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Thread: What is the meaning of a life time warranty

  1. #1
    Bronze Member Alan's Avatar
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    What is the meaning of a life time warranty

    When we buy something and are prepaird to pay a premium because it carries a life time warranty. It really p's me off that when something goes wrong and the company that is supposed to honour the warranty now become fortune tellers and proceed to tell you what you must have done wrong. Finally when all the "must have's" are exhausted they then claim the problem regardless is not covered by the warranty. Had the same problem with cell phones, with so called moisture damage. What an age we live in, what happened to the days you could do business on a hand shake, today we have to make sure all the T's are crossed and i's dotted other wise the piece of paper we call an agreement is worth nothing. Makes me sick!!!
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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    There was a time in my life when I did a bit of rock climbing. The term "lifetime warranty" takes on whole new meaning when it comes to your climbing equipment. If it fails, there is a more than reasonable chance the warranty will expire too

    Alan - if you dropped a TV off a 30 storey building I can understand the manufacturer might be a little hesitant as to whether this is a claimable repair under warranty. What actually happened?

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    Bronze Member Alan's Avatar
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    Well we aquired 7 Major Teck meters awhile ago and paid the price as they came with life time warranties. A couple of weeks ago one of the technitions made a mistake and tested a circuit with voltage on it. Right we made the mistake but no problem as these meters are fuse protected in case of an event like this. Well major teck are now saying we 'must have done..............' At the end of the day i pointed out that the fuse actually failed and that is what caused the damage to the pc board, only to be told the fuse is there to protect the user and not the circuit in the meter. Bull#$*^ when ever i buy a vehicle i dont have some car salesman standing there going "A great safety feature in this vehicle are the fuses". Fuses are designed to protect the circuit not the user.
    Now we have reached a stand off where Major Teck refuses to see that the fuse failure caused the damage but will advertise it as a selling point. Aiiish
    Remember the Ark was built by Amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.
    Business isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

    Marine Aquariums SA

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    Full Member AndreMorgenrood's Avatar
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    A couple of years ago we purchased a top of the range Whirlpool fridge from Hirsch's. It was'nt a lifetime warranty but something like 10 years I think, paid about 15k for it but with such a warranty thought it well worth the money.

    Within a year the water dispenser broke. "Sorry, that's not covered in the warranty" we wore told by Hirsch's.

    Then the icemaker broke a couple of months later "Sorry that's not covered in the warranty".

    Needless to say the yanks can shove their fridges up their arse and I'll never buy from Hirsch's again, ever

    Also beware of Fossil watches, the only damn thing covered in the 10 year warranty appears to be the till slip they give you when you buy one.

    On the up side I've had good service from Zippo on their lifetime warranty, sent in a lighter that was FUBAR and they sent it back good as new.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    The problem isn't limited to warranty claims. There's also defective workmanship issues too.

    Maybe we can compile a list of product failures and excuses.

    My latest experience was a tyre that got out of shape (developed a bulge) after about 10 000km. The outer tread had seperated slightly from the inner casing which produces a lovely vibration and noise. Please note: Not a retread!

    Manufacturer's explanation - the tyre must have been over-inflated!!
    My explanation - layer seperation due to defective manufacturing.

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    My take on this

    My take on this. If they can afford to offer you a life time warranty they can afford to hire a bevvy of lawyers to get them out of the commitment. Doesn't mean anything in the true sense of the word.

    Everybody now manufactures with obsolesence in mind - just look at the light bulb.

    When I see the word warranty I immediately disregard the sales talk that goes with it - guarantee me please!!
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    Full Member AndreMorgenrood's Avatar
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    And the "Half Brands" deception?

    I've always tended to buy brand names rather than what seemed like cheap imitations. I'll pay close to R1000 for a genuine Leatherman while they sell a banged together ripp-off of the same product for R80.00 at Mica and you even get a miniature one thrown in gratis and for nothing.

    Then I ended up with a new Rolux lawnmower which has always been good in my experience. After all it's powered by a Brigg's & Stratton (Sp?) motor which has the same reputation as the likes of John Deer or close enough. Then came the surprise, the motor might be B&S but the rest of the lawnmower looks and feels like it's been bolted and hammered together in a New Deli chop shop. When I first started her up the throttle cable broke and now the carb is already giving trouble after about 2 hours of operation from brand new. I have'nt bothered to look but I'm sure the motor will be the only thing on the mower that has any sort of meaningful warranty. So a case of riding on the repp of a good brand name and then skimping on the rest.

    When the Colt Rodeo first came out I remember the advertising line "Powered by Mercedes Benz" but I wonder how much of the vehicle is actually designed or built by Mercedes. Not that I'm saying they're bad vehicles, just wondering why they're being backed by another brand and not their own, what's wrong with "Powered by Mitsubishi" ? Is it that people believe Mercedes will always look after them while Mitsubishi wont? Trust the Germans and not the Japs?

    And finally the one thing I buy in life where warranty is the number one consideration, laptop computers. I swear they build the damn things to last just as long as the warranty is valid and then they blow. Those who've been there will know what I mean, blow a motherboard on a PC and it's an inconvenience, blow one on a Laptop and you might as well throw it away and buy a new one.

    So I figure warranty and brand name pretty much go hand in hand. I've heard stories of appalling service even from brands like Landrover and Mercedes but I think in general you are much more likely to be shafted by a lesser brand than the strong ones who care about their reputation. This might be a good time to prove me wrong with your own bad experience with a known brand not living up to their promises, like my experience with Whirlpool above

    Andre'

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