The FTC is investigating PC manufacturers who scare you away from your right to repair
The FTC is investigating PC manufacturers who scare you away from your right to repair
Including but not limited to “warranty void if removed” labels.
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Summary:
- The FTC is investigating PC manufacturers for using "warranty void if removed" labels to discourage consumers from exercising their right to repair.
- ASRock, Gigabyte, and Zotac received letters from the FTC regarding these practices.
- The FTC is concerned about manufacturers denying warranty coverage based on these provisions.
- The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is being invoked to prevent companies from making misleading warranties.
- The Act prohibits conditioning warranties on the use of specific repair services unless provided for free or with a waiver from the FTC.
- The FTC plans to review the written warranties and promotional materials of the companies after 30 days.
- In the past, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Asus, HTC, and Hyundai were also warned by the FTC for similar practices.
Business misconduct is far reaching in every sector within the economy.
Fed and state regulators are unwilling to enforce the rules we have on the books as is.
We get these notices and headlines but has anything gotten better actually?
How is that no surprise medical billing thing going anyway?
- The Act prohibits conditioning warranties on the use of specific repair services unless provided for free or with a waiver from the FTC.
So Apple and Samsung can't void my phone warranty if I choose to swap my battery or screen or whatever in a third party repair shop?
Not for the battery itself.
They are allowed to void your warranty, if, for example, they can show it's delivering out of spec voltage and that damaged the SoC.
The funny part is that rather than respecting this, they chose to cryptographically pair the parts, so they stop working if you replace them...
Remember that the burden is on them to show it. But the reality is that when they bring up irrelevant shit like that and try to say that your issue isn't covered under warranty, it will be on you to "remind" them of that burden, and tell them that what they are trying to do is absolutely fucking illegal under Magnusson-Moss.
The burden is always on the peasant, no matter what the law says lol
And when you do exercise your rights, you get treated like a greedy leech!
*in the USA
Where do these gentle daddies rule, do please tell us
Correct. They have to prove that it caused damage.
Another day, another win for right to repair.
maybe eventually the gvmt. will buckle down and dismantle all of the sketchy crap that these companies do. maybe one day.