the $100 now, it's about Husq standing behind their products and fixing known issues, and not lying to consumers with BS warranties on the box.<p>Not helping my case: I bought another one because the attachment is basically the best on the market. I fully expect the same thing will happen again, armed myself with a better 3rd party warranty this time. I hope it at least makes it through 1 season.
I wonder if Keurig will have to change their brewer warranty:<p>"Only the use of Keurig® K-Cup® brand pods and accessories will guarantee the proper functioning and lifetime of your Keurig® brewer. Any damage to or malfunction of your brewer resulting from the use of non-Keurig® pods and accessories may not be covered by this warranty or may result in a service fee if the damage or malfunction is determined to be caused by such use."<p><a href="http://support.keurig.com/article?id=kA036000000CJGOCA4" rel="nofollow">http://support.keurig.com/article?id=kA036000000CJGOCA4</a>
A few years back, there was a well-known issue with HP Touchpads where the plastic near the speakers would start to crack.[0][1] HP accepted the Touchpads more or less without question and offered to repair them free of charge.<p>After I sent mine in, I got a call several weeks later from an HP employee who informed me that they had found "third-party firmware" flashed onto the device (like pretty much everyone who bought a Touchpad after HP discontinued them, I loaded Android onto it). I argued with him for a few minutes about what relevance that has to a well-known <i>hardware defect</i> on the device, but he insisted that flashing a third-party OS voids the warranty. He eventually agreed to repair it, issuing me a "warning" about future repairs and saying that they would wipe it and flash a stock image before sending it back to me.<p>Would the FTC's warning have covered my incident above had HP not eventually agreed to repair it?<p>[0]<a href="https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1250645" rel="nofollow">https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1250645</a><p>[1]<a href="https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1502123" rel="nofollow">https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1502123</a>
Cool! I own a Traeger wood pellet grill (smoker), and there's a big warning label that says if I don't use their brand of pellets that my warranty may be void.<p>I thought this was pretty much BS, but good to hear officially that this kind of thing is not OK.
So how does this law interact with garbage products that enforce "Use of Specified Parts/Services" with DRM?<p>Better yet, how do we know when its a DRM factor, vs not?
This seems overly generous to the consumer. If I buy a product such as an iPad, then break the screen, then replace the screen with an inferior (dimmer, say) part, can I now claim back to Apple that the product is unsuitable and expect a replacement within the terms of the warranty?<p>Even if this is about unrelated parts, such as a battery failure after replacing the screen, how much effort will it take the manufacturer to a) ensure that the device has no other less obvious changes and b) ensure that the parts that were replaced didn't have an unexpected effect? Certainly I've seen, in manufacturing devices that emit EM, unintended consequences where parts caused interference significant enough to damage other parts (usually through unexpected signals.)<p>It's clearly a win for consumers but I wonder how companies can carry the burden. Perhaps all-inclusive warranties will fade into history as a result.
The first warranty I checked had clear violations.<p>> 4.1.1 Exclusions. Customer has no warranty rights with respect to defects or non-conformities caused by (i) use of the Products with hardware or software that Company has not specified as suitable; ... (v) installation or maintenance of Products by someone other than Company; ...<p><a href="https://www.seagate.com/css/terms-us/hardware-sales-terms/" rel="nofollow">https://www.seagate.com/css/terms-us/hardware-sales-terms/</a>
Things are only as strong as the legal cases behind them.<p>Apple recently told me that my battery, despite being well within it's advertised number of charge cycles, needed to be replaced, and that it would cost some absurd amount of money.<p>This is obviously bait and switch, but am I really going to take them to court over $300? Just the lost time of filing any paperwork about it would end up costing me more money.<p>So yeah, this stuff is all great, but who cares if none of us actually have the time to take them to court.