How Sony, Microsoft, and Other Gadget Makers Violate Federal Warranty Law (vice.com)

Reader citadrianne shares a Motherboard article: There are big "no trespassing" signs affixed to most of our electronics. If you own a gaming console, laptop, or computer, it's likely you've seen one of these warnings in the form of a sticker placed over a screw or a seam: "Warranty void if removed." In addition, big manufacturers such as Sony, Microsoft, and Apple explicitly note or imply in their official agreements that their year-long manufacturer warranties -- which entitle you to a replacement or repair if your device is defective -- are void if consumers attempt to repair their gadgets or take them to a third party repair professional. What almost no one knows is that these stickers and clauses are illegal under a federal law passed in 1975 called the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act . To be clear, federal law says you can open your electronics without voiding the warranty, regardless of what the language of that warranty says.

Comments

warranty length

[greenfruitsalad]

the more annoying thing is, that for a device this expensive, the warranty is only 1 year long. apple even tried to bring that crap to EU. fortunately, apart from UK, the whole EU has 2 year warranty on everything.

Re:warranty length

[Ecuador]

the more annoying thing is, that for a device this expensive, the warranty is only 1 year long. apple even tried to bring that crap to EU. fortunately, apart from UK, the whole EU has 2 year warranty on everything.

And you didn't realize that EU citizens are paying for an extended warranty?

Apple's probably one of the best examples as their "EU Tax" is low - take the US model, add AppleCare (to satisfy EU warranty), add in the requisite VAT (20-25%) and convert to Euros, and you come out pretty close to the cost in Europe.

No, in this case you are mistaken. For a few years Apple denied this second year of warranty in Europe and the prices were exactly the same as after they were forced to advertise and honor it. Nothing changed. This is because Apple prices have nothing to do with actual cost.

Now, for other manufacturers it might apply of course.

Good luck with that

[chispito]

The manufacturers are not implying your warranty evaporates if you break the seal. It's more that you will never succeed in convincing them that you did not cause the problem at that point.

In a more extreme example, would you want to be a manufacturer and honor a warranty on a (spinning) hard drive with a broken seal?

Re:Good luck with that

[tripleevenfall]

This is a lot like those signs on the back of dump trucks that say "Not responsible for broken windshields".

The sign changes nothing about the law, but it probably works very well to discourage people from trying to recover damages from them.

I'm shocked

[Kierthos]

Shocked, I tell you, shocked. (Maybe I shouldn't have touched the mains.)

Shocked, I tell you, that corporations would try and bypass federal law to avoid losing money. SHOCKED.

I mean, we all know corporations are all sweetness and light, concerned first and foremost with providing quality products to consumers, and not with squeezing every nickel and dime out of them, sending them to mandatory "third party" arbitration that favors them, and generally treating customers as disposable whenever possible.

Boy, I'm glad I don't live in a world like that, where corporations routinely bribe public officials and get away with it, because it's called "lobbying".