Shopping: What You Need To Know About Warranties
A "lifetime warranty" is only as good as the company backing it.
Dec. 8, 2010— -- As you shop for gifts this holiday season, there are some things you should know about warranties.
First the bad news. You probably assumed "lifetime warranty" means your lifetime, right? Not always. A "lifetime warranty" is only as good as the company backing it.
There's no set legal definition of "lifetime warranty." It varies from city to city, county to county. Some weasely companies choose to interpret it as the lifetime of the product. I know, it's ridiculous. That's like saying, "this product is warranted to last as long as it lasts."
Companies that do it this way set an amount of time that they think their product should reasonably last. If your item breaks during that time, they'll repair or replace it. If it breaks later, you're out of luck.
Now the good news. Even if the product you buy doesn't come with a written warranty, you are still covered by some unwritten warranties guaranteed by the federal government. The first is called an "implied warranty of merchantability" which basically means that a product must do what it's supposed to do. In other words, a blender must blend and a car must drive.
If the item you buy turns out to be defective, even if the seller has a "no returns" policy, you will probably be able to return it anyway. There's also an unwritten warranty called a "warranty of fitness for a particular purpose." That covers situations like when a sleeping bag is advertised as being suitable for zero-degree weather. These unwritten warranties apply unless the product is marked "as is" when you buy it.
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