Originally posted by: Googer
I was thinking of the USA when I said that. Europe is a totaly differant Animal when it come to warrneties, Especially Germany.
We won't loose RMA's and warrenties but we will loose the quality, leingth of time, and ease at which warrenty claims are made. Instead of 3 years we may end up with 3 months.
I am not a lawyer.
Most states in the US have an implied warranty of merchantability.
In California for example, "unless a conspicuous writing is attached to the goods which clearly informs the buyer, prior to the sale, in simple and concise language" that the sale is "as is" or "with all faults" there is an implied or express warranty. This cannot be less than 30 days. The retailer must honor this warranty but they may refer the buyer to another party (like the manufacturer) to honor the warranty.
CA Codes 1792-1795.7
One does have to be careful, because I have seen some local retailers on the back of receipts label certain sales like CPUs "as is". That probably fulfills the legal requirement for conspicuous, although not mine personally.
Some states do not allow "as is" sales, like West Virginia, all sales have an implied warranty of merchantability.
The implied warranty of merchantability only covers that the item fulfills the basic duties that it was sold to perform. Like a watch should keep time, a motherboard should boot the computer and operate for a reasonable period of time. It is not as good as most manufacturers express warranties. However, manufacturers generally have such express warranties to protect them in other areas, for instance, if the motherboard just worked but the USB did not, but they advertised USB, they could be sued for false advertising if the USB did not work.
Basically, in my opinion the only reason most manufacturers and retailers have warranties is that they are required to by law or to cover themselves from lawsuits. In other words, it is cheaper and businesses do what is cheaper.