SittingElf said:
What you are referring to is 15 USC 2302(c). To wit:
(c) Prohibition on conditions for written or implied warranty; waiver by Commission
No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the Commission if—
(1) the warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and
(2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.
The Commission shall identify in the Federal Register, and permit public comment on, all applications for waiver of the prohibition of this subsection, and shall publish in the Federal Register its disposition of any such application, including the reasons therefor.
I'm sure Festool is aware of this Act, and from reading much of the whole Act, I think they have outs for damage CAUSED by non-Festool components.
Classic example is the early Dust Deputy that was killing CT circuit boards when operated on Festools Dust Collectors.
Nonetheless, there IS the Act, and Festool must abide by the code...and if exceptions are made, they must have been approved by the FTC.
Cheers,
Frank
Here in Canada warranties are handled much the same as the magnussen moss antitrust act in the USA.
As a form of consumer protection for Canadians the Competition Act is designed so that OEM manufacturers cannot claim a monopoly and bind consumers to only buy from them. These are better known as ‘anti-consumer’ practices and are very openly proclaimed as being illegal in the Competition Act and the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act.
Here’s an example from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) better explaining what the law in the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act states:
“Generally, tie-in sales provisions are not allowed. Such a provision would require a purchaser of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product in order to be eligible to receive a remedy under the warranty. The following are examples of prohibited tie-in sales provisions.
For example; Quote
“In order to keep your new Plenum Brand Vacuum Cleaner warranty in effect, you must use genuine Plenum Brand Filter Bags. Failure to have scheduled maintenance performed, at your expense, by the Great American Maintenance Company, Inc., voids this warranty.”
This above law can be used in many different situations like getting your home appliances serviced by third-party service providers, and still keeping the warranty valid.
In the case of ink or toner cartridges, using remanufactured ink or toner is legally NOT going to void your warranty unless the OEM manufacturer is ready to take action to prove that the remanufactured ink or toner cartridge caused the printer or copier to fail, and in most cases this is highly unlikely." End quote.
Kind of like Ford insisting that their warranty is void because you used a Fram oil filter instead of the Ford branded filter. Simply doesn't happen and nor should it in this case.
So in keeping with this thread about "how many of us use non-Festool blades?" And vis-a-vis Festool stating unilaterally that use of non-festool will void the warranty is patently counter to the legislation in BOTH Canada and the U.S. The onus is on Festool to PROVE that the non-festool consumable in this case was responsible for or caused the tool failure, period.
