The Federal Trade Commission has been hard at work clammering down on illegal trade practices – early April The FTC put six companies on notice in early April for illegally telling customers that getting third-party repairs voids the warranty on their electronics.
Woah that’s insane, right? I mean we’ve been avoiding third-party repair centers for the last two decades so we wouldn’t remove that little sticker. Yup, turns out that company’s removing warranty if you repair your console yourself, or take it elsewhere other than where you bought it – and Vice proved it back in 2016.
Now the FTC has warned Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Hyundai, HTC, and computer hardware manufacturer ASUS. If these companies don’t change their warranty policies by April 9th, they may face legal action.
“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.
Most of the argument is around the wording these companies used regarding the sticker removal. For example, Microsoft’s Xbox One warranty states “Microsoft is not responsible and this warranty does not apply if your Xbox One or Accessory is…repaired by anyone other than Microsoft.” This type of language has been stated to be illegal.
Source – Motherboard
