ASRock Warranty

[Jedibrysen]

So today I was just informed by asrock that breaking their seal voids the warranty even though it’s illegal in the USA. Has anyone else had this issue? I want to know how many people in the US have been affected by ASRocks illegal actions. I also just want to get the information public so it is dealt with and we can fix this.

[Donut417]

6 hours ago, Jedibrysen said:

So today I was just informed by asrock that breaking their seal voids the warranty even though it’s illegal in the USA. Has anyone else had this issue? I want to know how many people in the US have been affected by ASRocks illegal actions. I also just want to get the information public so it is dealt with and we can fix this.

File a complaint with the FTC that’s all you can do besides hiring a lawyer and suing them. 

[Lurking]

17 hours ago, Jedibrysen said:

So today I was just informed by asrock that breaking their seal voids the warranty even though it’s illegal in the USA. Has anyone else had this issue? I want to know how many people in the US have been affected by ASRocks illegal actions. I also just want to get the information public so it is dealt with and we can fix this.

 

 

How did you determine it is illegal? Typically a court with judge/jury would make that determination.  

 

Why did you break the seal? They put the seal on to prevent people from tempering (and damaging) the device. Under normal use there is no need to remove or damage the seal. 

 

Knowing how many people are just idiots and/or unethical, I understand manufacturers putting seals on. Otherwise they get 100 RMA, and 99 of them are damages caused by user. I'm not saying you did break it yourself, but that is what ASrock assumes when a seal is broken. 

 

I don't know the exact legal situation, and you shouldn't take advice from the Internet anyway. But you always can sue them if you think they did something illegal. At least they responded and actually looked into your case. Probably not worth it unless you can jump on some already existing class-action lawsuit. 

 

[Skiiwee29]

2 minutes ago, Lurking said:

How did you determine it is illegal? Typically a court with judge/jury would make that determination.  

 

Why did you break the seal? They put the seal on to prevent people from tempering (and damaging) the device. Under normal use there is no need to remove or damage the seal. 

 

Knowing how many people are just idiots and/or unethical, I understand manufacturers putting seals on. Otherwise they get 100 RMA, and 99 of them are damages caused by user. I'm not saying you did break it yourself, but that is what ASrock assumes when a seal is broken. 

 

I don't know the exact legal situation, and you shouldn't take advice from the Internet anyway. But you always can sue them if you think they did something illegal. At least they responded and actually looked into your case. Probably not worth it unless you can jump on some already existing class-action lawsuit. 

 

in the US, the Void if removed stickers are not legally enforceable and are illegal according to the FTC.

 

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/ftc-warranty-stickers-illegal/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43724348

 

[Lurking]

20 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

in the US, the Void if removed stickers are not legally enforceable and are illegal according to the FTC.

 

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/ftc-warranty-stickers-illegal/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43724348

 

A news article may not detail all the legal fine-print and exemptions. One article you linked also talks about waivers the manufacturer can receive. So those articles may mean nothing for this specific case. And a ruling by an agency also can be challenged in court. Not everything an agency rules, also stands up in court (see recent OSHA rule regarding vaccine). I'm not a lawyer, and neither is the person who wrote those articles. The legal situation could be anything. 

 

Even if we assume that specific seal is not enforceable, why tempt fate and remove it? If nothing else, that seal removal makes life of the support person harder. And the warranty sure has other exclusions. Like if they see scratches or evidence of physical damage etc. the seal is just the first indicator to see if someone tempered with the device. I don't want to accuse the OP, but if the seal is removed, something is missing in this story. It isn't like you can drown the GPU in water, put it in an oven, and run it through a crusher and the warranty still is valid as long as the seal is not broken. 

[Middcore]

12 minutes ago, Lurking said:

A news article may not detail all the legal fine-print and exemptions. One article you linked also talks about waivers the manufacturer can receive. So those articles may mean nothing for this specific case. And a ruling by an agency also can be challenged in court. Not everything an agency rules, also stands up in court (see recent OSHA rule regarding vaccine). I'm not a lawyer, and neither is the person who wrote those articles. The legal situation could be anything. 

 

Even if we assume that specific seal is not enforceable, why tempt fate and remove it? If nothing else, that seal removal makes life of the support person harder. And the warranty sure has other exclusions. Like if they see scratches or evidence of physical damage etc. the seal is just the first indicator to see if someone tempered with the device. I don't want to accuse the OP, but if the seal is removed, something is missing in this story. It isn't like you can drown the GPU in water, put it in an oven, and run it through a crusher and the warranty still is valid as long as the seal is not broken. 

 

I don't know why you're caping for a $7B corporation here, but those stickers are completely unenforceable in the US, there is no ambiguity here. 

 

https://www.ifixit.com/News/15464/warranty-voiding-stickers-are-illegal-but-these-companies-are-still-using-them

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/11/601582169/warranty-void-if-removed-as-it-turns-out-feds-say-those-warnings-are-illegal

 

Why OP removed it is none of your business, and none of ASRock's business either legally, but the companies that still use these meaningless stickers frequently put them over screws that he would need to remove to do things like put new thermal paste on the card, etc. to make their support people's lives easier by denying as many support claims as possible. 

 

 

 

 

 

[IkeaGnome]

23 minutes ago, Lurking said:

A news article may not detail all the legal fine-print and exemptions. One article you linked also talks about waivers the manufacturer can receive. So those articles may mean nothing for this specific case. And a ruling by an agency also can be challenged in court. Not everything an agency rules, also stands up in court (see recent OSHA rule regarding vaccine). I'm not a lawyer, and neither is the person who wrote those articles. The legal situation could be anything. 

 

Even if we assume that specific seal is not enforceable, why tempt fate and remove it? If nothing else, that seal removal makes life of the support person harder. And the warranty sure has other exclusions. Like if they see scratches or evidence of physical damage etc. the seal is just the first indicator to see if someone tempered with the device. I don't want to accuse the OP, but if the seal is removed, something is missing in this story. It isn't like you can drown the GPU in water, put it in an oven, and run it through a crusher and the warranty still is valid as long as the seal is not broken. 

You're a bit late to that argument. It's already been held up in court. 47 years late to be exact. 

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/statutes/magnuson-moss-warranty-federal-trade-commission-improvements-act

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/04/ftc-staff-warns-companies-it-illegal-condition-warranty-coverage

 

 

[Lurking]

56 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

I don't know why you're caping for a $7B corporation here, but those stickers are completely unenforceable in the US, there is no ambiguity here. 

 

https://www.ifixit.com/News/15464/warranty-voiding-stickers-are-illegal-but-these-companies-are-still-using-them

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/11/601582169/warranty-void-if-removed-as-it-turns-out-feds-say-those-warnings-are-illegal

 

Why OP removed it is none of your business, and none of ASRock's business either legally, but the companies that still use these meaningless stickers frequently put them over screws that he would need to remove to do things like put new thermal paste on the card, etc. to make their support people's lives easier by denying as many support claims as possible. 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing here is anyone's business, but OP brought this up in the public. And when accusing a party, the full story should be told. If you want to form an opinion based on half the story, from only one party - go ahead. Maybe ASRock is wrong here, but not based on the limited information provided, IMHO. 

 

The value of the company should have nothing to do with who is right. Maybe the OP is Jeff Bezos in real life -  are you then saying ASrock is right because OP has more money? 

 

I'm not siding with either side, there is just not enough information revealed here. Only lesson I would learn from this is not to remove seals, even if you think you can. 

 

I would have an issue with seals if they cover something up a user legitimately need to access (to replace fuse, to clean). I never came across this situation, but i guess one coudl contact the company and ask how to proceed if there is a reason to break the seal. 

If the sticker is to seal a PSU (with no maintainable fuse inside), it is fine since a normal user has no business opening it. If they do, they should know warranty will be dicy. 

[Middcore]

8 minutes ago, Lurking said:

Nothing here is anyone's business, but OP brought this up in the public. And when accusing a party, the full story should be told. If you want to form an opinion based on half the story, from only one party - go ahead. Maybe ASRock is wrong here, but not based on the limited information provided, IMHO. 

 

 

 

Based on the limited info provided, they are definitively in the wrong. And you know it, or otherwise you wouldn't be asking what OP was doing to the card in hopes of finding out something that would justify ASRock not honoring the warranty. 

 

You've contributed nothing to this thread. You've speculated about theoretical loopholes which would allow ASRock to do this in spite of multiple sources cited saying it's illegal, though you can't actually point to any, just imagine maybe they exist. You've also implied OP is somehow lying or concealing something, or must have been up to something nefarious, that there must be some other "side to the story" which puts ASRock in the right, with zero evidence. What is the point of your posts?

 

Quote

Only lesson I would learn from this is not to remove seals, even if you think you can. 

"Let this be a lesson to you, surrender your rights as a consumer and let megacorporations continue to violate the law, because it's too onerous to oppose them." 

[Lurking]

2 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

You've contributed nothing to this thread. You've speculated about theoretical loopholes which would allow ASRock to do this in spite of multiple sources cited saying it's illegal, though you can't actually point to any, just imagine maybe they exist. You've also implied OP is somehow lying or concealing something, or must have been up to something nefarious, with zero evidence. What is the point of your posts?

 

"Let this be a lesson to you, surrender your rights as a consumer and let megacorporations continue to violate the law, because it's too onerous to oppose them." 

For the record I'm not accusing OP of anything except (inadvertently or not) not telling the whole story. Maybe it was a seal OP had to remove to re-paste... and knowing that would contribute to the story. 

 

You can follow manufacturer's recommendation and have an easy warranty process. Or you can take legal advice from the Internet, remove seals, and then don't get warranty or hire a lawyer to get warranty. Makes no difference to me. 

[Jedibrysen]

7 hours ago, Lurking said:

For the record I'm not accusing OP of anything except (inadvertently or not) not telling the whole story. Maybe it was a seal OP had to remove to re-paste... and knowing that would contribute to the story. 

 

You can follow manufacturer's recommendation and have an easy warranty process. Or you can take legal advice from the Internet, remove seals, and then don't get warranty or hire a lawyer to get warranty. Makes no difference to me. 

as you can see by the image ASRock voided my warranty because there was no sticker over the screw which is illegal in the US and EU idk how hard it is to understand. I also got in contact with them via phone and they said that it is “policy” to void the warranty with a removed warranty sticker

[Donut417]

3 minutes ago, Jedibrysen said:

policy” to void the warranty with a removed

https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/

[Blue4130]

2 hours ago, Jedibrysen said:

as you can see by the image ASRock voided my warranty because there was no sticker over the screw which is illegal in the US and EU idk how hard it is to understand. I also got in contact with them via phone and they said that it is “policy” to void the warranty with a removed warranty sticker

I'd find an FTC email contact and start cc'ing them. It may be an unrealistic threat, but could be enough to get them to change their mind. 

[Jedibrysen]

12 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

I'd find an FTC email contact and start cc'ing them. It may be an unrealistic threat, but could be enough to get them to change their mind. 

Well asrock just shipped back my gpu today should be getting it by tomorrow. I’m going to be sending my card to Newegg to get a replacement. Hopefully Newegg is easier to deal with lol  

[Jedibrysen]

Update: going to return it to Newegg see what they do. If I don’t get a replacement from them I’ll be contacting my credit card company

[LogicalDrm]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:44 AM, Jedibrysen said:

as you can see by the image ASRock voided my warranty because there was no sticker over the screw which is illegal in the US and EU idk how hard it is to understand. I also got in contact with them via phone and they said that it is “policy” to void the warranty with a removed warranty sticker

As already noted, there's no laws against placing the stickers. So that notion is misleading. The court ruling is that company cannot use sticker or another type of seal as legally binding reason to void warranty. But they will do it as long as they can get away with it. Meaning that unless you and thousand others constantly complain about it, they will continue doing it as it saves them money, and forces you to do more leg-work to get your consumer rights executed.

 

You are dead end with AsRock, correct way, as also noted, is to go to governmental agency for consumer protection. In US, FTC. I would wager that Newegg will be as much of dead end to you. IIRC in US manufacturers handle all warranty claims, so Newegg would send card back to AsRock to be denied.

[Jedibrysen]

Final update: just got an email back from Newegg approving my replacement I’m super happy. Still a good thread to make people aware of what ASRock is doing. Hopefully some day they change this