What does Personal warranty cover in buy and sell?

[Jennyfur80]

I seen some adverts putting 3 days, 7 days personal warranty. This are for items where the official warranty has expired. In the event, after buying the item and it malfunction within the personal warranty period, what is the recourse for the buyer?

Should the seller bear the costs of repair?
Can the buyer ask for a refund?

Hope to get some feedback from you guys

 

[trd2970]

I don't think there is a standard definition of what persobal warranty covers. As the term suggests, personal warranty is provided by an individual seller. Unless this is supported by a detailed T&C covering the scope of warranty coverage, duration, exclusions, bla bla, it is impossible to enforce.

The other thing is that warranty from manufacturers typically address manufacturing defects. For a pre owned product that is 5 years old for example, it is very arguable that breakdowns are due to age, i.e. wear and tear and not manufacturing defect.

E.g. if lens AF is working when buyer tests the lens. A week later AF motor fails. Is the seller liable if he had given personal warranty? Who is to say that he is or is not?

 

[trd2970]

My view is to that when buying pre owned, even if seller gives personal warranty, assume the worst, that is there is none. Don't let your guard down and skip the checking of the item. Unless u trust the seller so much... but don't go complaining if things don't turn out good as expected.

Otherwise buy stuff with some manufacturer warranty remaining, for the piece of mind. No point losing sleep if one is worried about equipment failure.

 

[sjackal]

In actual fact, personal warranty means nothing to me unless both seller AND buyer are known CS members of good repute which then the sale/trade is probably construed as being done on a friend to friend basis of honor and trust.

Anyone registered yesterday with a few post count can start selling today and offer a "Personal Warranty" but he can totally disappear the next hour.

Even when an known CS member offers personal warranty, it may be on words only and he may be extremely reluctant to take back the item and will try his ways to evade or push the blame. Sometimes he may genuinely offer personal warranty but could find it hard to fulfill later when the buyer seems to be a newbie who have no idea how things work, committing lotsa user errors, and generally paranoid because of buyer's own lack of knowledge, it is very hard to deal with some newbirds when you are selling old gear.

 

[SNAPDINER]

There is no such real thing as personal warranty,at least in delicate things such as camera and lens.. If that is the case, even if one buys a day old camera from another consumer under agent warranty n the seller gives a personal warranty, do you expect the seller to rectify any issues for u if u found out hours later that some thing did not work as well as it should? Would u expect the seller to refund full or partial to you at all? Can one call the seller a cheat or liar? Put yourself in the seller's shoes and one will appreciate the situation. The seller wud just say go to the agent.

 

[Octarine]

Ask the seller to sign a piece of paper with full details and particulars and the coverage of "Personal Warranty". See how (s)he responds and draw your own conclusion.
Personal warranty is an additional offering of the seller to increase the confidence in the good working status of the offered items. Nothing bad about it, but it must be defined and signed by both parties. Given the range of sellers with 'mint' offerings and buyers expecting 'mint' for half the shop price it's bound to end up in a disaster. Back to my first line, it will sort the sheep from the goats.

 

[spree86]

I never give any "personal warranty" despite being asked so many times. If I give a 7 days warranty and the lens broke down due to buyer's fault, it hard to prove anything. So I always tell the buyers to check the lens as thoroughly as they want to before buying and if they feel uncomfortable, don't buy. Once the lens change hands I will not be liable for any problems.

 

[infineum6822]

Like Octarine mentioned, get the full details of the seller and have T&C of the 'personal warranty' listed. That way, it makes it less ambiguous if there is a dispute within the 'warranty' period.

I put my gear up for sale and do not offer any personal warranty. As a seller, I give ample time for the buyer to check and test the equipment till they are thoroughly satisfied. Of course I ensure my gear are in good working condition before selling them. That would minimise any misunderstanding after the deal is sealed.

 

[Octarine]

In eBay Germany almost all sellers state "sold under explicit exclusion of all forms of warranty and liability" - otherwise they are liable to a certain extent according consumer protection regulations. Simple and clear.

 

[Heng22]

Otherwise buy stuff with some manufacturer warranty remaining, for the piece of mind. No point losing sleep if one is worried about equipment failure.

Can someone with any experience share on buying used stuff with manufacturer warranty remaining and send for repair.

As item is not registered under your name and also you got no receipt, can the service centre null the warranty?

 

[edutilos-]

I seen some adverts putting 3 days, 7 days personal warranty. This are for items where the official warranty has expired. In the event, after buying the item and it malfunction within the personal warranty period, what is the recourse for the buyer?

Should the seller bear the costs of repair?
Can the buyer ask for a refund?

Hope to get some feedback from you guys

It simply means that you have to take a risk and bet on the seller's integrity.

I'm afraid you don't really have any recourse if the seller doesn't do what you want. That is a fact of life.

 

[edutilos-]

Can someone with any experience share on buying used stuff with manufacturer warranty remaining and send for repair.

As item is not registered under your name and also you got no receipt, can the service centre null the warranty?

Of course. A lot of the warranty cards these days state that the warranty is valid when there is an accompanying receipt.

 

[edutilos-]

I never give any "personal warranty" despite being asked so many times. If I give a 7 days warranty and the lens broke down due to buyer's fault, it hard to prove anything. So I always tell the buyers to check the lens as thoroughly as they want to before buying and if they feel uncomfortable, don't buy. Once the lens change hands I will not be liable for any problems.

Well, to be fair, there are certain problems which cannot develop in the short course of 7 days. One example is fungus. But yes, generally speaking, "check and go" seems like a more straightforward method of selling, though I would not hesitate to entertain disputes if there are things such as fungus which I didn't notice. After all, if there is crack in the lens, lens not communicative with camera body due to chip failure, etc... All these could very well be the fault of the buyer as you say.

One clear example of this is a sale I did on eBay many many years back that I like to use as an anecdote. The buyer met me and walked off happy with an old watch that I didn't want any more. 2 hours later he called claiming that the watch had ran out of battery (I replaced it just 2-3 months ago and it was a decent battery brand). Being new to all these things then I entertained him and took back the watch, replaced the battery, and sold it to another happy buyer later on (at a higher price too, since it was done auction style). Up till now I still have not been able to figure out what he did - perhaps he just held the EL light for 2 whole hours (is it even possible to run down the battery that way?). :bsmilie:

 

[Errz]

as a seller, it does not do me any good. I rather send in the camera/lens/flash for checking b4 selling than giving personal warranty. yes it might be troublesome, but at least i got myself covered.

who know what the buyer do to the camera even for 1 day.

 

[azurebluee]

as a seller, it does not do me any good. I rather send in the camera/lens/flash for checking b4 selling than giving personal warranty. yes it might be troublesome, but at least i got myself covered.

who know what the buyer do to the camera even for 1 day.

I concur with your last statement. With so many dealers masquerading as buyers, a poor seller offering a 3 days personal warranty may just meet a dealer who is skilled enough to swap parts of the lens or body with his/her own spoilt copy and claim the one that was bought is now faulty.

Then it becomes a question of what is the recourse the seller after the sale has taken place...which is nothing unfortunately because a 'faulty' product was transacted.

 

[daredevil123]

I concur with your last statement. With so many dealers masquerading as buyers, a poor seller offering a 3 days personal warranty may just meet a dealer who is skilled enough to swap parts of the lens or body with his/her own spoilt copy and claim the one that was bought is now faulty.

Then it becomes a question of what is the recourse the seller after the sale has taken place...which is nothing unfortunately because a 'faulty' product was transacted.

There is no recourse. That is why "BUYER BEWARE" as we say it all the time.

Take your time to check thoroughly and you can reduce the risks of having problems later. If cannot take any risk, buy new.