Gamers Nexus calling out Linus for monetizing on his own controversy

[IkeaGnome]

2 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

It wouldn't have been an issue if the backpack had more than a "trust me bro" warranty, and the issue wouldn't have become the controversy it did if Linus didn't make a "trust me bro" tshirt which seems like doubling down on the stance of not wanting to provide a warranty,

It's almost like years of bashing other companies for the same thing and similar things makes people hold you to a higher standard.

Weird.

[MAXBattle]

11 minutes ago, GameRetro said:

So yeah, GN is a "friend" that made a video cause he's a youtube friend.

You said it was like a friend calling you out.  It wasn't.  It was just a YouTube "consumer advocate" (GN) going after someone publicly for views.  There's no friend part there.

 

Look at the tabloid-style thumbnail graphics.  What part of that is going to be successful at convincing Linus to offer a written warranty?  Steve is talking to everyone but his "friend."

 

As for the reddit / post stuff, IDK about that.  Mods messing with any open debate is a massive societal problem.

[GameRetro]

6 minutes ago, MAXBattle said:

You said it was like a friend calling you out.  It wasn't.  It was just a YouTube "consumer advocate" (GN) going after someone publicly for views.  There's no friend part there.

 

Look at the tabloid-style thumbnail graphics.  What part of that is going to be successful at convincing Linus to offer a written warranty?  Steve is talking to everyone but his "friend."

 

As for the reddit / post stuff, IDK about that.  Mods messing with any open debate is a massive societal problem.

 

Again the point was not convincing Linus to do anything about warranties, it was about calling him up for the same thing he has called out others. The point is to bring his attention to the real issue - the way he (mis)handled this whole thing.

 

It's about his childish doubling down on it with a freaking TMB T-Shirt (even if some twitter guy requested one, as the CEO and face of a brand you could have the sense to see how it might be in poor taste).

 

They even called the eventual written warranty a TMB Warranty, which again is like rubbing salt into the wound - something that is kinda overlooked (to clarify that and the shirt may truly be funny for some - as Luke said it there might be plenty of people that do, but we don't all have to like it).

 

So yeah, it's not about the warranty but about Linus still not getting it. He's no longer a guy at a banter match, he's the face of a huge company. He's not our "bro". We can no longer relate to that level of success, money and power. And he can't expect to handle things like it's a discussion between friends. He can't expect people to treat it like that, and he can't expect there to be no backlash when he's given worse for less himself in the past.

[IkeaGnome]

8 minutes ago, MAXBattle said:

Look at the tabloid-style thumbnail graphics.

Wait, tabloid style thumbnail is bad for a news video? They didn't only talk about the LTT warranty stuff there was more news than just that in both videos he's mentioned it in.

[MAXBattle]

17 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

I don't see why GN should've called them out in private, they call out everyone that does stupid things in public, GN calls out companies and even managed to get blacklisted by some of them, iirc Thermaltake doesn't send things to GN because he criticized them in a review.

Also LMG is a company, not your friend, despite Linus wanting to act like he runs a small business.

And I don't see how the warranty being hypothetical matters, a $250 backpack should've carried a warranty from the start, if it did they shouldn't have made the whole issue into a controversy in the first place, and LMG making things like this into a controversy is why they need a PR person.

It wouldn't have been an issue if the backpack had more than a "trust me bro" warranty, and the issue wouldn't have become the controversy it did if Linus didn't make a "trust me bro" tshirt which seems like doubling down on the stance of not wanting to provide a warranty, and slapping everyone that criticized them for not providing a warranty.

I was responding to someone else saying Steve was "like a friend calling you out."  I agree that Steve isn't being a friend.  He's a company that makes money analyzing and criticizing other businesses. He got double his usual views.  It's just business.

 

If a backpack doesn't have a feature, you don't buy it.  A written warranty is just a feature. It's a business choice not a moral one. You can entirely avoid any warranty issue by buying a different pack in the first place.  It's nowhere near the same as an actually faulty product that doesn't perform as advertised.

 

If everyone's issue is actually Linus' personality (his reaction / attitude, the shirt, etc), then the whole thing IS a personal attack and GN should replace the "no warranty" YouTube graphic with a "Linus is a d**k and here's why..." graphic.

[Blademaster91]

35 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

It's almost like years of bashing other companies for the same thing and similar things makes people hold you to a higher standard.

Weird.

Agreed, Linus has called out companies for being anti-consumer for years, but when it comes to his products he's offended for people not trusting his word.

I kind of doubt he's even bothered about having to offer an official warranty, but having a warranty means they might have to replace it for free if a screwdriver breaks, as opposed to the "trust me bro" he could say no because someone used their screwdriver to fix their car as that would be misuse on a screwdriver being sold as something to build a PC with.

[GameRetro]

2 minutes ago, MAXBattle said:

 

 

If everyone's issue is actually Linus' personality (his reaction / attitude, the shirt, etc), then the whole thing IS a personal attack and GN should replace the "no warranty" YouTube graphic with a "Linus is a d**k and here's why..." graphic.

 

Have you not watched the GN video? He's specifically called out for monetizing the whole thing and the way he responds to the criticism with a huge focus on Luke's reactions of disagreement. So again, it's not about the warranty it's about the whole ordeal around the warranty. And it's not a PERSONAL attack it's a criticism to a brand face/company face/company chair. I.e. someone that represents the stance of the whole company and in that way speaks as if being the company... sorry I can't word this better I am not native English and it's late here.

[GameRetro]

Just now, Blademaster91 said:

Agreed, Linus has called out companies for being anti-consumer for years, but when it comes to his products he's offended for people not trusting his word.

I kind of doubt he's even bothered about having to offer an official warranty, but having a warranty means they might have to replace it for free if a a screwdriver breaks, as opposed to the "trust me bro" he could say no because someone used their screwdriver to fix their car as that would be misuse on a screwdriver being sold as something to build a PC with.

 

I've seen LMG handle issues on twitter (granted I haven't verified whether and how quickly they follow through but I am sure they do) very well. Faded Water Bottle print - sending a new one to people no questions asked...

 

But that same issue then resulted in dozens and more responses about everyone sharing that - yeah - the print actually fades with use... So if EVERYONE were to request a replacement over that - would they still be like "we got you bro"?

 

Probably... I think so... but there has to come a point where they say - okay look guys you use and abuse these things we'll no longer replace water bottles for faded print and that's final. And again that is logical... but is it consistent? No!

 

A written warranty gives some peace of mind about CONSISTENTLY and LONG TERM being taken care of. I.e. when I get an accidental damage warranty on my laptop I know that should I spill something on it I'll be covered every single time. Not based on the whim of the company owner or based on how many similar claims there's been in the past month.

[MAXBattle]

6 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Wait, tabloid style thumbnail is bad for a news video? They didn't only talk about the LTT warranty stuff there was more news than just that in both videos he's mentioned it in.

Tabloid graphics are for tabloid news.  It's schadenfreude and "controversy creates cash", not Edward R Murrow journalism.  It was maximizing GN clicks and revenue.

[IkeaGnome]

Just now, MAXBattle said:

Tabloid graphics are for tabloid news.  It's schadenfreude and "controversy creates cash", not Edward R Murrow journalism.  It was maximizing GN clicks and revenue.

But it's only bad on the LTT related HW news?

Spoiler

Yes, they're getting worse, but so is every other thumbnail.

Spoiler

 

[GameRetro]

Just now, MAXBattle said:

Tabloid graphics are for tabloid news.  It's schadenfreude and "controversy creates cash", not Edward R Murrow journalism.  It was maximizing GN clicks and revenue.

I think thumbnails are a void argument at this day and age where EVERYONE just makes clickbait thumbnails and titles.

I hate the whole lot of that practice but EVERYONE does it. It's never reflective of the actual content, it's intentionally made to make people triggered and click the video. I hate it.

[MAXBattle]

13 minutes ago, GameRetro said:

A written warranty gives some peace of mind about CONSISTENTLY and LONG TERM being taken care of. I.e. when I get an accidental damage warranty on my laptop I know that should I spill something on it I'll be covered every single time. Not based on the whim of the company owner or based on how many similar claims there's been in the past month.

A written warranty does no such thing.  All it does is give written evidence that you can use in court should you choose to spend the money to sue the company for failure to perform.  At best, it gives an attorney general ammunition if it becomes a big enough problem to concern them.  Plenty of companies ignore or weasel out of warranties. A piece of paper can't force a business to do anything.

Edited August 31, 2022 by MAXBattle

[Blademaster91]

27 minutes ago, MAXBattle said:

I was responding to someone else saying Steve was "like a friend calling you out."  I agree that Steve isn't being a friend.  He's a company that makes money analyzing and criticizing other businesses. He got double his usual views.  It's just business.

 

If a backpack doesn't have a feature, you don't buy it.  A written warranty is just a feature. It's a business choice not a moral one. You can entirely avoid any warranty issue by buying a different pack in the first place.  It's nowhere near the same as an actually faulty product that doesn't perform as advertised.

 

If everyone's issue is actually Linus' personality (his reaction / attitude, the shirt, etc), then the whole thing IS a personal attack and GN should replace the "no warranty" YouTube graphic with a "Linus is a d**k and here's why..." graphic.

I would recommend watching the GN videos discussing this, GN was calling them out for being anti-consumer, monetizing the controversy with a t-shirt,and making it clear that Linus is running a company, and LMG should be treated as a company.

 

A backpack that costs $250 should have a warranty, anything that is being sold as a premium product should have some sort of guaranteed warranty in writing.

The ironic thing is Linus calls out other companies and criticizes them for not having a decent warranty,but people keep wanting to excuse LTT for not wanting to have a warranty.

And the issue is not with Linus' personally, the issue is with their handling of the controversy, and the monetization of an issue that could have been easily avoided if Linus would run his company like a company. Also I think Youtube thumbnails isn't a good argument, most channels use clickbait thumbnails anymore, there really isn't any choice if a creator wants their video to get views. And I find it weird you're complaining about GN thumbnails when LTT's clickbait thumbnails are MUCH MUCH worse to the point that thumbnails have nothing to do with the video topic.

[MAXBattle]

4 hours ago, Blademaster91 said:

GN was calling them out for being anti-consumer, monetizing the controversy with a t-shirt,and making it clear that Linus is running a company, and LMG should be treated as a company.

 

A backpack that costs $250 should have a warranty, anything that is being sold as a premium product should have some sort of guaranteed warranty in writing.

Anti-consumer is making a faulty product and/or not fixing the situation when it happens. It is lying about specs - and to a much lesser extent, marketing puffery.

 

There is no obligation to provide a written warranty.  Everything has an implied warranty of merchantability and suitability already (at least in the US & likely Canada & EU). A written warranty is a nice feature to have and a buyer can make buying decisions based on how important it is to them.  As I mentioned in another post, the warranty itself cannot force a seller to honor it.  It is merely evidence should a buyer choose to sue for non-performance. If the issue is big enough, it might help you if an attorney general chooses to go after the company, but they like bigger, splashier targets for the press coverage.  And one detail I forgot above, but it might - just might - help you if you challenge the purchase on your credit card, but it is no guarantee since the card company can choose to side with the seller.

 

If a warranty is critical to you, you should simply buy some other pack. LTT doesn't have a monopoly on the backpack world.   Nobody owes you a warranty.

Edited September 1, 2022 by MAXBattle
Replaced pronoun for clarity. Corrected typo (missing word)

[Vilacom]

3 hours ago, GameRetro said:

 

I've seen LMG handle issues on twitter (granted I haven't verified whether and how quickly they follow through but I am sure they do) very well. Faded Water Bottle print - sending a new one to people no questions asked...

 

But that same issue then resulted in dozens and more responses about everyone sharing that - yeah - the print actually fades with use... So if EVERYONE were to request a replacement over that - would they still be like "we got you bro"?

 

Probably... I think so... but there has to come a point where they say - okay look guys you use and abuse these things we'll no longer replace water bottles for faded print and that's final. And again that is logical... but is it consistent? No!

 

A written warranty gives some peace of mind about CONSISTENTLY and LONG TERM being taken care of. I.e. when I get an accidental damage warranty on my laptop I know that should I spill something on it I'll be covered every single time. Not based on the whim of the company owner or based on how many similar claims there's been in the past month.

There are two threads on this forum alone for ASUS and Corsair talking about how miserable it is trying to get any form of customer service to help with products that is a well known accepted thing about those companies, both companies have written extensive warranties.  Apple has a written warranty, i hope you have a damn lawyer on retainer if you’re actually going to try to get something from them.  Watch the secret shopper videos to see how worthwhile the Dell warranty is as they just ignore the fact that you paid to have on site service and make you send in the system.  Artesian builds had a 1 year warranty on all their systems, lots of people are finding out how much legal protection that gave them as their systems go onto the balance sheet to be sold off by creditors in the bankruptcy process.

The companies that are well known for handling things and have excellent customer service anyone who goes to them regardless of the issue has probably never actually interacted with their actual warranty system.  They just take care of you through their basic customer service portal based on company policy not a legal document.

What happened with the screwdriver is an excellent example.  There is a small flaw that only effects drivers sold at the pop up shop, its something that probably wont come up in the vast majority of cases.  LTT could have just stayed quiet about it and replaced any that ran into the issue under the legal terms of their limited lifetime warranty after requiring the person to present proof of purchase at the pop up shop, sending the driver in to make sure nothing has been tampered with, etc etc.  They’re still 100% in the right as far as their legal obligation and pocket the money from the people who never have an issue with it, who are still going to be happy with the driver.  Or they could have asked people to send the drivers back in for replacement and maybe removed the handle to resell the ratchet with the corrected one.

Instead, as a company policy, they just sent everyone who bought at the shop who wants one a new one, keep the old one, enjoy. They are under no legal obligation to do so.  Thats the difference between what a written legal warranty can do and a company that actually values its reputation to customer service.  

I’ve watched a lot of LTT videos, certainly not all so I’m happy to be corrected, and almost every time something gets brought up in a review or statement about a company its the actual customer service that is commented on and not whatever legal paperwork they put out there.  

[r3quiem]

3 hours ago, MAXBattle said:

Anti-consumer is making a faulty product and/or not fixing the situation when it happens. It is lying about specs - and to a much lesser extent, marketing puffery.

 

There is no obligation to provide a written warranty.  Everything has an implied warranty of merchantability and suitability already (at least in the US & likely Canada & EU). It is a nice feature to have and a buyer can make buying decisions based on how important it is to them.  As I mentioned in another post, the warranty itself cannot a seller to honor it.  It is merely evidence should a buyer choose to sue for non-performance. If the issue is big enough, it might help you if an attorney general chooses to go after the company, but they like bigger, splashier targets for the press coverage.  And one detail I forgot above, but it might - just might - help you if you challenge the purchase on your credit card, but it is no guarantee since the card company can choose to side with the seller.

 

If a warranty is critical to you, you should simply buy some other pack. LTT doesn't have a monopoly on the backpack world.   Nobody owes you a warranty.

To further substantiate & affirm what MAXBattle is claiming here with regards to implied warranties:

 

"In the United States, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code provides that two warranties are implied in any sale unless they are explicitly disclaimed (for example, with an “as is” statement): in essence, the product or service must meet normal industry standards for similar items of comparable price and it must be appropriate to the needs expressed by the buyer to the seller.

 

In Canada, implied warranties vary by province and territory but are generally included in Sale of Goods Acts (SGAs) based on common law, with coverage similar to that in the United States (though subject to differing legal interpretations). Some provinces, however, have introduced more extensive—and less debatable—coverage through province-specific warranty legislation."

Quote

USA: https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2 | https://www.uniformlaws.org/acts/ucc

Canada: https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/office-consumer-affairs/en/modern-marketplace/warranties

 

 

 

 

 

 

[notjoe]

19 hours ago, MAXBattle said:

I agree.  Which GN video are you referring to?  I'm curious to see.

This one. You can see from his facial expressions and hear it in his voice. so much bitterness in this video

 

 

[starsmine]

14 minutes ago, notjoe said:

This one. You can see from his facial expressions and hear it in his voice. so much bitterness in this video

 

 

You are making up a tone that is not there. His tone may convey disappointment at the whole thing at points, but nothing so negative or toxic as bitterness.

[Blademaster91]

36 minutes ago, notjoe said:

This one. You can see from his facial expressions and hear it in his voice. so much bitterness in this video

-video snip-

 

Mind pointing out any specific time stamps then?

I don't see where Steve is bitter, and I don't see how Steve would be salty over LTT getting into real testing territory. I think LTT is salty over it and is dumping millions into a lab building and test equipment, even then they're still going to have to earn trust after years of doing clickbait videos of expensive products no average tech enthusiast can really relate to.

Also you can see how uncomfortable Luke is in the WAN show clips, he is more mature and level headed, and I would trust Luke to run a business a lot more than Linus that gets offended over the idea of offering an official warranty.

[Blademaster91]

4 hours ago, GameRetro said:

 

I've seen LMG handle issues on twitter (granted I haven't verified whether and how quickly they follow through but I am sure they do) very well. Faded Water Bottle print - sending a new one to people no questions asked...

 

But that same issue then resulted in dozens and more responses about everyone sharing that - yeah - the print actually fades with use... So if EVERYONE were to request a replacement over that - would they still be like "we got you bro"?

 

Probably... I think so... but there has to come a point where they say - okay look guys you use and abuse these things we'll no longer replace water bottles for faded print and that's final. And again that is logical... but is it consistent? No!

 

A written warranty gives some peace of mind about CONSISTENTLY and LONG TERM being taken care of. I.e. when I get an accidental damage warranty on my laptop I know that should I spill something on it I'll be covered every single time. Not based on the whim of the company owner or based on how many similar claims there's been in the past month.

I don't go on twitter very often, but I remember some issue with water bottle paint fading, I think that was handled well, though yeah a "trust me" warranty can quickly backfire on a company also. I like seeing a written warranty as I know the company wants to stand behind their product, and can at least guarantee the product working as its supposed to out of the box.

4 hours ago, MAXBattle said:

Anti-consumer is making a faulty product and/or not fixing the situation when it happens. It is lying about specs - and to a much lesser extent, marketing puffery.

 

There is no obligation to provide a written warranty.  Everything has an implied warranty of merchantability and suitability already (at least in the US & likely Canada & EU). A written warranty is a nice feature to have and a buyer can make buying decisions based on how important it is to them.  As I mentioned in another post, the warranty itself cannot force a seller to honor it.  It is merely evidence should a buyer choose to sue for non-performance. If the issue is big enough, it might help you if an attorney general chooses to go after the company, but they like bigger, splashier targets for the press coverage.  And one detail I forgot above, but it might - just might - help you if you challenge the purchase on your credit card, but it is no guarantee since the card company can choose to side with the seller.

 

If a warranty is critical to you, you should simply buy some other pack. LTT doesn't have a monopoly on the backpack world.   Nobody owes you a warranty.

And it would be anti-consumer of LTT to sell a product with a bunch of marketing fluff with the only guarantee of it being a decent product a "trust me don't worry if you have a problem I got you". A warranty would cover against things like getting a zipper that breaks after using it once, or loose threads.

It sounds like you're repeating the flawed logic Linus wanted to sway his fans into agreeing with him on, LTT is a company, you shouldn't be just blindly trusting their products, and if Linus wants to price his products at the same level as name branded things known to be of decent quality then he has to provide a warranty if he wants to compete with them.

[Vilacom]

1 minute ago, Blademaster91 said:

Mind pointing out any specific time stamps then?

I don't see where Steve is bitter, and I don't see how Steve would be salty over LTT getting into real testing territory. I think LTT is salty over it and is dumping millions into a lab building and test equipment, even then they're still going to have to earn trust after years of doing clickbait videos of expensive products no average tech enthusiast can really relate to.

Also you can see how uncomfortable Luke is in the WAN show clips, he is more mature and level headed, and I would trust Luke to run a business.

Personally I think its hilarious that anyone think that extremely high level/detailed testing is anything that a channel or company is basing profit on.  There is a reason basically no one does it at all now and anyone who did either stopped and changed what they did or went out of business.  It’s something more than 90% of consumers will never ever care about.  A simple “Does it work with basically no maintenance from me as I want it to” is all most care about.  

The information that crazy PSU tester or the fan tester the GN purchased are going to put out the majority of viewers wont even understand, a chunk of the rest of them might understand or look into how to understand it but dont actually care, like if you’re buying new fans do you need to know the technical aspects of why everyone recommends Noctua or do you just buy them because they are extremely well reviewed and you just know youre getting a solid product for the price.

As an air traffic controller I can give you an incredible amount of information on various airlines, aircraft, performance statistics, routes, weather data, etc etc.  Do you think that would be a successful YouTube channel or are you going to get on Expedia/whatever airline hub you live near and book the flight that gets you where you need to go for the best looking price at a time that works for you.  All that information is critical for what I do, and everyone else really never is going to care beyond “How do I get to my vacation easily”

Things like LTT and GN are the only way we as consumers are ever going get data like this for those of us who are actually interested, companies that absolutely do not rely on that data to make money, or have other ways to monetize and make profits, who are passionate about sharing it despite the fact they know its never really going to pay off directly.  LTT is always going to be able to do it at a larger scale and faster than GN because they have the larger audience and more money, they can build an entire lab and hire staff to run it where GN can buy a fan tester for Steve to do additional testing.  

It also significantly benefits any review channel(to an extent) to have multiple sources backing their data up, If GN and LTT both test a fan and the data is extremely close/the same then you can have far more confidence in that data set than just one channel doing it, if there’s a difference then they can look into that difference and find it out. There’s a limit obviously, saturation would eventually reduce traffic everywhere but given how expensive these products are and how little the initial return will be unless a ton of independently wealthy people decide they wanna start tech channels there really isnt any competition between the two.  If someone is interested in that kind of data theyll likely be watching both videos to get both opinions.

[MAXBattle]

16 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

I like seeing a written warranty as I know the company wants to stand behind their product, and can at least guarantee the product working as its supposed to out of the box.

And it would be anti-consumer of LTT to sell a product with a bunch of marketing fluff with the only guarantee of it being a decent product a "trust me don't worry if you have a problem I got you". A warranty would cover against things like getting a zipper that breaks after using it once, or loose threads.

It sounds like you're repeating the flawed logic Linus wanted to sway his fans into agreeing with him on, LTT is a company, you shouldn't be just blindly trusting their products, and if Linus wants to price his products at the same level as name branded things known to be of decent quality then he has to provide a warranty if he wants to compete with them.

The first three issues you mention - "working out of the box", an immediate broken zipper, and [excessive] loose threads - are already covered by an implied warranty of merchantability and/or suitability (or an equivalent in many non-US countries).

 

As mentioned before, a written warranty is also not magic and isn't a court order of specific performance. Someone earlier mentioned Apple. They have written warranties on overpriced products, but they still told customers "you're holding it wrong."  In the end, it comes down to "just trust me", whether it is Linus or Steve or even Tim Cook. Steve has a warranty, but it is only as good as his word or your lawyer.  And, BTW, it seems awfully anti-consumer for Steve to only warranty his mats for 7 years and only to the original buyer while Linus' warranty is lifetime and transferable.

 

You say that Linus needs a warranty of he wants to compete with other backpack makers.  That may or may not be correct.  Consumers will decide with their wallets.  Linus doesn't need Steve's scolding.  The sales numbers will quickly give Linus a much stronger argument one way or the other.

[tkitch]

33 minutes ago, MAXBattle said:

And, BTW, it seems awfully anti-consumer for Steve to only warranty his mats for 7 years and only to the original buyer while Linus' warranty is lifetime and transferable.

You're being a little disingenuous, considering when Steve was making that video, LTT had no lifetime warranty, other than "Trust me, Bro!"

 

The fact that Linus had to be bullied into adding one is a little insane.

[MAXBattle]

4 minutes ago, tkitch said:

You're being a little disingenuous, considering when Steve was making that video, LTT had no lifetime warranty, other than "Trust me, Bro!"

 

The fact that Linus had to be bullied into adding one is a little insane.

Between Day One of this kerfuffle and now, nothing has actually changed for either company other than the creation of evidence that could theoretically be used in court. All Linus did was put to paper what he'd be willing to do anyway. As had been mentioned before, implied warranties already existed and written warranties don't guarantee seller behavior, as Apple and others have proven.

 

Calling out Steve for his anti-consumer policies - since everything is apparently relative - is entirely fair. Steve used to offer a better written warranty and now Linus has raised the bar.  If Steve's going to charge people $100+ for a slab of rubber with some printing on it, the least he can do is be pro-consumer and make the warranty transferable and longer than 7 years.

[Blademaster91]

1 hour ago, MAXBattle said:

The first three issues you mention - "working out of the box", an immediate broken zipper, and [excessive] loose threads - are already covered by an implied warranty of merchantability and/or suitability (or an equivalent in many non-US countries).

Getting a company to cover anything with an implied warranty usually results in a company ignoring the consumer or refusing to under "wear and tear" or product "misuse". A "trust me bro" warranty doesn't mean anything as the company could simply refuse to replace it if they wanted to, at least a written warranty offers a consumer legal protection if the company doesn't want to offer any replacement or repair of a broken zipper.

1 hour ago, MAXBattle said:

As mentioned before, a written warranty is also not magic and isn't a court order of specific performance. Someone earlier mentioned Apple. They have written warranties on overpriced products, but they still told customers "you're holding it wrong."  In the end, it comes down to "just trust me", whether it is Linus or Steve or even Tim Cook. Steve has a warranty, but it is only as good as his word or your lawyer.  And, BTW, it seems awfully anti-consumer for Steve to only warranty his mats for 7 years and only to the original buyer while Linus' warranty is lifetime and transferable.

A written warranty tells me as a consumer that a company stands behind their product and is confident enough to sell it without failing apart.

And I have to agree with @tkitchhere, you're being disingenuous by saying Steve only offers a 7 year warranty, before GN made a video LTT was offering no official warranty, and it took a massive controversy and being called out to even offer a warranty. Also Steve has a much smaller company, I'm assuming it costs a lot of money to go through all the legal processes to offer a written warranty, and LMG has more money to throw around on a warranty.

1 hour ago, MAXBattle said:

You say that Linus needs a warranty of he wants to compete with other backpack makers.  That may or may not be correct.  Consumers will decide with their wallets.  Linus doesn't need Steve's scolding.  The sales numbers will quickly give Linus a much stronger argument one way or the other.

I don't see how sales numbers matter to anyone besides Linus and his company, LTT has millions of viewers, many of them being younger so more impressionable on agreeing with Linus and more easily sold a $250 backpack or $80 screwdriver.

And if you think Steve was scolding Linus with his whole reaction to the matter then you're missing the point, in my opinion, Steve is right, profiteering from a scandal is a really underhanded thing to do and it only makes LTT as a company look bad. I think Linus should've learned not to profiteer on his controversies after the whole "Adblock is piracy" thing but at this point it seems on purpose in order to get a profit.