21 Mar
2013
21 Mar
'13
2:18 p.m.
On 03/21/2013 01:35 PM, Sam O'nella wrote:
I may buy one in 1000 years if it proved to last that
long.
Reads a lot like a life time guarantee scam though. After the main
batch of sales the company pays out employees then declares
bankruptcy and you have your 1 year lifetime guarantee till they come
out with a separate second company with the same name with a 2 and do
it all over again. Its clever.
There are all sorts of variations on that scheme, requiring you to send
back not only the faulty item, but also the original purchase receipt.
I had a box (5 tubes) of 3M silicone caulk that went bad before I even
had a chance to use it. 3M had an "unconditional 50 year warranty", but
it meant that I had to provide the above and pay for return shipping.
If I'd used it to seal the windows on my house, they'd probably just
give me a free tube and leave me to scrape the old stuff out and apply a
new batch.
"Lifetime" guarantees are the worst abuse. I had a 2-year old drain
spade made by True Temper fail (the blade cracked) with a prominent
"Lifetime guarantee" sticker still visible on it. When I contacted TT
to ask for a replacement, they went through a ritual of "you must have
used it incorrectly" and eventually concluded the issue by saying
"Lifetime" is what we say it is and your guarantee period is up.
On the other hand, a 30-year old Le Creuset dutch oven shed a chip of
the porcelain on the bottom. LC sent me a UPS return box and a new pot
to replace it. All it cost was a phone call. What they received was
several subsequent purchases of their goods from a surprised and loyal
customer.
I wish some companies would learn that lesson. But it seems that the
prevalent attitude is "There's one born every minute".
--Chuck