How in God’s name can Apple warranty another company’s stuff??????? That part makes less than zero sense. That is functionally retarded
[doublepost=1527647891][/doublepost]So any retail store in New Zealand is responsible for fixing the products they sell???
In the business I used to own (and sold it) I was the manufacturer for my primary product line. But, I also sold accessories as well.
I handled the warranty for everything I sold. It’s a matter of principle.
I did have customers that were very particular about the products they wanted. And they told me they wouldn’t buy my product if I was unwilling to include the accessory from this other manufacturer (they didn’t like my chosen brand of accessories).
I told them that I only deal with companies who build products to the same standards that I build my products to. And that I will stand behind my products and accessories that my company sells.
Some were still insistent that they wouldn’t buy my products unless I supplied the accessory from their preferred manufacturer. I explained to them that I have evaluated that manufacturer and found that their failure rate is too high. That I only supply products that had proven to never fail.
I told them that I am happy to provide my products to them, but if they want to have the accessory from their chosen manufacturer, that they’d have to buy that accessory elsewhere. And that I will guarantee my product, but I will not guarantee that the other brand will be problem free if attached to my product. So if there is a failure caused by that other product brand, then they will have to deal with that on their own.
I did lose those sales. But I also did so intentionally.
I also developed a reputation for being the only company you could buy my kind of products from, and never have a failure.
Guess how many warranty repairs I had for anything I sold. Absolutely none.
When I eventually sold the business. I sent out a letter to every customer who had ever purchased from me. I gave them all my personal contact information. And told them that I would personally handle any problems that ever showed up in the products I sold.
We are now 15 years past when I sold that business. And I still haven’t ever had a repair request on anything I manufactured or sold.
If you believe in quality first. And if you believe in your product, you can stand behind it for life. I don’t build anything, unless I expect it to outlive me.
I don’t care whether I’m building it professionally. Or if it’s a personal project. If it’s worth doing, then it’s worth doing right.
Today’s disposable world is a mess. Devices built to serve only while we are in this level of technology. In 5 years this will be junk because we’ll have moved on to a totally different level of technology. So we’ll stop providing service that enables this to work as designed. Consider the first AppleTV. Consider where the first Apple Watch will be in 10 years. Consider where any current novelty gimmick will be in 10 years.
It’s all essentially trash. That’s where it’ll be.
Give me old school any day. Build it to have a purpose. Build it to last forever. Build it to still serve its original purpose indefinitely. If it cannot do that, then you have not built anything worth buying.
No company should be afraid of a lifetime warranty. If you don’t expect that product to last indefinitely, then you don’t believe in your product. And you should never sell (or build) anything you don’t believe in.
And yes, I have always held myself and my products to those standards in both my business and personal life.
And yes, I have always lived and worked and operated in the United States. And yes, I have served the entire world with products I’ve designed, built, and sold Internationally from the United States.
I didn’t offer my level of quality because of any laws. I offered it because my integrity cannot provide less.
And yes... if a customer from 20 years ago that purchased something from me in a business I have since sold, calls and asks me to fix it, I will. Even if I haven’t touched something like that in 20 years or more.
But, all I ever hear is how great everything is still operating.
As for products from companies I’ve sold, I watch them. Occasionally they market something I designed but never offered to the public (was in my archives of designs to be released later). And, when they do, they bring out my name, and try to get customers to buy it based on my name.
I’ll evaluate the product. And if it’s not built exactly to my original design, using the quality of parts my design called for, or deviates in any way from my original design, I will put out a public announcement declaring the product to be their design, not my original design, and call for them to remove my name from their marketing. And, I have done so.
The idea of limiting warranties is an excuse to build something to a low standard. Nothing should ever be built that you expect to fail.
I still own and use products that are older than my grandparents. And I still own and use electronics from my childhood. You either build a good product, or you build trash (even if it’s just waiting to become trash, it is still trash).
