Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Hi,

I bought a product with a 5 year warranty, and after using it I looked at the detailed warranty that was inside the box, and saw an unreasonable limitation. Is it legal to limit a warranty with unreasonable conditions if the limitations can only be viewed after buying and opening the product, being that no consumer is expected to assume that such a limitation exists.

(The details: A well known Hard Drive manufacturer sell a external hard drive with a 5 year warranty. There is a limitation if one opens up the external case. That's unreasonable since every bare hard drive sold has a warranty even though there is no enclosure, and when buying an external drive one assumes that he will be able to handle the drive (to transfer to another enclosure or to place in a pc/laptop). After contacting the manufacturer asking what the logic is, they responded that it's because the warranty also covers the enclosure. I then asked if the warranty on the drive itself is still valid and they replied that it is not but would not explain why. It is quite clear that they don't have an answer as to why the drive itself should not be covered because of opening the enclosure.)


Asked on 2/03/11, 3:57 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kevin Connolly Kevin J. Connolly

The warranty says it's void if you open the case. This is not something new and it's not unreasonable. If you had brought the drive back to the place you bought it from without using it, and promptly after buying it, you would have a good lawsuit but on these facts, you haven't a leg to stand on.

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Answered on 2/08/11, 2:53 pm


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