Lifetime warranty

[Olin]

Just curious what you guys make of this. Pedal has some issues, when I purchased it, it was with a lifetime warranty, the builder has stated that he's since changed his warranty and will only repair it for a fee. The fee isn't terribly unreasonable, and I've got no issues with him changing his warranty so suit his business needs, but I think it's unfair/unjust to revoke a previously purchased warranty. Maybe I'm just being an unsupportive arsehole, maybe not, curious what y'all think either way.

Edit just to say it hasn't been broken because of me being a dick and breaking something due to incompetence, it's just my most used pedal and gets stomped on/knobs twisted a lot more than the others, and it's been a few years of doing so.

[jrfox92]

Yeah, I'd say that's bullshit.
If you're gonna make a lifetime warranty to begin with, you should honor it. Doesn't matter if you changed it afterwards, part of what people thought they were paying for was that warranty.

Kinda curious what it is now, though...

[Kacey Y]

The idea of a lifetime warranty is a scam to begin with, but that is shady. If the company goes out of business or changes ownership, it's hard to get a warranty honored, but changing your warranty policy to be retroactively less comprehensive is shady as fuck.

[Ugly Nora]

If it was some big corporation who did this, you wouldn't be questioning whether or not it was a dick move. In other words, if it looks like a dick and smells like a dick, it's a dick.

[Chankgeez]

If it was some big corporation who did this, you wouldn't be questioning whether or not it was a dick move. In other words, if it looks like a dick and smells like a dick, it's a dick.

So, you're saying I should smell the warranty card?

[crochambeau]

I agree with this being shady due to it sounding like an additional cost item, is there a document with wording?

I'm really only commenting to elaborate on the "depends on circumstance" option in the poll above, which is the only way I can honestly cast my vote based on my own business model.

There are builders who automatically stand behind their creations and imply or bundle an open ended (or lifetime) warranty. I count myself amongst those ranks, though to be honest, I can also visualize a position at which point it's no longer economically viable for me to do so. Example: say it's 40 years down the road and my products measure in the tens or hundreds of thousands. I would say a better way to go about a warranty change would be to have already made public statement that following serial number such and such or some other definable point implied warranties no longer exist. Then, if the earlier covered stuff is bad enough that it's being a burden to throughput or current production maybe suck it up and repair the fucking thing one last time and include a letter as to why this is it and "apologies, but due to unforeseen realities I cannot continue on this path any longer, please don't hate me".

The key there being a heads up so you the customer are not caught unawares, otherwise bad blood can ensue... and hey, some people find a way to be unhappy.

Obviously the best path is to build stuff that doesn't break, but that's essentially impossible because the end builder is covering every facet of supply chain up to end product, and almost everything is engineered to a price. Wear & tear & time all keep on laying waste to everything. It's a balancing act.

But yeah, my interpretation of the original post is one of being bogus, unless there's an established back story we're missing out on.

[Jwar]

Don't offer a lifetime warranty if you don't want to honor it. Also, updating your warranty terms is fucking ridiculous and I've seen builders do that shit recently.

[Olin]

The key there being a heads up so you the customer are not caught unawares, otherwise bad blood can ensue... and hey, some people find a way to be unhappy.

I think this may have made a lot of difference. I don't know what the point of subscribing to a newsletter is if this isn't the kind of thing you're going to tell your customers.
The rationale, I believe, is that the company have grown too much and the builder can't keep up, so for some reason that means warranties can't be honoured? Also yes, there is a document I got with the pedal (purchased directly from the builder, which he no longer does) which states it comes with a lifetime warranty, I would just have to pay shipping and he'll do the rest. The builder lives close enough that I was going to just drive down and get it done, but now I'm considering other options.

If there is something I'm missing that would justify it, I'd be happy to admit it, but it just seems like a dick move.

[Chankgeez]

... the builder has stated that he's since changed his warranty and will only repair it for a fee.

Is this something he communicated to you personally or was it a general statement he made?

[jrfox92]

The builder lives close enough that I was going to just drive down and get it done, but now I'm considering other options.

I think I have an idea who that is, then.
If I'm right, I'm really not all that surprised.

[Olin]

... the builder has stated that he's since changed his warranty and will only repair it for a fee.

Is this something he communicated to you personally or was it a general statement he made?

Communicated personally after I explained the situation.

Jr, I'm now curious to know why you wouldn't be surprised!

[actual]

WHO IS IT

[Chankgeez]

Communicated personally after I explained the situation.

Yeah, that's pretty lousy to customers.

If it's something somebody else can easily fix, I'd have someone else do it.

[JonnyAngle]

There's a few builders in the ontario area. I know a few of them, but not all of them. Maybe I can help????

Still, it's pretty lame if that's the case

[Olin]

WHO IS IT

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW.




Industrialectric though, can't think of any reason it should be a secret. I've asked if he'll reconsider the fee for doing it, and hopefully he does, but otherwise I'll have to get it fixed by someone else, for less, or figure out what's wrong exactly and do it myself.

Appreciate the offer for help, but I think the only help I'll ask for is some diagnosis on the problem!