IT resellers: Who protects them when the warranty runs out?

CRN's recent spate of articles looking at how things can go wrong when an IT reseller gets dumped with the warranty issues of an overseas manufacturer has opened up a can of worms.

Although the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has recently announced its decision to review warranties and refunds - to guide consumers and business - resellers have told CRN, it's not enough.

Nikol Su, owner of EYO Technologies believes there are two areas the ACCC needs to pay more attention to when it comes to future policies making and interpreting the Trade Practices Act (TPA).

According to Su, the governing body needs to; distinguish further the responsibilities for warranty obligation between the retailers and the manufacturers; and offer clearer explanations about the Trade Act.

"Based on the publications that ACCC provides regarding warranty claims, it is in my view that most of them are there to protect the consumers," said Su.

"There is perhaps very little to address the responsibilities of the warranty obligation in practice for the manufacturers.

"There is also very little or none in relation to the retailers' rights."

Su said it was important for the ACCC to lay out more examples in layman's terms in its publications.

"Due to the popularisation of the Internet, there are more and more consumers reading through the ACCC publications nowadays," he said.

"The publications usually cause more confusion than anything else.

"There are all sorts of wrong 'legal advice' provided by the fellow consumers on the Net, which leads to a lot of consumers quoting the statutory warranty rights incorrectly."

He said this coupled with manufacturer voluntary warrant conditions, caused confusion for customers and unnecessary friction between them and retailers.

A CRN reader - who wished to remain anonymous and qualified by CRN - said, statutory rights take precedence over voluntary warranty and cannot be waived.

"A purchaser has the right to return a product that doesn't meet the statutory requirements to the place of purchase be it a retailer, importer or distributor," he said.

Frank Clay, manager at Tacitco Solutions, told CRN, one of the problems for the IT industry was the grey area of problems that aren't warranty, such as; setup conflicts; virus; spyware; or user error.

"These days the name brand manufacturer is often the best for the telephone support/warranty rather than the retail store that sold the product," he said.

"So I don't have too much problem with the end user being directed to HP or IBM.

"However the retailer needs to point out that this is done in the client's best interest otherwise it looks like they aren't interested.

"I have had good experiences with many name brand manufacturers shipping me parts to install after we have identified the faulty item. "

Clay said with IT products - it is not just having a warranty and getting the replacement it is the timeliness and respect for your data and use of the equipment that matters.