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from the now-about-those-tags-on-my-pillow... dept.
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow3941
The FTC says that if companies don't change their warranty practices, it may take 'legal action.'
The Federal Trade Commission put six companies on notice in early April for illegally telling customers that getting third-party repairs voids the warranty on their electronics. You've seen the stickers before and read the messages buried in end user license agreements. Plastered on the back of my PlayStation 4 is a little sticker that says "warranty void if removed." That's illegal.
Motherboard has obtained copies of the letters via a Freedom of Information Act request and has learned the names of the six companies that were warned. They are Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Hyundai, HTC, and computer hardware manufacturer ASUS.
[...] The FTC believes all six companies are violating the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which states that no manufacturer charging more than $5 for a product may put repair restrictions on a device its offering a warranty on. Despite being illegal, many companies have such restrictions. Apple, noticeably absent in this round of of warning letters, often steers customers away from third-party repair services.
"Warranty language that implies to a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances that warranty coverage requires the consumer to purchase an article or service identified by brand, trade or corporate name is similarly deceptive and prohibited," the FTC letters said.
[...] In three cases, the letters also specifically say that the use of warranty-void-if-removed stickers or "seals" break the law; language in the Playstation 4, HTC, and Asus warranties mention that the warranties are void if a seal is removed, something that the FTC mentioned it is "particularly concerned" about.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday May 03 2018, @04:07AM (1 child)
Dead phone batteries.
Also charges - a couple enterprising chaps asked to borrow mine then split the scene compleltely when I wasn't looking.
In Portland at least every homeless person has a mobile phone, even if they're the free ones that are commonly known as "Government Spy Phones".
Feature phone batteries don't cost much but whenever I had that kind of cash in the days of yore I would use it to buy coffee so I could stay out of the rain all day long - just one coffee and most cafes will let you do that - as well as have high-speed internet, power sockets and a restroom.
Portland's Bud Clark Commons - more commonly known as "TPI" for the Transition Projects Resource Center - has lots of power sockets yet there is always a queue of homeless folk waiting to recharge their aged mobile device batteries.
Just now I mailed their donations facilitator to suggest she list mobile device batteries among the list of items they accept. I also said I'd be happy to donate the tools required to change iPhone batteries as well as the batteries of other Sealed For Your Protection gadgets from http://ifixit.com/ [ifixit.com]
(iFixit's site has the instructions for replacing damn near every component found in damn near every device. The instructions are fee to all comers; they earn their keep by selling replacement parts and tools. I bought a Spudger and a really tiny Philips screwdriver from them so I could remove the PCIexpress Flash Storage from my mid-2012 MacBook Pro. I then mounted the PCIe card in an external storage adapter that I purchased from someone that at the time was the first hit for "SATA Cables" but now I can't find them. (I still have their invoice; I'll link their site Real Soon Now.)
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday May 03 2018, @04:08AM
FTFM
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]