There were some court cases 30-40 years ago on lifetime warranties. Basically the courts interpreted it as the life cycle of the warranted merchandise, for example I think they came up with 7 years for a refrigerator, making a ten year warranty more valuable than a lifetime warranty.
OTOH, last I knew JC Penney was still honoring their lifetime car battery warranty, decades after they quit selling batteries. Considering there are probably fewer than 100 customers involved nationwide, it's probably a cheap way to maintain their reputation. (I heard about it in an interview with a very old lady who has 400kmi on her 1964 Chevy that she bought new. She's got Midas lifetime muffler and brake pads on it too, but Midas surely does OK with associated brake and exhaust work) My parents, married over 60 years, have had four refrigerators. The only fridge my folks used for under 7 years was a defective leaker that they did a couple of compressor replacements and I don't know how many recharges before they threw in the towel, sold dad's motorcycle, and bought a new one. I blame the dealer, not GM/Frigidaire for that one. Dad wanted a deal, and the salesman found one of last year's model in the back of the store, either not knowing or not caring that it was a warranty return, and sold it to dad as new. It was a good demonstration of the uselessness of that store's mechanics. Low on charge? Just gas her up and go. Out of charge and compressor burnt up? Swap compressors, gas and go. Leak test? What's that? The replacement Admiral was in continuous service from about 1977 to 2012. I can remember replacing the defrost timer twice, and it was running a lot, probably low on charge, when they replaced it after only 35 years. Their first fridge, a Sears/Coldspot from the 1950s, was relegated to the basement bar around 1972 when they bought the POS. When they sold the house in 1975, we left it behind, and the buyer put it back in the kitchen. The freezer that came with it is still in use, but it's got to go. My brother broke off the thermostat knob in 1962 when it was set full cold as they were moving, and it's been running pretty much 24/7 ever since, currently at a cost of around $15 a month. Every time there's a power failure it clatters horribly upon restart and I wonder if it will be able to start next time. In fact, the compressor rattles all the time now. That shouldn't happen with a freezer that isn't even 60 years old yet, should it? Mitch. > On August 30, 2015 at 10:25 AM G Mann via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > wrote: > > > Pretty much sums up much of my experience since with stores that advertise > Lifetime Guarantees. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
