Jaycar's new Lifetime Warranty on meters

[David L. Jones]

Just got the new 2008 Jaycar catalog, looks really good, and bigger
and better than usual - nice work.

One thing that caught me eye was that Jaycar are now offering a
"Lifetime Guarantee" on ALL multimeters, clamp, and other meters over
$20!
That really is quite remarkable.
I can understand it for their higher quality higher priced
instruments, like the new Protek 608 and IDEAL meter, but to have it
on the real cheapies is amazing.

Unless the cheapies have improved in build quality since I inspected
many of them several years back now, I'd expect a lot of customers to
be making good use of the warranty. At a previous company we had
almost a 100% failure rate on the Digitech meters we got, and it was
quite a few.

Also, in the editorial there is a little bit of reminiscing about the
store and its early competition, and how they have now moved into
their new warehouse at Rydalmere.

Dave.

 

[GB]

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in news:5926c8c9-06a2-4bdf-b6b7-
47e0bc0c20d0@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

One thing that caught me eye was that Jaycar are now offering a
"Lifetime Guarantee" on ALL multimeters, clamp, and other meters over
$20!
That really is quite remarkable.

No it's not! It's no different to Seagate upping the warranty
on hard disks from the 'industry standard' three years to a
'whopping' five years. The bean counters sat down and figured
out that the number of people will buy the Seagate product 'cos
it has 2 years extra warranty far outweighs the number of people
who will return a 4-5yo HDD for a warranty claim and signed off
on the longer warranty.

Simple!


GB
--
..sig

 

[David L. Jones]

On Mar 27, 8:11 pm, GB <gb0...@kickindanuts.threefiddy.com> wrote:

"David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com> wrote in news:5926c8c9-06a2-4bdf-b6b7-
47e0bc0c2...@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

One thing that caught me eye was that Jaycar are now offering a
"Lifetime Guarantee" on ALL multimeters, clamp, and other meters over
$20!
That really is quite remarkable.

No it's not!

Yes it is.
Name anyone else who gives a "lifetime warranty" on a $20 piece of
test gear.

It's no different to Seagate upping the warranty
on hard disks from the 'industry standard' three years to a
'whopping' five years. The bean counters sat down and figured
out that the number of people will buy the Seagate product 'cos
it has 2 years extra warranty far outweighs the number of people
who will return a 4-5yo HDD for a warranty claim and signed off
on the longer warranty.

Simple!

Yes, the bean counter reasoning may be similar, but that's where the
similarity ends.
"Lifetime" is a lot different than 5 years.
Test gear is a lot different than a consumer hard drive.
People upgrade their computers every few years on average anyway, and
generally use failure as an excuse to upgrade. That's why very few
people would be bothered to return hard drives under warranty.
But people keep multimeters for a LOT longer, and it's much easier to
take the Jaycar multimeter back to any one of the 50 stores and demand
a replacement when it dies or goes out of spec. And in my experience
the Jaycar cheapies die with monotonous regularity.

I wonder if the same model meters purchased pre the new catalog are
covered?

Dave.

 

[rebel]

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:58:04 -0700 (PDT), "David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com>
wrote:

(snip)

I wonder if the same model meters purchased pre the new catalog are
covered?

If they don't demand proof of purchase (date) then they will be ;-)

Also consider the scenario where an item is out of warranty and it fails. Go
buy another, then present the failed one for replacement or (better still)
refund. Heard of that being done, never tried it myself.

 

[GB]

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in news:4c80749e-cea2-4931-be78-
8b563efbc098@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

Yes it is.
[long diatribe snipped]

Fuckin' 'ell, that one sailed right over your head, didn't it.


GB
--
..sig

 

[Alan Rutlidge]

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4c80749e-cea2-4931-be78-8b563efbc098@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

On Mar 27, 8:11 pm, GB <gb0...@kickindanuts.threefiddy.com> wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:5926c8c9-06a2-4bdf-b6b7-
47e0bc0c2...@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

But people keep multimeters for a LOT longer, and it's much easier to
take the Jaycar multimeter back to any one of the 50 stores and demand
a replacement when it dies or goes out of spec. And in my experience
the Jaycar cheapies die with monotonous regularity.

I wonder if the same model meters purchased pre the new catalog are
covered?

Dave.

AFAIK this Jaycar "lifetime" warranty on multimeters has been around for
more than a year.
I'm sure if you do a Google Groups search in this NG the topic has been
previously discussed.

Cheers,
Alan

 

[David L. Jones]

On Mar 29, 12:38 pm, "Alan Rutlidge"
<don't_spam_me_rutli...@iinet.net.au> wrote:

"David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com> wrote in messagenews:4c80749e-cea2-4931-be78-8b563efbc098@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

On Mar 27, 8:11 pm, GB <gb0...@kickindanuts.threefiddy.com> wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:5926c8c9-06a2-4bdf-b6b7-
47e0bc0c2...@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

But people keep multimeters for a LOT longer, and it's much easier to
take the Jaycar multimeter back to any one of the 50 stores and demand
a replacement when it dies or goes out of spec. And in my experience
the Jaycar cheapies die with monotonous regularity.

I wonder if the same model meters purchased pre the new catalog are
covered?

Dave.

AFAIK this Jaycar "lifetime" warranty on multimeters has been around for
more than a year.

Didn't know that.
Last years catalog shows either 1 or 2 years on all the cheapies. Only
the IDEAL had the lifetime warranty.

Dave.

 

[David L. Jones]

On Mar 29, 10:22 am, GB <gb0...@kickindanuts.threefiddy.com> wrote:

"David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com> wrote in news:4c80749e-cea2-4931-be78-
8b563efbc...@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:> Yes it is.

[long diatribe snipped]

[rubbish snipped]

Still waiting for you to name anyone else who gives a "lifetime
warranty" on a $20 piece of
test gear.

Dave.

 

[Ross Herbert]

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:50:08 -0700 (PDT), "David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com>
wrote:

:Just got the new 2008 Jaycar catalog, looks really good, and bigger
:and better than usual - nice work.
:
:One thing that caught me eye was that Jaycar are now offering a
:"Lifetime Guarantee" on ALL multimeters, clamp, and other meters over
:$20!
:That really is quite remarkable.
:I can understand it for their higher quality higher priced
:instruments, like the new Protek 608 and IDEAL meter, but to have it
n the real cheapies is amazing.
:
:Unless the cheapies have improved in build quality since I inspected
:many of them several years back now, I'd expect a lot of customers to
:be making good use of the warranty. At a previous company we had
:almost a 100% failure rate on the Digitech meters we got, and it was
:quite a few.
:
:Also, in the editorial there is a little bit of reminiscing about the
:store and its early competition, and how they have now moved into
:their new warehouse at Rydalmere.
:
ave.


Don't get sucked into believing everything you read. Just because it says
"lifetime", doesn't mean a thing. Looking at it practically the item could fail
10 minutes after purchase, therefore it's "lifetime" was 10 minutes, and no
doubt it would be replaced or refunded. On the other hand if it failed 5 years
after purchase I would bet my last $ that the item would not be replaced or
refunded, even if you did still have the receipt. Over that period the store
probably would no longer carry the same item so they wouldn't replace it and the
pro-rata value would be zero anyway. You could try to threaten legal action but
what would be the point over a $20 item....

Anyway, consumer protection laws only say that a product must give fair and
reasonable service, so 5 years would be regarded in this manner for low cost
items and you wouldn't get any backup from them.

 

[David L. Jones]

On Mar 30, 1:18 pm, Ross Herbert <rherb...@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:50:08 -0700 (PDT), "David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com
wrote:

:Just got the new 2008 Jaycar catalog, looks really good, and bigger
:and better than usual - nice work.
:
:One thing that caught me eye was that Jaycar are now offering a
:"Lifetime Guarantee" on ALL multimeters, clamp, and other meters over
:$20!
:That really is quite remarkable.
:I can understand it for their higher quality higher priced
:instruments, like the new Protek 608 and IDEAL meter, but to have it
n the real cheapies is amazing.
:
:Unless the cheapies have improved in build quality since I inspected
:many of them several years back now, I'd expect a lot of customers to
:be making good use of the warranty. At a previous company we had
:almost a 100% failure rate on the Digitech meters we got, and it was
:quite a few.
:
:Also, in the editorial there is a little bit of reminiscing about the
:store and its early competition, and how they have now moved into
:their new warehouse at Rydalmere.
:
ave.

Don't get sucked into believing everything you read. Just because it says
"lifetime", doesn't mean a thing. Looking at it practically the item could fail
10 minutes after purchase, therefore it's "lifetime" was 10 minutes, and no
doubt it would be replaced or refunded. On the other hand if it failed 5 years
after purchase I would bet my last $ that the item would not be replaced or
refunded, even if you did still have the receipt. Over that period the store
probably would no longer carry the same item so they wouldn't replace it and the
pro-rata value would be zero anyway. You could try to threaten legal action but
what would be the point over a $20 item....

They address this in the "conditions"
"If that meter is not part of the product range in future we will at
our option replace the meter with one of similar or superior
performance."
and
"basically a guarantee that if the instrument fails for any reason
during the course of normal use because of faulty material or
workmanship, we will replace that meter."

There are no real legalese "terms and conditions" in the catalog,
although they allude to them.

Not that I plan on ever buying one. I know the (lack of) quality of
the cheap Jaycar meters.

Dave.

 

[Ross Herbert]

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:25:52 -0700 (PDT), "David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com>
wrote:

:On Mar 30, 1:18 pm, Ross Herbert <rherb...@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
:> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:50:08 -0700 (PDT), "David L. Jones"
<altz...@gmail.com>
:> wrote:
:>
:> :Just got the new 2008 Jaycar catalog, looks really good, and bigger
:> :and better than usual - nice work.
:> :
:> :One thing that caught me eye was that Jaycar are now offering a
:> :"Lifetime Guarantee" on ALL multimeters, clamp, and other meters over
:> :$20!
:> :That really is quite remarkable.
:> :I can understand it for their higher quality higher priced
:> :instruments, like the new Protek 608 and IDEAL meter, but to have it
:> n the real cheapies is amazing.
:> :
:> :Unless the cheapies have improved in build quality since I inspected
:> :many of them several years back now, I'd expect a lot of customers to
:> :be making good use of the warranty. At a previous company we had
:> :almost a 100% failure rate on the Digitech meters we got, and it was
:> :quite a few.
:> :
:> :Also, in the editorial there is a little bit of reminiscing about the
:> :store and its early competition, and how they have now moved into
:> :their new warehouse at Rydalmere.
:> :
:> ave.
:>
:> Don't get sucked into believing everything you read. Just because it says
:> "lifetime", doesn't mean a thing. Looking at it practically the item could
fail
:> 10 minutes after purchase, therefore it's "lifetime" was 10 minutes, and no
:> doubt it would be replaced or refunded. On the other hand if it failed 5
years
:> after purchase I would bet my last $ that the item would not be replaced or
:> refunded, even if you did still have the receipt. Over that period the store
:> probably would no longer carry the same item so they wouldn't replace it and
the
:> pro-rata value would be zero anyway. You could try to threaten legal action
but
:> what would be the point over a $20 item....
:
:They address this in the "conditions"
:"If that meter is not part of the product range in future we will at
ur option replace the meter with one of similar or superior
erformance."

I guess I am just a little cynical... I have had cause to argue a case many
years ago in the Small Claims Tribunal. I did win, but overall the experience
was not all that satisfactory because of all the time wasting procedures
involved and the necessity to appear before the tribunal. It ended up costing me
more than the claim.

Jaycar's terms sound like they are well intentioned but the devil may well be in
the "at our option" bit - it depends upon an executive decision. But I dare say
they would cop a lot of bad publicity if they didn't honour the condition, so it
is better than a lot of other company's which don't have such terms.

:and
:"basically a guarantee that if the instrument fails for any reason
:during the course of normal use because of faulty material or
:workmanship, we will replace that meter."

There are no ifs, buts or maybe's in the unequivocal statement "we will replace
the meter". However, in the case where an internal component fails there could
be an argument as to whether it was due to "abnormal" use.

:
:There are no real legalese "terms and conditions" in the catalog,
:although they allude to them.

All in all, Jaycar do appear to be trying to show loyalty to their customers by
providing such terms and conditions regarding products they sell so I guess it
will be a matter of testing them out to see how honourable they are.

:
:Not that I plan on ever buying one. I know the (lack of) quality of
:the cheap Jaycar meters.
:
ave.