Whats the point of warrantys these days?

Balb0wa

Balb0wa

Balb0wa

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Ive read a lot of forum posts, not just on ocuk but other sites, where people have had 2 or 3 yr warrantys, and the product has failed with the period.

You would expect to get like for like back, or a full refund, its whats happened in the past.

Last year or so , places are saying market value, 2 yrs use @ £50 a year or whatever and offering derisory amounts.

Seems this change in consumer law is bad for the consumer is it not?

Would love to know what happened to the guy on here that bought a graphics card and got offered a shocking amount a few days ago.

Whats the point of buying a £600 graphics card with a super duper 5 yr warranty and 4 and a half years down the line or 2 yrs, when its ceased production and getting offered £100 ?
 
There isn't a point. They wouldn't make money if they eventually ended up paying out for every single piece of hardware that eventually died. Warranties just make the consumer feel safe.
 
Balb0wa said:
Would love to know what happened to the guy on here that bought a graphics card and got offered a shocking amount a few days ago.
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Believe Nath got on the case and looks like it's going to be sorted.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=18840090&postcount=75

But warrenties can be tricky now with new products coming out every month and prices dropping its going to get to the point were something you bought a year ago is no longer produced because something quicker and cheaper has replaced it.
 
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Well I've had to get RMAs on two pieces of hardware in my PC in the ~16 months I've had it and both got me better models:

1) Asus GeForce GTS 250 - swapped 512 MB version for 1 GB version
2) WD20EARS (2 TB Caviar Green) - swapped 4-platter model for 3-platter model

For the GPU I dealt with OcUK but I dealt straight with WD for the HDD cos their RMA service is brilliant.
 
Samnsung honored a two year warranty on a hdd recently for me. It was about 20 months old. Replaced very efficiently. Consumers should vote with their wallets and buy brands that have good warranty/RMA service and it will stop. Logitech is another brand I'd use because of excellent past experiance.

Agree that some stories of high end gpus not being properly replaced are shocking in the past couple of years. Sometimes legal action should be taken. It's a sign of the economic times we are living through, hopefully margins will return and manufacturers/retailers will be more willing to swallow losses to keep customer faith.

Side note, has anyone used a third party warranty/insurance service for PC gear? I've seen adverts for a tech insurer that covers gadgets exclusively, forget the name


Rexton said:
There isn't a point. They wouldn't make money if they eventually ended up paying out for every single piece of hardware that eventually died. Warranties just make the consumer feel safe.
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They should cover items inside their warranty period and build this into their business model. If a 5 year warranty is going to ruin a company on a product they feel will only last 24 months on average they should only offer 1 year.
 
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d_brennen said:
Agree that some stories of high end gpus not being properly replaced are shocking in the past couple of years. Sometimes legal action should be taken.
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On what grounds should legal action be taken? The Sales of Goods Act specifcially allows a supplier to reduce the refund on a failed product based on the number of months that a person has had beneficial use of the product. The only area of contention is how the calculation is done. Is it based on the warrenty period (2 years), the expected life of the product (who knows?) or the typical deprecition period for computers (5 years). Suppliers like to use the former, customers should push for the later.


d_brennen said:
It's a sign of the economic times we are living through, hopefully margins will return and manufacturers/retailers will be more willing to swallow losses to keep customer faith.
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That's a different kettle of fish. Whilst doing the legal minimum is required, going the "extra mile" to delight a customer is becoming rarer.

You should also note that resellers like OCUK are often hamstrung by the manufacturers policy..
 
deadite66 said:
no point to me, OCUK have been fobbing me off all week trying to get my xfx 5870 rma'd
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Please elaborate.

Also sid who had the 5970 actually has declined the offer of a replacement and chose to take the refund, which is beyond me as I tried everything I could to get him a replacement card!
 
NathWraith said:
Please elaborate.

Also sid who had the 5970 actually has declined the offer of a replacement and chose to take the refund, which is beyond me as I tried everything I could to get him a replacement card!
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He probably thought 'bugger it, I can't be arsed with all this agro over a "warrentied" card" and chose to cut and run - and you've probably lost a customer.

And in all honesty, the people that are willing to spend £500+ on a G/Card are the ones that should be bending over backwards to help. I know I've changed suppliers for less than that over the years.
 
hominid said:
And in all honesty, the people that are willing to spend £500+ on a G/Card are the ones that should be bending over backwards to help.
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So people who can't or aren't prepared to spend £500+ on a gpu deserve a lesser degree of customer service or support? Really?? :rolleyes:
 
Thekwango said:
So people who can't or aren't prepared to spend £500+ on a gpu deserve a lesser degree of customer service or support? Really?? :rolleyes:
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No, but people that buy a lesser GPU are likely to be able to get a direct replacement of equal performance without issue, where as the top end G/cards are always going to be a rarity.

Plus the margines on high end equipement is going to be greater, hence OcUK earn more money per customer buying high end hardware rather than generic office boxes.
 
Balb0wa said:
Whats the point of buying a £600 graphics card with a super duper 5 yr warranty and 4 and a half years down the line or 2 yrs, when its ceased production and getting offered £100 ?
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The guy gets 4.5years use out of it, £100, and £100 will buy a card much faster than the £600 card, while also using half the power to be faster, running cooler, and with a new long warranty.

Sorry wheres the problem, and since when was the law that everything should get replaced any time with the bestest thing available.

If all it took was waiting 5 years 364 days then damaging the card, sending it off and getting a brand new £600 card, errm, it would be abused till that company was out of business.

A warranty is supposed to be FAIR to both the consumer and the manufacturer. The longer it lasts the better the manufacturer has done the less they should be screwed, it fails quickly when it shouldn't, the manufacturer pays out a larger sum as the product shouldn't have failed so soon.

Fair market value has been standard for years, as has been the equal or better replacement when a card is no longer available.

The idea that every manufacturer should hoard millions of every item they make just so every one can be replaced easily at any stage down the line is just not practicle, to do so would raise the cost so much companies would go out of business. To replace everything with a brand new version or cost at purchase would, as I mentioned, cause massive abuse.

The system of fair market value, or partial refund, or equal or better product(even if down the years that becomes a far far cheaper model) is completely fair to everyone who uses it.
 
having my hd5850 rma died after 4 months... ticked off that i have to wait a upto 28days with out a graphic card... but ocuk cant just give me a new card that would be stupid! but with out any warranty i would not get a new one so thats it theres a point ;) also my ipod broke and i had a 80gb one then i got a 120gb one!!! thats cool!
 
I agree with Drunken on this one.

Think about it, if you buy a 600 quid GPU and in 4 years it breaks down, You've not only used it for 4 years but you want a GPU worth 600quid as a replacement. While the one you bought 4 years ago now costs 100 quid.

If companies do that then they would loose a ton of money and most if not all companies do whatever they can to avoid having to fork out cash from their own pockets.

If you want the exact same product back and they don't have it then they should offer something similar to that product, not something that is way out of its league.

e.g. bought a P4 4 years ago for 300 quid on 5 year warrenty, now its dead..and you ask for a 2600k..just an example.
 
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