Wednesday, May 2nd 2018
FTC Gives Manufacturers 30 Days to Remove Warranty Void Stickers
Remember that time where the FTC announced they were cracking down on illegal, predatory warranty conditions? You know, such as those "warranty void if removed" stickers that don't really have any legal base towards their implementation - and eventual refusal of an actual warranty claim? Well, the gong has now sounded, and it will reverberate some 30 times: the amount of days the FTC has given companies to cease and desist on putting those stickers in newly shipped products.
Via a Freedom of Information Act request, Motherboard has received confirmations that the first six companies that have been served by a letter form the FTC are Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Hyundai, HTC, and ASUS (the list of companies that didn't get any letter, however, is quasi-infinite). The letters were sent by Lois Greisman, the FTC's associate director of marketing practices, on April 9th, and established a 30-day period for companies to change their official warranty policies, threatening legal action.
"Warranty language that implies to a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances that warranty coverage requires the consumer to purchase an article or service identified by brand, trade or corporate name is similarly deceptive and prohibited," the FTC letters said.
This could also be concerning, however, as the FTC seems to be putting such an inordinate amount of focus on the language that is being employed by the companies. This, to this editor, seems like is leaving the door open for the companies to review their language and obfuscate their warranty-voiding intentions under other remarks than those they employ now. Here's hoping we're just putting our tinfoil hats on this one...
"This letter places you on notice that violations of the Warranty and FTC Acts may result in legal action," the letters state in bold, adding that the FTC had reviewed warranty language on each manufacturers' websites and found it to be infringing. " FTC investigators have copied and preserved the online pages in question, and we plan to review your company's written warranty and promotional materials after 30 days. You should review the Warranty and FTC Acts and if necessary, revise your practices to comply with the Acts' requirements. By sending this letter, we do not waive the FTC's right to take law enforcement action and seek appropriate injunctive and monetary remedies against [company name] based on past or future violations."
Source:
Motherboard
"Warranty language that implies to a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances that warranty coverage requires the consumer to purchase an article or service identified by brand, trade or corporate name is similarly deceptive and prohibited," the FTC letters said.
"This letter places you on notice that violations of the Warranty and FTC Acts may result in legal action," the letters state in bold, adding that the FTC had reviewed warranty language on each manufacturers' websites and found it to be infringing. " FTC investigators have copied and preserved the online pages in question, and we plan to review your company's written warranty and promotional materials after 30 days. You should review the Warranty and FTC Acts and if necessary, revise your practices to comply with the Acts' requirements. By sending this letter, we do not waive the FTC's right to take law enforcement action and seek appropriate injunctive and monetary remedies against [company name] based on past or future violations."
25 Comments on FTC Gives Manufacturers 30 Days to Remove Warranty Void Stickers
a honest guy would just RMA it in or don't give a crap about warrantee . dishonest guy tends to be a big shot and cracks things open and make ''adjustments and finds hes not so smart after all and now he can send it in and just say ''I never opened it and tampered with it ''
why cant they say the item is for there exclusive use on there products ? so if I hook up a AMD vid card to a Lincoln welder and crank up max current and the card blows up I'm now in the clear and AMD has to cover it ? seems like I was acting reasonably in doing that , right ? now its a matter of a opinion
well look for that added cost to everything you now buy to cover this .
what do they expect from wording ? some chia guy doing is best at English ? in the end it all in there court if they honor warrantee or not you send it in and they do it with ease or you got to fight them for a week of e-mail tag or they just flat turn it down with a too bad so sad note attached .
in the end its all cheap china crap to start with and you got to treat any thing weather its name brand or not from newegg or e-bay new or used as all a buyer beware condition .
just seems like someone with pull at the FTC got board and needed something to do to pass his time till retirement . then spend you tax dollars litigating it for years [your tax dollars working hard for you ]
They did it to keep people from frying themselves on PSUs etc.
An Automobile you should be able to work on
By the way electronics makers find tampering at the rma center they will void the warranty regardless if it had a sticker or not and charge you for repair.
I literally can't understand half of your post.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening.
Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing]
Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.
Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.
Ted Nelson, Customer: [pause] Okay, I'll buy from you.
:)
Do some research of the Magnusson-Moss ACT...
Voiding the warranty can only take effect if the damage has a direct correlation to the claim.
A: User removes the air cooler from a reference GTX 1080TI to mount a waterblock (Does NOT void the warranty) UNLESS somehow the user scratched the GPU die in the process now claiming the Graphics card is defective.
B: User adds an aftermarket exhaust to their car going to a dealership for service with suspension issues (Does NOT void the warranty) UNLESS the user somehow installed aftermarket springs or any suspension related items causing an issue. This also doesn't void the warranty but DENY the claim.
ALL it has to do with is companies trying to force you into allowing(and/or paying) someone not of your choosing, as in not you or someone you would prefer(and/or prefer to pay), to service your product. They have no legal right to choose for you who can, or can't, service your product(and/or require you to pay for repairs by someone not of your choosing, or disallow you to fix it yourself for free). Nor do they have any legal right to deny a product's warranty if you decide for yourself who services your product.
when you send it in its the ball if fully in there court . they could take it no issue or like I said send it back with the too bad so sad note . say if evga turns you down and your in NY are you going to driver to CA to see them about it ?. no you will just get pissed and move on . as fart as I know evga don't care if you remove things and bios mods as long as it ships back to them as original out of the box condition the rest will cry and fight [depending on who you get to deal with and what side of the bed he got up on that day ]
maybe that glue GM/ chevy uses to hang there car and truck doors on with . that's some mean stuff no bolts just that glue only . man you would tare the metal apart before that stuff lets go
The FTC is protecting the rights of consumers to open up their own items to try to fix problems without the manufactures saying "you broke it, not covering it". If I open the hood of my car, the manufacturer can not assume I broke the car if it stops working. If I change my own oil and the transmission broke, the manufacturer can not say that it is not covered just because I change my own oil.
If I peel off some stickers, you can't assume I opened it and broke the device.
If the FTC thinks it should apply to ALL warranty void labels (and I don't think they do) they're mistaken as that creates a tremendous Catch-22. If someone opens up a PSU because they think "it's ok to do so" and kill themselves with a shock from the bulk caps, the family probably will sue the manufacturer.
I think the line is drawn where there's products that are actually user serviceable (i.e. a PC, laptop, etc.) and those that aren't (at least by your average consumer).