Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[forumname]

I have returned probably 8 hard drives via RMA in my lifetime.  I recently bought a wireless bridge from D-Link and the 323.  IT has bricked.  Are they serious that I need my original receipt?  That serial should snow that the manufacture date was recent.  I'm now left with a paperweight because 2 months later I don't have my original receipt?  If this is the case, I'll evangelize against D-Link as long as I live.  Has anyone else experienced this?

[D-Link Multimedia]

Yes a Receipt is required. Not all manufacturers ship products out the same day they are made. They sit in a warehouse or a distributions warehouse until needed and then are moved to various locations (stores etc). Without a proof of purchase you could basically buy a bricked unit on ebay for 5$ and RMA it for a working unit.

Where did you purchase this unit from? If you bought it from a retail location prehaps they can reprint you a receipt.

[fordem]

Yes - it's called "proof of purchase" - and is commonly required by manufacturers who sell product through retail outlets and distribution channels.

[nm9p]

It is always good practice to retain proof of purchase for every major purchase, especially electronic equipment.  It not only protects you in case of warranty disputes, it is also helpful for insurance claims for damages or theft.  I keep them in a file with all of my manuals.  (You do keep those, too?)

One problem comes when some manufacturers insist that you submit the original sales receipt along with a rebate certificate.  I always send a copy and haven't been turned down yet.

Ken - NM9P

[forumname]

First, I'm not returning anything.  I'm RMA'ing it so they can fix it or give me another one.  It doesn't matter where they sell it.  They know when they made it.  It's just a way for a corporation to deny support.

The device shipped with 1.06 on it, so there's no way it was manufactured more than a year ago and D-Link knows it.  I can understand that it 'may' require a receipt, but to require a receipt no matter what is not a good business practice.  I post on 4 different tech forums and unless they resolve this, I will be negatively posting about their products for as long as I can type. 

They should be able to verify the manufacture date by the serial number.  That they can't do this really shows why D-Link's sales have paled in comparison to the other network vendors.

No, I don't keep manuals.  Why would I?  Complete waste of paper.  I can download anything that I need in 2 minutes.  I'm busy.  I work 60+ hours a week.  I don't have time to keep track of things like receipts.  I'm busy.  That's why I spend $200 on this NAS instead of spending time setting up an old PC to act as one.  It's sad that I wasted my money on a company with such consumer unfriendly products.

[davevt31]

Most Motherboard and Video Card Manufacturers also require proofs of purchase when doing an RMA.  It is common practice. 

[jazzishouse]

Can't you return it to/get a replacement from the place you purchased it from? Presumably they would have records of the sale? Retailers are often more amenable to this sort of thing than the manufacturer is likely to be - particularly if you want a replacement rather than your money back.

[fordem]

First, I'm not returning anything.  I'm RMA'ing it so they can fix it or give me another one.  It doesn't matter where they sell it.  They know when they made it.  It's just a way for a corporation to deny support.

I'm not certain that I understand the "first, I'm not returning anything", maybe I missed where someone suggested you were.

One of things I do is third party warranty field support, not for D-Link, but for a number of the bigger names in the PC business - product sold through distribution channels is as outlined by DLM (second post, first response) may sit in a warehouse or on the dealer's shelves for months after it leaves the factory.

For the sake of discussion - let's say you bought a product six months after it left the factory, working from the build date would deny you warranty service during the last six months of the warranty period, requiring the user to provide proof or purchase is one of the ways to deal with this.

The device shipped with 1.06 on it, so there's no way it was manufactured more than a year ago and D-Link knows it.

That's not quite accurate - I know of several manufacturers who update product firmware after manufacture.

I can understand that it 'may' require a receipt, but to require a receipt no matter what is not a good business practice.

It's really not your decision, this is how the manufacturer says it works, then this is how you do it.  As a warranty support provider, I may not (and in fact don't) agree with some of the policies of some of my principals, but I can't change them - those policies were developed for different reasons, one of the things that you are not considering is warranty fraud, a practise that has cost the industry millions of dollars.

Another area that you are ignoring is "grey marketing", where unscrupulous resellers import product outside of the distribution channel so that a user may purchase product intended for sale in - for example - the United States, and then attempt to have it serviced in Europe - these are different cost centers for the manufacturer.

The bottom line is whatever the reasons for the choice, the manufacturer of the product has the final say on how warranty is handled.

I post on 4 different tech forums and unless they resolve this, I will be negatively posting about their products for as long as I can type.

Good luck with that - I post on a few more than four - and in my experience, it'll take more than just your lone voice, now if you can whip up some numbers, file a class action law suit, you might be able to get somewhere - yes I have gone that road successfully, but on this issue I think you have as much hope as a snowball in hades. 

They should be able to verify the manufacture date by the serial number.  That they can't do this really shows why D-Link's sales have paled in comparison to the other network vendors.

They can - but manufacture date can only be used to determine the start of warranty period when the manufacturer is shipping directly to the end user - if there is a distribution channel in between the two then manufacture date is of little relevance.

No, I don't keep manuals.  Why would I?  Complete waste of paper.  I can download anything that I need in 2 minutes.  I'm busy.  I work 60+ hours a week.  I don't have time to keep track of things like receipts.  I'm busy.  That's why I spend $200 on this NAS instead of spending time setting up an old PC to act as one.  It's sad that I wasted my money on a company with such consumer unfriendly products.

Can you really?  I'll bet that on average it takes you longer than two minutes to find the download page.  As I said earlier, part of what I do is third part warranty support and personally I find it easier to download and host locally ALL of the available service documentation for the manufacturers and product that I support.

[Cliff]

Just to add my experience here. I received a very expensive Cuisineart coffee maker that died after 1 1/2 yrs. By checking the serial number they were able to verify the unit was indeed manufactured inside the 3 yr warranty period. They replaced the unit without question.

So yes - it does happen. Will I ever buy another Cuisineart? Absolutely...every single time. In fact since that incident I've picked a can opener, grill, toaster oven, and some expensive fry pans.

If the manufacturer knows by the serial it was manufactured within the warranty period, why wouldn't they support it?

[gunrunnerjohn]

I save my receipts, but I do have to wonder why a manufacturer can't support a device that's clearly within the warranty period.  As far as graymarket stuff, that's a red herring.  The manufacturer knows what devices were shipped out of the country.

Note that most disk drive manufacturers will honor a warranty based on the serial number of the drive, and I've never been asked for a receipt for a warranty replacement.

[fordem]

As far as graymarket stuff, that's a red herring. The manufacturer knows what devices were shipped out of the country.

No sir - in many cases they do not - many office equipment manufacturers use a single large distributor in Florida to service the south eastern United States, Latin America & the Caribbean - if you're in the retail business, then you will know the name of that distributor.  The manufacturer knows what was shipped to the distributor, but not where the distributor shipped it to.

In addition to faxing that distributor my order, I can also hop on a plane, fly to Miami and buy a few skid loads of inkjet printers, load them onto a rented truck and drop it off at my freight forwarder and two weeks later it's on the market in any one of half a dozen Caribbean islands, and neither the distributor nor the manufacturer has any idea that the product has left the US.

This is how business is done, this is what makes life difficult for the authorized resellers, and this is what makes providing warranty support challenging.

As long as the product is distributed through third party distribution channels, which is how the vast majority of IT product is handled, when the product leaves the factory loading dock, the manufacturer has lost control over the individual pieces.

[gunrunnerjohn]

Funny that Seagate and WD have no problems in this regard, I've never needed a receipt for a warranty replacement from them.

[hilaireg]

First, I'm not returning anything.  I'm RMA'ing it so they can fix it or give me another one.  It doesn't matter where they sell it.  They know when they made it.  It's just a way for a corporation to deny support.

Similar to fordem, I have dealt with numerous companies; as a consumer as well as a representative for my clients.  As fordem indicated, there are many reasons why a company may choose to request a receipt - and it's usually to discourage abusive practices.  Internal or external.

Few other possible scenarios; assuming the serial number was on file:

• Was used once before as part of a warranty claim from another customer - i.e. duplicate serial number on product.  Yes, it happens.
• Part of  a  group (FORUM ADMIN: since when are these three words considered offensive?) of serial numbers who's devices were reported in an insurance claim: fire, theft, water damage, etc.

 

The device shipped with 1.06 on it, so there's no way it was manufactured more than a year ago and D-Link knows it.

What is the hardware revision of your device?

I can understand that it 'may' require a receipt, but to require a receipt no matter what is not a good business practice.  I post on 4 different tech forums and unless they resolve this, I will be negatively posting about their products for as long as I can type. 

How about a gentler approach, such as in speaking with a manager so that you may explain your circumstances?
 

They should be able to verify the manufacture date by the serial number.  That they can't do this really shows why D-Link's sales have paled in comparison to the other network vendors.

Although "they should be able to verify the manudacture date", it doesn't mean they can.  Unfortunately, many organizations that are multi-national have this issue; data within the organization is not as available as one may believe.  Further; with the prevelance of outsourcing, one is not always speaking with an internal technician - let alone in the same country.

No, I don't keep manuals.  Why would I?  Complete waste of paper.  I can download anything that I need in 2 minutes.  I'm busy.  I work 60+ hours a week.  I don't have time to keep track of things like receipts.  I'm busy.  That's why I spend $200 on this NAS instead of spending time setting up an old PC to act as one.  It's sad that I wasted my money on a company with such consumer unfriendly products.

Don't know how long you've been a consumer ... but not keeping your paperwork on a purchased product is an invitation for frustration.  Regardless of how busy schedule is, you may want to reconsider your practices ... at the very least, make time to scan important paperwork.

[hilaireg]

Funny that Seagate and WD have no problems in this regard, I've never needed a receipt for a warranty replacement from them.

You have been very fortunate.  One of my clients was recently denied warranty by Seagate as a result of Non Proof Of Purchase.

Had another customer with an OEM Western HDD where the OEM warranty (1 yr) was expired but the HDD still fell well under the Western Digital HDD warranty (3yrs).  The OEM warranty trumps the manufacturer warranty so the client was denied RMA replacement.

Took three hours and a three-way conference call to obtain a replacement ... and only because they wanted me off the phone.