FTC issues notice to ASRock, Gigabyte, and Zotac over “warranty seals”

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent a letter to eight manufacturers about their warranty practices, citing concerns about the labels used to determine product availability. Among the companies that received the letter are ASRock, Gigabyte and Zotac.

According to the US organization, warranty seals and their “tamper-proofness” are a violation of the country’s laws – according to the document called “Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act”, which governs consumer protection in relation to the post-purchase period.

According to the director of the FTC’s consumer protection division, Samuel Levine, these guarantee seals are against American laws and they are notifying each manufacturer’s policy to change regarding their use.

These warning letters warn that restricting consumers’ right to repair their devices violates the law. The Commission will continue its efforts to protect citizens’ right to repair and independent repairers’ right to compete.

Samuel Levine

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The FTC intends to watch the changes closely

According to the information presented by the FTC, manufacturers cannot use these seals as determining factors for whether a product is covered by warranty or not.

The letter sent to manufacturers such as ASRock, Gigabyte and Zotac has the main objective of making them review their promotional materials and warranty content, preventing future problems with the law.

You may not state or imply that warranty coverage is conditional upon the use of specific parts and services.

Consumer Protection Law

In the United States, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act was enacted in 1975 and states in its narrative that manufacturers cannot use disclaimers of warranties in an unfair or misleading manner.

In the case of companies, ASRock has warranty seals as one of the main conditions for the user to apply their damaged products.

The warranty will be null and void if the products are modified, damaged or tampered with in any way, for example when the outer casing is opened or additional parts and components are installed or removed.

It is important to note that this law and revisions to warranty seals are being governed by the FTC for the United States, with each country following its own set of rules to protect consumers from abusive practices.

The Federal Trade Commission’s action also aims to address electronic waste by giving consumers the right to repair their devices and reducing consumer penalties under warranty regulations. This will prevent consumers from throwing away their hardware and generating more electronic waste.

Fonte: PCGamer