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The FTC is investigating PC manufacturers who scare you away from your right to repair
(www.theverge.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2024
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ever seen one of those “warranty void if removed” stickers covering the screw holes on a gadget?
Gigabyte includes: “If the manufacturing sticker inside the product was removed or damaged, it would no longer be covered by the warranty.”
“The Warranty Act prohibits warrantors of consumer products costing more than five dollars from conditioning their written warranties on a consumer’s use of any article or service, such as repair service, which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name, unless (1) the warranty states the article or service will be provided to the consumer for free, or (2) the warrantor has been granted a waiver by the Commission,” the FTC writes.
“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,” the agency is telling each firm.
In 2018, the FTC put Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft on notice for doing the same thing with their game consoles, as well as Asus, HTC, and Hyundai.
iFixit has a blog on how “warranty void if removed” stickers may be legal in other parts of the world.
The original article contains 406 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 53%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
No more mouse screws under the glide pads? Be still my heart.
Yeah, Logitech. I'm going to need to open up my G900 soon because the left mouse button is starting to do the same thing my G7 did back in the day. I hope it's not more awkward due to the non-removable battery (or less removable, I guess), but the glide pads are larger on this one, I hope they adhere well after being lifted.
I just broke through the ones on my G7. Luckily they didn't bend downwards from pulling the screws out.
Actually, this time I might even look into getting a better switch instead of fixing the one they put in it. If that's even a thing, and if there even are more durable mouse button switches because it has been pressed a lot over the years.
It totally is a thing, both getting new switches on their own and the availability of a range of qualities: https://www.maketecheasier.com/replace-faulty-mouse-switches/
The law doesn't say they can't make it difficult to service, just that they can't deny your warranty because you did.
I honestly wonder how those meetings go. It has to be comical villainous to spend so much time trying to fuck over your customer not allowing them to fix what they purchased from you.
I just don't get it, if an item breaks and I can't at least try to fix it, there is no way I'm purchasing from the same brand again.
So what is the motivation here? The thing that has kept me with companies is good customer service and a generous warranty service.
Denying claims and making it impossible to fix it myself will get you instantly on my ban list.
So what gives? How did we get here?
Don't worry guys. The FTC, FAA, EPA, ... ETC. MEAN NOTHING ANYMORE!
thanks trump.