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#1
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
I have just received two pre-built 'budget' PC's from a vendor who, for the time
being, shall remain nameless (unless, of course, I fail to get a satisfactory response to this question from them). You are of course, free to name, shame, praise or otherwise guess as to A) Who you think it is, and B) Who you have had similar from. The system is advertised on the web site as having, among other things, "with 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB". PC's are designed to be upgradeable. I might want to add DVD-RAM drives, more hard discs, more memory, different video cards, exotic interface cards, etc. Therefore, I take very unkindly to discovering 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers on the back of the case. While I am all for rejecting, or charging for returns from ham-fisted morons who wouldn't understand the dangers of high voltage static discharges if they got hit by one in a thunderstorm, I'm a professional, damn it. I take perfectly adequate anti-static precautions (my work surfaces are one big earthed anti-static mat, I have, and use anti-static wrist straps. I do not, as a rule, scrape the sharp pointed ends of my various screwdrivers (of which I use several, knowing the difference between Phillips and Pozidrive screws, for instance), nor do I use an entire tube of heat transfer compound for one CPU/heat-sink, or crunch the corner off the CPU when installing it. I even, sometimes, manage to complete a build without getting bitten by the sharp edges inherent in cheap cases)). While the build quality of these machines is adequate (actually very good for a sub-£200 PC), this particular issue irritates me sufficiently that I am sorely tempted to return them solely for that. (And not, in fact for the reason that one of the machines, after going through the OEM windows welcome script, was discovered to have died of a STOP 0x9C Machine check exception when the installer resealed the OEM preinstall before it was shipped) I thought we had got away from the days of warranty stickers when Amiga bit the dust. So, my questions to the group a 1. What experience have you had with manufacturers placing warranty stickers on devices that are designed to be opened and upgraded by end users? 2. In the event of a warranty claim, what is the likelihood of a claim by the vendor that the warranty is void standing up to trading standards/SOGA, or in court? |
#2
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
In article , Jim Howes says...
So, my questions to the group a 1. What experience have you had with manufacturers placing warranty stickers on devices that are designed to be opened and upgraded by end users? 2. In the event of a warranty claim, what is the likelihood of a claim by the vendor that the warranty is void standing up to trading standards/SOGA, or in court? 1) It's already been tested in Court AFAIR. The upshot was that as a PC is a modular item designed to be upgradable, it was unreasonable to void a claim because someone had taken off the lid to perform a function the PC was advertised as being capable of. 2) Not very for the vendor. -- Conor The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us. |
#3
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
Jim Howes wrote:
I have just received two pre-built 'budget' PC's from a vendor who, for the time being, shall remain nameless (unless, of course, I fail to get a satisfactory response to this question from them). You are of course, free to name, shame, praise or otherwise guess as to A) Who you think it is, and B) Who you have had similar from. The system is advertised on the web site as having, among other things, "with 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB". PC's are designed to be upgradeable. I might want to add DVD-RAM drives, more hard discs, more memory, different video cards, exotic interface cards, etc. Therefore, I take very unkindly to discovering 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers on the back of the case. While I am all for rejecting, or charging for returns from ham-fisted morons who wouldn't understand the dangers of high voltage static discharges if they got hit by one in a thunderstorm, I'm a professional, damn it. I take perfectly adequate anti-static precautions (my work surfaces are one big earthed anti-static mat, I have, and use anti-static wrist straps. I do not, as a rule, scrape the sharp pointed ends of my various screwdrivers (of which I use several, knowing the difference between Phillips and Pozidrive screws, for instance), nor do I use an entire tube of heat transfer compound for one CPU/heat-sink, or crunch the corner off the CPU when installing it. I even, sometimes, manage to complete a build without getting bitten by the sharp edges inherent in cheap cases)). While the build quality of these machines is adequate (actually very good for a sub-£200 PC), this particular issue irritates me sufficiently that I am sorely tempted to return them solely for that. (And not, in fact for the reason that one of the machines, after going through the OEM windows welcome script, was discovered to have died of a STOP 0x9C Machine check exception when the installer resealed the OEM preinstall before it was shipped) I thought we had got away from the days of warranty stickers when Amiga bit the dust. So, my questions to the group a 1. What experience have you had with manufacturers placing warranty stickers on devices that are designed to be opened and upgraded by end users? 2. In the event of a warranty claim, what is the likelihood of a claim by the vendor that the warranty is void standing up to trading standards/SOGA, or in court? The seal does not affect your SOGA rights. Breaking it can void any *additional* warranty provided by the manufacturer - as it is additional, the manufacturer can make it conditional on the box only being opened by authorised persons and the seal remaining intact.. You break the seal and you fall back on your SOGA rights. -- Sue |
#4
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
Jim Howes ejaculated:
I have just received two pre-built 'budget' PC's from a vendor who, for the time being, shall remain nameless (unless, of course, I fail to get a satisfactory response to this question from them). You are of course, free to name, shame, praise or otherwise guess as to A) Who you think it is, and B) Who you have had similar from. Acer I'm guessing! |
#5
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
sounds like my Acer got the 2nd drive in a cheap eBay usb caddy at the mo..
lad won't let me open it.. am tempted to ring their tech support and ask.... I am a it person by trade so should know what I am doing . . . "Jim Howes" wrote in message ... I have just received two pre-built 'budget' PC's from a vendor who, for the time being, shall remain nameless (unless, of course, I fail to get a satisfactory response to this question from them). You are of course, free to name, shame, praise or otherwise guess as to A) Who you think it is, and B) Who you have had similar from. The system is advertised on the web site as having, among other things, "with 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB". PC's are designed to be upgradeable. I might want to add DVD-RAM drives, more hard discs, more memory, different video cards, exotic interface cards, etc. Therefore, I take very unkindly to discovering 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers on the back of the case. While I am all for rejecting, or charging for returns from ham-fisted morons who wouldn't understand the dangers of high voltage static discharges if they got hit by one in a thunderstorm, I'm a professional, damn it. I take perfectly adequate anti-static precautions (my work surfaces are one big earthed anti-static mat, I have, and use anti-static wrist straps. I do not, as a rule, scrape the sharp pointed ends of my various screwdrivers (of which I use several, knowing the difference between Phillips and Pozidrive screws, for instance), nor do I use an entire tube of heat transfer compound for one CPU/heat-sink, or crunch the corner off the CPU when installing it. I even, sometimes, manage to complete a build without getting bitten by the sharp edges inherent in cheap cases)). While the build quality of these machines is adequate (actually very good for a sub-£200 PC), this particular issue irritates me sufficiently that I am sorely tempted to return them solely for that. (And not, in fact for the reason that one of the machines, after going through the OEM windows welcome script, was discovered to have died of a STOP 0x9C Machine check exception when the installer resealed the OEM preinstall before it was shipped) I thought we had got away from the days of warranty stickers when Amiga bit the dust. So, my questions to the group a 1. What experience have you had with manufacturers placing warranty stickers on devices that are designed to be opened and upgraded by end users? 2. In the event of a warranty claim, what is the likelihood of a claim by the vendor that the warranty is void standing up to trading standards/SOGA, or in court? |
#6
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
"Mad Mum" wrote in message . uk... sounds like my Acer got the 2nd drive in a cheap eBay usb caddy at the mo.. lad won't let me open it.. am tempted to ring their tech support and ask.... I am a it person by trade so should know what I am doing . . . I bought an Acer last year and it had these stickers attached. The plan was to upgrade the PC immediately with memory I already had, and install a floppy drive. I was going to fit the bits anyway, but I thought I would e-mail Acer to see what they had to say. This is the reply I got: *** Hello, Thank you for contacting Acer. Regarding your enquiry, With regards to your warranty position on adding a floppy drive. You are able to add one yourself, however if by doing so you damage any of the internal components of the machine your warranty would become void. Also note, that Acer would not support any additional drive added by yourself, nor would we support any software conflicts arising in this configuration. The same applies to upgrading of RAM. The labels on the machine are there to discourage in-experienced personnel from tampering with the machine, if you feel comfortable with performing this then you may.Otherwise, please contact us again and we will happily (for a fee) install these items for you. Regards Acer Technical Support Team *** I would expect the situation to be the same of any manufacturer these days. Hope this helps. Chris. |
#7
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
Jim Howes wrote:
I have just received two pre-built 'budget' PC's from a vendor who, for the time being, shall remain nameless (unless, of course, I fail to get a satisfactory response to this question from them). You are of course, free to name, shame, praise or otherwise guess as to A) Who you think it is, and B) Who you have had similar from. The system is advertised on the web site as having, among other things, "with 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB". PC's are designed to be upgradeable. I might want to add DVD-RAM drives, more hard discs, more memory, different video cards, exotic interface cards, etc. Therefore, I take very unkindly to discovering 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers on the back of the case. While I am all for rejecting, or charging for returns from ham-fisted morons who wouldn't understand the dangers of high voltage static discharges if they got hit by one in a thunderstorm, I'm a professional, damn it. I take perfectly adequate anti-static precautions (my work surfaces are one big earthed anti-static mat, I have, and use anti-static wrist straps. I do not, as a rule, scrape the sharp pointed ends of my various screwdrivers (of which I use several, knowing the difference between Phillips and Pozidrive screws, for instance), nor do I use an entire tube of heat transfer compound for one CPU/heat-sink, or crunch the corner off the CPU when installing it. I even, sometimes, manage to complete a build without getting bitten by the sharp edges inherent in cheap cases)). While the build quality of these machines is adequate (actually very good for a sub-£200 PC), this particular issue irritates me sufficiently that I am sorely tempted to return them solely for that. (And not, in fact for the reason that one of the machines, after going through the OEM windows welcome script, was discovered to have died of a STOP 0x9C Machine check exception when the installer resealed the OEM preinstall before it was shipped) I thought we had got away from the days of warranty stickers when Amiga bit the dust. So, my questions to the group a 1. What experience have you had with manufacturers placing warranty stickers on devices that are designed to be opened and upgraded by end users? 2. In the event of a warranty claim, what is the likelihood of a claim by the vendor that the warranty is void standing up to trading standards/SOGA, or in court? If the PC is sourced from a Dixons Store Group business, ie PCWorld, Currys and Dixons, the engineers take no concern about a warranty sticker. Gaz |
#8
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
mine was from Comet - same price as ebuyer AND no postage and no waiting...
now, where's my chisel, blowtorch and axe - as if adding a drive would damage the mobo . . . I do NOT work for ****y World.... "Chris Dyson" wrote in message ... "Mad Mum" wrote in message . uk... sounds like my Acer got the 2nd drive in a cheap eBay usb caddy at the mo.. lad won't let me open it.. am tempted to ring their tech support and ask.... I am a it person by trade so should know what I am doing . . . I bought an Acer last year and it had these stickers attached. The plan was to upgrade the PC immediately with memory I already had, and install a floppy drive. I was going to fit the bits anyway, but I thought I would e-mail Acer to see what they had to say. This is the reply I got: *** Hello, Thank you for contacting Acer. Regarding your enquiry, With regards to your warranty position on adding a floppy drive. You are able to add one yourself, however if by doing so you damage any of the internal components of the machine your warranty would become void. Also note, that Acer would not support any additional drive added by yourself, nor would we support any software conflicts arising in this configuration. The same applies to upgrading of RAM. The labels on the machine are there to discourage in-experienced personnel from tampering with the machine, if you feel comfortable with performing this then you may.Otherwise, please contact us again and we will happily (for a fee) install these items for you. Regards Acer Technical Support Team *** I would expect the situation to be the same of any manufacturer these days. Hope this helps. Chris. |
#9
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:09:14 GMT, "Chris Dyson"
wrote: "Mad Mum" wrote in message .uk... sounds like my Acer got the 2nd drive in a cheap eBay usb caddy at the mo.. lad won't let me open it.. am tempted to ring their tech support and ask.... I am a it person by trade so should know what I am doing . . . I bought an Acer last year and it had these stickers attached. The plan was to upgrade the PC immediately with memory I already had, and install a floppy drive. I was going to fit the bits anyway, but I thought I would e-mail Acer to see what they had to say. This is the reply I got: *** Hello, Thank you for contacting Acer. Regarding your enquiry, With regards to your warranty position on adding a floppy drive. You are able to add one yourself, however if by doing so you damage any of the internal components of the machine your warranty would become void. Also note, that Acer would not support any additional drive added by yourself, nor would we support any software conflicts arising in this configuration. The same applies to upgrading of RAM. The labels on the machine are there to discourage in-experienced personnel from tampering with the machine, if you feel comfortable with performing this then you may.Otherwise, please contact us again and we will happily (for a fee) install these items for you. Regards Acer Technical Support Team *** Strikes me as a very reasonable response/position. |
#10
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WTF? 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers?
"Jim Howes" wrote in message ... I have just received two pre-built 'budget' PC's from a vendor who, for the time being, shall remain nameless (unless, of course, I fail to get a satisfactory response to this question from them). You are of course, free to name, shame, praise or otherwise guess as to A) Who you think it is, and B) Who you have had similar from. The system is advertised on the web site as having, among other things, "with 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB". PC's are designed to be upgradeable. I might want to add DVD-RAM drives, more hard discs, more memory, different video cards, exotic interface cards, etc. Therefore, I take very unkindly to discovering 'Warranty void if seal broken' stickers on the back of the case. While I am all for rejecting, or charging for returns from ham-fisted morons who wouldn't understand the dangers of high voltage static discharges if they got hit by one in a thunderstorm, I'm a professional, damn it. I take perfectly adequate anti-static precautions (my work surfaces are one big earthed anti-static mat, I have, and use anti-static wrist straps. I do not, as a rule, scrape the sharp pointed ends of my various screwdrivers (of which I use several, knowing the difference between Phillips and Pozidrive screws, for instance), nor do I use an entire tube of heat transfer compound for one CPU/heat-sink, or crunch the corner off the CPU when installing it. I even, sometimes, manage to complete a build without getting bitten by the sharp edges inherent in cheap cases)). While the build quality of these machines is adequate (actually very good for a sub-£200 PC), this particular issue irritates me sufficiently that I am sorely tempted to return them solely for that. (And not, in fact for the reason that one of the machines, after going through the OEM windows welcome script, was discovered to have died of a STOP 0x9C Machine check exception when the installer resealed the OEM preinstall before it was shipped) I thought we had got away from the days of warranty stickers when Amiga bit the dust. So, my questions to the group a 1. What experience have you had with manufacturers placing warranty stickers on devices that are designed to be opened and upgraded by end users? I had the same problem with a PC assembled for me by Aria Technology. This was a highly upgradable MidiTower computer. Of course, these bloody warranty stickers came as a big surprise. Nevertheless, when I decided to add a TV card (among other things), I just took the stickers off and hoped for the best. Aria have a poor reputation, and I have never dealt with them again. Sylvain. 2. In the event of a warranty claim, what is the likelihood of a claim by the vendor that the warranty is void standing up to trading standards/SOGA, or in court? I have no idea. |
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