Three well-known gaming PC hardware companies are being targeted by the US Federal Trade Commission, which claims they could be in violation of the country"s warranty rules.
In a press release today, the FTC revealed it has sent formal letters of warning to ASRock, Zotac, and Gigabyte. While each warning letter is unique for each company, all three of them are being asked not to place stickers on their products that have messages similar to "warranty void if removed”. If they do, they could violate the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA) which regulates how companies set up their written warranty messages and policies.
For example, the FTC letter sent to ASRock says the agency has concerns about its written warranty, which says:
Manufacturer"s warranty will be null and void if products are modified, damaged or otherwise tampered with, for example, the outer case is opened or additional optional parts/components are installed/removed.
The letter sent to Zotac USA says the company"s published warranty includes the following:
Warranty claims will be void if the user: … [t]ampers, defaces, or removes any stickers indicating void warranty if broken.
Finally, the letter the FTC sent to Gigabyte says the company use the following sticker:
If the manufacturing sticker inside the product was removed or damaged, it would no longer be covered by the warranty.
The letters state that these kinds of stickers could keep consumers from making routine maintenance or repairs on the products made by these companies. The press release added:
FTC staff has urged each company to review its promotional and warranty materials to ensure that such materials do not state or imply that warranty coverage is conditioned on the use of specific parts or services.
The press release states that in 30 days the FTC will make another review of the websites of ASRock, Zotac, and Gigabyte to see if they have made changes to their warranty policies. If they have not, the FTC could begin legal proceedings against them.