Items tagged with warranty
It didn't take long for Nintendo to bow down to pressure from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with regards to its warranty practices. Back in April, we reported that the FTC has deemed "Warranty Voice if Removed" stickers to be illegal and said that it had warned six companies about anti-consumer warranty policies. We later found out that those six companies were Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, ASUS, HTC and Hyundai. Nintendo is one of the first to step to the plate and publicly state that it will end the practice going forward with its gaming hardware. Nintendo says that it has added new language regarding its warranty policy that now adheres with the FTC's new guidelines....
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Last month, the FTC stepped up and said that those "Warranty Void if Removed" stickers were totally illegal and ran afoul of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The FTC is now back and is telling six companies that they are in violation, giving the firms 30 days to clean up their acts or face potential legal action. The FTC sent letters out to ASUS, HTC, Hyundai, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, which have all been warned that language on their websites is in violation of U.S. laws. The letters were obtained by Motherboard via a Freedom of Information Act request. The letters state, "This letter places you on notice that violations of the Warranty and FTC Acts may result in legal action."...
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We've all seen those annoying "Warranty Void if Removed" stickers on electronics. They're normally either slapped over a screw silo or wrapped around where two pieces of metal/plastic join together to discourage you (or a third party) from opening up the device to tinker with it yourself. Well, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has now deemed these stickers to be illegal. The FTC says that is has put six major companies on notice for the use of these stickers (among other practices), and say that they violate the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA) that provides guidelines for consumer product warranties. The MMWA specifically states: No warrantor of a consumer product may condition...
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Do you have an iPhone that is looking a little worse of the wear and needs serving at an Apple Store? Well, it might be good to know beforehand whether that cracked screen or potential water damage is covered under warranty. Thankfully, internal Apple documentation has leaked out that gives us a good look at what Apple deems covered (or not covered) by its warranty services. The service guide was obtained by Business Insider, which has posted a few select pages for all to view. The Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide (VMI) covers Apple’s iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, and 7 Plus smartphones. The first page covers items that are eligible for Apple’s warranty services “regardless of any accidental...
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If you have been eyeing the recently-introduced Honor 8 smartphone, you are in luck. Huawei is now guaranteeing two years of software and security updates for Honor devices. Huawei is the third largest telecommunications manufacturer in the world. Most of its business comes from China, however, Google’s Nexus 6P (check out our review here) and the Huawei Mate 8 (check out our review here) have both made successful inroads in the United States. Huawei will give customers access to new features for up to 24 months following each product's launch. The company will continue to provide safety updates thereafter. Taylor Wimbley from Huawei remarked, “Our goal is to ensure customers have the best...
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You have to hand it to HTC, the first company to build an Android handset (HTC Dream, otherwise known as the T-Mobile G1), for which it was handsomely rewarded. Samsung and Apple have stolen the smartphone show in recent years, but rather than pack it in and call it quits, HTC continues to build solid Android devices, the newest of which is the HTC One M9. And should you purchase one, HTC will provide a year of accidental damage protection at no cost. It's part of the HTC's new "Uh Oh" program, and as described, it's nothing short of awesome. Should you drop your One M9 onto the pavement and crack the screen or accidentally sustain water damage (like...
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Up until recently, you could purchase an iPhone from Apple (online or in an Apple Retail Store) and have a full 30 days to return it for a full refund, provided it was in new condition and repackaged with all of the original contents. According to Apple's revised return policy, you can still return an undamaged iPhone for a full refund, but the time period to do so has been slashed in half to 14 days. "You have 14 calendar days to return an item from the date you receive it. For an Apple iPhone, you have 14 calendar days," Apple's return policy states. According to 9to5Mac, part of the reason Apple made the change was to avoid confusion. Wireless carriers typically offer a 14-day return period...
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As you might already know, OCZ Technology fell on tough times, filed for bankruptcy, and sold off virtually all of its assets to Toshiba. Following the acquisition, Toshiba launched OCZ Storage Solutions as a wholly owned subsidiary, a move that allows the hard workers at OCZ to continue pumping out solid state drives (SSDs) and other storage products without the worry of securing NAND flash memory chips in what's become a volatile market. What does all this mean in terms of warranty service? That was the big question leading up to a revised warranty page on OCZ's website. Short and to the point, some existing products are covered and some are not. Good news for some, bad news for others. "Please...
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You know that little strip in the iPhone that changes color to indicate when there’s been water damage? And how Apple avoided abiding by its warranties by noting that your iPhone showed water damage, even though you swore that you didn’t remember when or where it could have gotten wet? You weren’t the only one to feel screwed by Apple on that front, and you won’t be the only one to receive a cash settlement as a result. According to a leaked PDF acquired by Wired, Apple has agreed to pay a $53 million class action settlement for its failure to honor those warranties. The issue is that the strips inside those iOS devices (called “Liquid Contact Indicators”,...
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If you've been paying attention to Apple's most recent earnings reports, you'll probably be aware of two key points: one, the company's revenues continue to skyrocket, and secondly, China is increasingly important to that revenue increase. While Apple is typically viewed in a majorly positive light in North America, the company's image is held to an equally high standard in mainland China. Apple is opening up a multitude of new retail shops in the country, and as growth happens, so to do expectations. This week, the company's CEO issued an apology to one of its largest markets, vowing to "revamp aspects of its customer-service policies in China after more than two weeks of pointed attacks by...
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A Belgian consumer rights organization has announced it will take Apple to court over the company's failure to satisfactorily disclose EU-mandated warranty terms. According to European Union law, consumers are entitled to a two year warranty, free of charge. Apple, meanwhile, charges for an Apple Care warranty after the first year and steers consumers towards this option. It's not hard to see the Belgian group's point. Here are a pair of screenshots from the UK Apple store. That's not the clearest language in the world. Apple's "More Information" page doesn't really improve things. That first comparison point makes it sound like the EU warranty period is some sort of minimal coverage that only...
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EVGA is rolling out a new and improved 'Global Warranty' policy designed to make it easier to have your graphics card or other EVGA brand computer part serviced without having to wade through a ton of red tape or jump through hoops, regardless of where you live. The big change is that the warranty no longer belongs to the purchaser, but is instead tied to the specific EVGA product. It's the way things should be, and now they are. For products shipped from EVGA on or after July 1, 2011, registration is no longer required for RMAs with the company's Guest RMA process. That means you can sell or otherwise transfer your product to a new owner and they too will enjoy whatever time is left on the original...
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If Hollywood has taught us anything, it's that aliens will attack us at some point. For every E.T. and Alf, there's a dozen War of the World derivatives. "To Serve Man" was a cookbook, after all, and that dates back to when the world was broadcast in black and white, forget about your fancy HDTV. This inevitable fact is why it was so disheartening (or silly, as it were) to find out Asus, for a time, was specifically excluding "space invasions" from its Warranty Extension Program. Doesn't anyone at Asus have cable, or go out to the movies, or read comic books? Here is the part that was picked up by Internet detectives and, as far as we know, first posted over at Spanish website MuyComputer.com:...
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Intel recently unveiled a special warranty plan that allows users a one-time replacement for a processor they inadvertently cook while overclocking, but it cost a (relatively) small fee--between $20-35, depending on your particular CPU. Gigabyte and CyberpowerPC have partnered to offer Intel’s plan, called the Intel Performance Tuning Protection Plan, in some CybewrpowerPC systems for free. The freebie will apply only to systems with certain Intel X or K chips (per the original plan conditions) and Gigabyte Z68 motherboards. Users can redeem their replacement CPU through CyberpowerPC’s customer service. Intel’s protection plan is by no means expensive, but it’s still nice...
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Intel today unveiled a pilot program that provides warranty protection to overclockers in the event they get a little bit overzealous with pushing the pedal to the metal. For a fee, Intel will provide a one-time replacement of certain processors that were damaged by overclocking and/or over-volting. It's completely optional and in addition to the original three-year standard warranty that already applies to Intel's retail boxed processors. Intel is pleased to announce the introduction of a new pilot plan targeted at the enthusiast community. The enthusiast community is a critical market segment for Intel and we are looking at more opportunities to serve that community. In this spirit, Intel is...
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Word around the Web is that some hard drive makers are cutting down their warranty terms, the timing of which couldn't be any worse (we'll get to that in a minute). Western Digital is dropping the distribution warranty period for Caviar Blue, Caviar Green, and Scorpio Blue drives from 3 years to 2 years (Caviar Black and Scorpio Black will still carry 5-year warranties). News of Western Digital's reduced warranty terms was first reported by The Register, which got its hands on the following letter: This new warranty policy will be effective for drives shipped from January 2nd, 2012. It is important that you take a moment to update your website(s) and collateral to reflect this change for effected...
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We know solid state drives are fast. We know they don't use any moving parts. And did we mention that they're fast? But the one unknown this early in the SSD game is how reliable they truly are. Conventional wisdom says that without any moving parts, and with garbage collecting schemes that limit the number of writes and rewrites, a well built SSD should potentially last as long as that of the average hard drive. Only time will prove that theory right or wrong, and in the meantime, OWC is offering customers warm fuzzies in the form of a 5-year warranty for its Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD line. According to OWC, this is the first time a company has ever backed a SandForce-based 6Gb/s SATA Revision...
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A high-five is in order for Corsair for more than doubling the warranty period on its Hydra Series H60 CPU cooler from two years to five years, ensuring that there's at least one component you won't have to worry about for the life of your system (unless you keep your systems for more than five years, in which, it's time to upgrade, playa!). And don't go pounding sand if you already purchased an H60 cooler, the extended warranty applies to you, too. "The new, longer warranty reflects the care that Corsair has taken with design and construction of the H60, as well as the choice of high-quality materials," said Ruben Mookerjee, VP and General Manager for Components at Corsair. "Our customers can...
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Gorilla Glass or no, the iPhone 4's screen appears to be more fragile than its predecessors. According to SquareTrade, a third party warranty company (including accidental coverage), iPhone 4 glass breakage is up 82 percent over the iPhone 3GS. Additionally, accidental damage in total is up 68 percent over the prior model. SquareTrade analyzed iPhone accidents for over 20,000 iPhone 4s covered by SquareTrade Care Plans over the first four months of its availability, and compared that to 20,000 iPhone 3GS claims for the same period of time. The results of the study, according to SquareTrade, show that the iPhone 4 is "is more vulnerable to physical damage than its predecessor." Flickr/RichieC...
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At this point, it doesn't even matter who's to blame for BFG's demise, because at the end of the day, you're left holding the bag should your BFG videcoard give up the ghost. The company's days appear numbered, and BFG, which essentially pioneered the concept of Lifetime Warranties in the GPU market, is no longer honoring RMAs for busted cards. Bummer. In case you haven't been following, BFG fell on hard times when it was unable to secure shipments of Nvidia's Fermi products, forcing the company to ditch its videocard business. According to reports, this didn't sit well with Best Buy, which ended up dropping BFG completely, including the company's power supplies that were sold in stores and online....
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G.SKILL extends its warranty for its performance leading Phoenix SSD series to 3 years Taipei, Taiwan - G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage, has today announced the warranty extension of the Phoenix and Phoenix Pro SSD series to 3 years. In order to provide a better service for its customers, G.Skill has extended the warranty to 3 years for all Phoenix series SSD, Including Phoenix and the latest Phoenix Pro drives. For the consumers who have already purchased any G.Skill Phoenix series SSD, G.Skill will also provide 3 years warranty service too. All G.Skill SSD solutions now come with 3 years warranty and the G.Skill Technical...
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If you own a XLR8 GeForce GTX Series graphics card from PNY, the company has some good news for you: It has just extended the standard 1-year out of box warranty to a lifetime warranty. You’ll have to register at PNY.com to get the extended warranty, but that’s a minor tradeoff for what you’ll get in exchange. Check out the press release below for full details on which models qualify and how you can take advantage of the offer. PNY Announces New Lifetime Warranty forXLR8™ GeForce® GTX Series Graphics Cards Parsippany, NJ – August 20, 2009 – PNY Technologies®, Inc. (“PNY”), a global leader in flash memory cards, USB flash drives, solid state drives, computer memory upgrade modules,...
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