I purchased an external hard disk last year. It was a great deal, a spanking red high capacity hard disk with a 2-year warranty. After a few days from the purchase, I lost the receipt. Or maybe someone threw it out the window, I don't know. I was really disappointed because one of the reasons I got this specific brand was its warranty. And now I might not be able to take advantage of such benefit if ever the need arises.
A friend from London told me that the receipt might not be necessary for me to avail of the warranty given by such brand company. All I have to do is make sure that my product is registered online. If the time comes that I need a disk replacement, then I just have to contact the company, send them the disk and comply with other admin procedures. I'm not sure of the accuracy of what he said but according to him, he has personal experience of asking for a disk replacement and no receipt or other purchase document was asked from him.
There wouldn't be much issue as to ownership anyway since the serial number of the item is needed when registering the product online. (Wait, unless my serial number is indicated on the receipt and someone got hold of it, and someone who is crazy enough to register it in his/her name? Ooookay.) So I just have to make sure that no one else gets the serial number? I didn't realize the importance of serial numbers up until now.
But still, there is no absolute certainty that absent the official purchase receipt, I will be able to avail of the disk replacement warranty that came with the product. And more so when the product registration online asks for the specific date that I bought the HD which, of course, escapes me.
A friend from London told me that the receipt might not be necessary for me to avail of the warranty given by such brand company. All I have to do is make sure that my product is registered online. If the time comes that I need a disk replacement, then I just have to contact the company, send them the disk and comply with other admin procedures. I'm not sure of the accuracy of what he said but according to him, he has personal experience of asking for a disk replacement and no receipt or other purchase document was asked from him.
There wouldn't be much issue as to ownership anyway since the serial number of the item is needed when registering the product online. (Wait, unless my serial number is indicated on the receipt and someone got hold of it, and someone who is crazy enough to register it in his/her name? Ooookay.) So I just have to make sure that no one else gets the serial number? I didn't realize the importance of serial numbers up until now.
But still, there is no absolute certainty that absent the official purchase receipt, I will be able to avail of the disk replacement warranty that came with the product. And more so when the product registration online asks for the specific date that I bought the HD which, of course, escapes me.
1 comment:
My brother is an authorized reseller of hard drives, and we are not usually required (from my recollection NEVER)to present the receipt when we enforce the warranty on the drives. We just return it to the distributors office(from where we purchased them). They have a record of the serial number of the drive, and upon confirmation that it was indeed from them and inspecting the faulty drive, they replace it immediately(within the day), the longest waiting time we ever had was a day.
Most of the prominent HD manufacturers usually have 2-4 distributors in the country. These distributors then sell it to Resellers, which in turn sell it to vendors. Usually, it is the vendors that require you to present the proof of purchase before enforcing the warranty on them.
On a side note, please check again the duration of the warranty that was given to you. The manufacturers i know gives a 5-year warranty, while another gives a 3-year warranty. Some vendors actually and blatantly cuts short said warranties and sells an albeit "extended" period of warranty. I am not exactly sure if it is legal, or if their distributorship/reseller agreements allow them to do so.
Should it be the unfortunate circumstance that your drive crashes within the warranty period, just head back at the store you bought them from, even without the receipt, and if they refuse to honor the warranty, make a scene and just say the magic words, "I AM A LAWYER, I WILL SUE YOU!" (from what i heard, it works 99% of the time)
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