Warranty

[Matt Setnes]

Looking through the threads today I came upon talk of the warranty. I never looked into this until now but why is the warranty only good for the original purchaser? It's usually standard for a 1 year warranty on equipment but being limited to only one person?

This bothers me because I thought that if things didn't go well, given the area I'm located, I may be able to sell the camera (equal to or less than purchase price) so the cost of the purchase wouldn't take a toll on me. Having a non-transferable warranty is only cutting my chances of a possible safe route am I right?

[Rocco Schult]

Looking through the threads today I came upon talk of the warranty. I never looked into this until now but why is the warranty only good for the original purchaser? It's usually standard for a 1 year warranty on equipment but being limited to only one person?

This bothers me because I thought that if things didn't go well, given the area I'm located, I may be able to sell the camera (equal to or less than purchase price) so the cost of the purchase wouldn't take a toll on me. Having a non-transferable warranty is only cutting my chances of a possible safe route am I right?

I think your warranty is divided in 2 parts: original manufacturers guarantee and official guarantee by law (or so, don't know how to say it..)
The first 3 months I guess (in the US) can't be withdrawn by RED. If you sell the cam they should be obliged to do repair ... or so.
But after that its upon vendor to rule the conditions...

[jbeale]

In the US there is something called the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, but it applies to consumer products only and of course, Red is sold for professional use. Maybe there's some different law that applies, though (?)

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.shtm#Magnuson-Moss
[...] the Act does not apply to warranties on products sold for resale or for commercial purposes. The Act covers only warranties on consumer products.

I think there are various federal laws that protect consumers from bad business practices or even from their own ignorance. But when you are talking about business-to-business transactions with "professional use only" items there is less protection by default. So you need to do your own due diligence, research and understand an offer with the terms and conditions, the risks, benefits, & costs (eg. all the basic business stuff.)

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Looking through the threads today I came upon talk of the warranty. I never looked into this until now but why is the warranty only good for the original purchaser? It's usually standard for a 1 year warranty on equipment but being limited to only one person?

I saw that someone threw that out there... However, I have not seen anything confirming that from RED or one of the current owners. So I think we're just guessing and I wonder if RED has even finalized their warranty policy.

It would be nice to get some clarification on the matter. I'm thinking that it would be nice to have two REDs and there's a good chance my second one will be picked up as used...

[Evan Owen]

I saw that someone threw that out there... However, I have not seen anything confirming that from RED or one of the current owners. So I think we're just guessing and I wonder if RED has even finalized their warranty policy.
...


Hasn't RED already confirmed the warranty policy on their website? It seems pretty final to me...

http://www.red.com/terms (paragraph 5)

[Steve Sherrick]

5c. Refurbished Product Warranty – Product that is not possessed by the original Buyer may be sent to an Authorized Red Service Center for an evaluation fee of $500. Red will provide a quotation for the refurbishment of the product to existing Red product specifications at time of repair. The Customer is responsible for all costs associated with such refurbishment, such as troubleshooting, diagnosis, repair, test, calibration, and shipping costs. Upon completion of refurbishment, customer may be offered a Refurbished Product Warranty for an additional cost.

“Customer” is defined as an entity who obtained Red product by other means than directly from Red.

A Refurbished Product Warranty is valid for a period of six (6) months for the camera and camera accessories after the warranty is accepted by the Customer. Refurbished

[Matt Setnes]

That pretty much clarifies it right there. I'm not happy at all right now. I'll just have to deal with it and hope for the best. Thanks

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hasn't RED already confirmed the warranty policy on their website? It seems pretty final to me...

http://www.red.com/terms (paragraph 5)

Ah... I hadn't noticed that! It must have popped up there in one of the last couple RED.COM updates since they started shipping cameras. Yep, I guess that does clarify it. :)

[Mark B.]

I just read about the warranty thing today, and have come up with a solution. It's not very convenient, but if the warranty is really important to the sale then you could approach it like this... when you sell the camera, don't just sell it outright. Instead, rent it for a 12-month rental period, to be prepaid up front, for whatever price you want to get for the camera. The rental period is written to be rent-to-own (common in industries such as musical instrument sales), and at the end of the rental period the owner will have rented it enough to own the camera. Because ownership won't transfer until the end of the year-long rental, any problems with the camera are covered by the original warranty because the camera is still in your name. The annoyance of it is that the buyer has to contact you for approval before sending the camera in for repairs and whatnot.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Yeah, that's pretty much the deal Lowkus...

To preserve warranty, any purchase would be best handled as a lease with buyout option. Makes sense to me. From a buyer's point of view, I wouldn't want to pre-pay up front for that and walk away with the camera... I'd prefer to keep paying the monthly installments so it keeps the seller on the hook for assistance with warranty support if needed.

[Mark B.]

Yeah, that's pretty much the deal Lowkus...

To preserve warranty, any purchase would be best handled as a lease with buyout option. Makes sense to me. From a buyer's point of view, I wouldn't want to pre-pay up front for that and walk away with the camera... I'd prefer to keep paying the monthly installments so it keeps the seller on the hook for assistance with warranty support if needed.

If you take monthly installments, the buyer could offer a high price, but then simply rent it for a month or two at a twelfth of the agreed price. That month of rental is going to be lower than a standard one-month rental cost because of the way the math works out. So they might use it and abuse it, then return the camera to you without paying for the rest of the year. The result is you're left with a camera in used condition, nowhere near fully paid for, and the market demand may have dropped by that time. It's best to get the full amount up front.