Why should I have to pay under warranty?????

[hawkerw]

I tell you what It sure Ticks me off when you call a company becausea there product failed under warranty and then they want you to pay for shipping. In many cases with large canisters it cost almost as much as the filter is worth in shipping. And then what do they expect you to use for a filter while the bad filter is traveling all over the country? To me true customer service means expressing a replacement as fast a possible. To me this is going to be a hugh consideration when I go to buy my next replacement. Just curious how many of you have run across this? To me the forums should maybe consider posting a companies warranty policy as part of its rating when a product is reviewed and rated?

 

[Nighthawk]

I use eheim and marineland canisters. I've never had an eheim fail and marineland sent me what I needed with no hassle.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; After the issue is resolved, can you post the company and product. It may be premature to post just yet. One strategy is to call and aslk for a supervisor and explain.
Another is to write a letter. For some reason this has worked for me on occasion.
Having had equipment failures several times I tend to keep extra pumps, filters, heaters and such. Largely older working stuff that was replaced with the newer shiny thing. This has come in handy many times.
An air pump with bubblers can often get a tank thru a broken main filter. Much will depend on the stocking density of the tank in question. If you are not stocked too heavy, this and water changes can keep a tank going for a long time.
If you are stocked real heavy it may become necessary to buy a replacement system of some sort untill the warranty question can be worked out. Good luck.

 

[hawkerw]

I should have mentioned that I was not directing this at any one company but this did happen to me recently and I guess I was just asking to see how many agree that a company should post this as part of there warranty statement and would you consider this up front as part of the decision to purchase or not if you new up front? Such little things as gaskets etc I'm sure most companies ship right out but if its the whole filter or major part of it fails then it seems to change the story in many cases?

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

i just want to know what company/brand you're referring to

 

[DeniseC]

Eheim kept stringing me along saying that it was sending me a part that was damaged when I opened the box. It wasn't even an expensive part. I kept emailing them and they kept saying they would ship it as soon as they had my address. I was sending my address in the same emails they were replying to. They eventually stopped replying to my emails. I never could find a number that I could get through to anyone on. I ended up convincing the company I ordered it from to pay the shipping to return it. I will never buy anything else from them.

 

[skjl47]

I should have mentioned that I was not directing this at any one company but this did happen to me recently and I guess I was just asking to see how many agree that a company should post this as part of there warranty statement and would you consider this up front as part of the decision to purchase or not if you new up front? Such little things as gaskets etc I'm sure most companies ship right out but if its the whole filter or major part of it fails then it seems to change the story in many cases?

Hello; Some companies have sent replacement products to me right away with no charge at all. Phillips did this for a chordless phone in the past. Other companies will tell about you having to pay the shipping if you think to asl ahead of the purchase. This was the case when I considered a TV purchase. My brother had a Samsung plasma TV go bad under warranty and they sent a replacement and picked up the faulty set with no charge. I had no help at all with Samsung on a TV out of warranty a few years ago. In my experience there is a wide variety of responses from companies.
I tend to purchase from walk in stores as these issues are less well known to me from web sales.

 

[Countryboy]

I recently had a heater fail and had to pay shipping to return it. They did send one back right away but I thought that paying shipping was out of line. They should include a return lable in their shipping invoices just in case. That would be customer service.

 

[deeda]

While I do agree that the mfg. should reimburse you for the shipping costs if the product failed under warranty, this should be noted in the warranty.

Some warranties are very explicit and state that you need to include a receipt for the cost you paid to ship the item back to the manufacturer or service center included with the item. Then if the mfg. determined the problem was not covered under the warranty, you would not receive your shipping cost when you got the repaired or replaced equipment.

The preferred option would be to contact the customer service number first (as the OP did) and request they send you a copy of the warranty in the event you lost the original. Unfortunately, we are still at the mercy of the mfg. who decides whether the item will be covered under the warranty.

Most people, myself included, don't usually expect to have any problems with a new piece of aquarium equipment and therefore don't check the warranty beforehand.

 

[hawkerw]

I'm sorry many times I tend to be to general or not general enough when I post. Let me give an example of what I'm asking. You go online or out to the store and buy a hob filter install it and its runs just fine for say six months then the case cracks threw no fault of your own. So you call the manufactures help desk to get it fixed. The rep tells you sure we will send you a new filter just as soon as your broken one arrives at our plant but first you have to pay the twenty five dollars it cost to ship it back to them and in many cases the filter only cost thirty dollars brand new. Or the filter is hugh and heavy and cost half or more of the original cost just to ship it back, to me allot of times its more hassle to pack it up and ship it then its worth? Now, this will affect how you would rate the product? Should not the company have to provide some sort of disclamer up front when it puts in big letters on the box "OH Yes we have a five year warranty".