FTC warns three PC tech companies of potential warranty violations

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that it has sent letters to several technology companies warning them that their warranty or repair policies might violate federal law.

Specifically in the PC space, the FTC sent letters to companies ASRock, Gigabyte, and Zotac, warning them that they may be in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the federal act that oversees consumer warranties and is administered by the FTC. They have thirty days to review their policies and comply.

While the specific concerns vary by company, the FTC reminded the three companies that they can’t, for example, place stickers on a laptop that caution consumers that opening or repairing the laptop violates warranty policies. Neither can they state or imply that their products can only be repaired via an authorized service from the company.

In the letter sent to Gigabyte (PDF), the FTC said that its staff is “concerned” by the Gigabyte written warranty, which includes the phrase: “If the manufacturing sticker inside the product was removed or damaged, it would no longer be covered by the warranty.”

ASRock’s warranty policy is more specific, but the FTC’s letter to the company (PDF) took issues with it as well: “Manufacturer’s warranty will be null and void if products are modified, damaged or otherwise tampered with, for example, the outer case is opened or additional optional parts/components are installed/removed.”

Staff would also be “concerned” if the companies actually denied warranty coverage based upon the statements by the three companies. While the language is somewhat passive-aggressive, the FTC also clearly states that the violations may result in legal action.

The FTC sent similar letters to sellers of air purifier equipment, specifically to aeris Health, Blueair, Medify Air, and Oransi, plus the treadmill company InMovement. Asus, which was the subject of a series of videos by GamersNexus for its own warranty practices, was not named.