You may want to check with your State’s office of Attorney General. I did. And I sought legal advice on this issue before buying anything with warranty restrictions. It may not be what manfs would have you to believe. If your state did allow manf to restrict warranty application based on where the unit is purchased from, you still may not be without recourse. There is something called an ‘adhesion contract’ that is a basis for claiming damages (that I understand is available) in every State.
An adhesion contract is where one party has an unfair advantage that the other party cannot reasonable negotiate to equity, i.e., if a manf requires you to purchase a product thru specific retail outlets, and not Ebay, in order to get a warranty. The manf has interfered with your ability to acquire an identical product elsewhere for a better price.
In California, no one can take away from the manf’s warranty, not the manf, not the distributor, not the retailer. If a product shipped with a warranty, that warranty stays valid and intact all the way to the consumer, if the final retail sell is in California. The only alteration the State allows is for the distributor or retailer to ADD to the warranty, i.e. increase coverage terms, but they can never take anything away from it.
There is a ton of consumer protection laws in California that I’m beginning to think many people aren’t aware of. A manf must maintain a repair facility in close proximity to any retail seller. If they don’t, any and every retailer of any of that manf’s product is a drop-off point for warranty repairs. Take Hsu subwoofers for example. They do internet sells, but they also distribute thru custom installers that retail Hsu products. If you are in California and have a Hsu product that is in need of warranty repairs you can drop it off anywhere Hsu products are sold, even custom av installers that normally don’t stock the product. But do you need to drop that subwoofer off? Not necessarily.
Any electronics item that is heavy, large, or awkward to carry must be repaired in the home. I don't there is astandard for anything above 60lbs as ‘not heavy’. Maybe UPS or Fed-Ex? At 80lbs, a Hsu subwoofer would need to be repaired in the home. Alternatively, Hsu can pay for the item to be picked up, repaired, and returned, at no cost to the consumer. That goes for any manf of a ‘heavy’ subwoofer, speaker, or amplifier. I am told that in general, any electronics item larger or heavier than a 21’ TV must be repaired in the home. Same for any products that are intended to be “installed” or “attached” to the home. Hint: got in-wall speakers?...or got a plasma display hanging on your wall?
Everyone should know the consumer laws of their State. You may have more protections and rights that what manfs would have you believe.
