Warranty question

[Stacy0616]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Stacy0616]

Weird. My phone isn't showing my message. I will write it again

My mother was sold a hearing aid and was told that it had a 1 year manufacturer's warranty. We later found out that the hearing aid actually had 3 years of warranty! Is a retailer allowed to do that? Especially when they are charging for repairs that are supposed to be under the original manufacturer's warranty.

 

[tranquility]

Please flesh out the facts a bit. While a retailer should not misrepresent things that can cause damages, if there was a manufacturer's warranty you probably should have contacted them first. Some retailer's will repair for some time after sale and charge the manufacturer or have some other arrangement where what they told you was not false from their own perspective.

 

[Stacy0616]

In the world of hearing aids, everything goes through the office that sold the aid. They send the aid in for repair. The manufacturer does not deal with the patient, they deal with the dispenser and everything goes through the dispenser's account # with that manufacturer.

 

[Stacy0616]

Therefore, retailer tells us the aid is out of warranty and charges for the repair. After the fact, we discover that the aid was under warranty and the retailer was not charged. This should have been at no charge to my mother. We have worked with hearing aids for a long time, but this was our first experience at this office.

 

[Zigner]

She was sold the item with a one-year warranty...

 

[tranquility]

She was sold the item with a one-year warranty...

This would be a part of the facts that are important. If it was sold with a one year, that might limit the other warranty. If they brought it in for repair and the retailer then told it was a one year warranty, that would be different. As to the OPs claim everything must go through the retailer, then he would need written evidence from the retailer regarding the length of the warranty. (Written as a three year warranty cannot be completed in one year and the statute of frauds would be implicated.)

 

[Stacy0616]

My mother was not happy with that office's service and bedside manner. I took her to a different office. When they met with us, they called the manufacturer to verify the warranty associated with her serial #s. The manufacturer told us that the product was still under their warranty. The previous office told us that the manufacturer's warranty was expired.

 

[Stacy0616]

The warranty sold to us was labeled "manufacturer's warranty." Not Dr.'s office's warranty. It appears to us that the manufacturer was not aware that this office is telling consumers that they have shorter manufacturer's warranties than what they really do

 

[tranquility]

I am uncertain as to explaining things is so hard here. But, last try.

1. Do you have a written warranty in your hands?
2. What does it say in regards to repair?
3. What did the first office say to you exactly?
4. How much did you pay to them to repair the hearing aid?

 

[Stacy0616]

I apologize. I thought I was being clear.

I have two different documents. One from the manufacturer stating that the aid had a 3 year warranty. That was obtained at the new office. The other document is from the first office stating that the manufacturer only has a 1 year warranty. All repairs are done at the manufacturer. The office does not do their own repairs. The new office told me that the old office would not have been charged for an in office repair. That is standard across the board. That first office charged $275 for the repair that cost them nothing. The repair was done at the manufacturer. Not the office.

 

[Stacy0616]

The first office clearly states that the manufacturer offers a 1 year warranty. This has been found to be incorrect. Our serial numbers reflect what should have been a 3 year warranty.

 

[Stacy0616]

Correction to previous thread. The new office told me that the old office would not have been charged for an in warranty repair. Not in office. That was a typo

 

[Stacy0616]

Basically, the new office person said that she thinks the old office just wanted to be able to charge for repairs sooner. Obviously she can't prove that, but dr. Offices don't make their own manufacturer warranties. They have their own follow policies, but I don't see how they have a right to tell me the manufacturer only warrants for 1 year when that is not true.