{"id":18749,"date":"2013-06-05T08:45:51","date_gmt":"2013-06-05T13:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=18749"},"modified":"2014-05-22T13:24:58","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T18:24:58","slug":"scare-tactics-aside-upgrades-do-not-void-your-warranty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/18749-scare-tactics-aside-upgrades-do-not-void-your-warranty\/","title":{"rendered":"Scare Tactics Aside – Upgrades Do Not Void Your Warranty"},"content":{"rendered":"

From time to time, we at OWC hear from a customer who has been told by a service provider that one of our upgrades voids their machine\u2019s warranty. As we have covered the past<\/a>, this is simply incorrect. But this doesn\u2019t just apply to those in the United States. Countries around the world also have laws in place to protect consumers who make upgrades to their machines.<\/p>\n

In fact, a customer in Australia who upgraded with OWC contacted us recently after he was refused warranty service by a technician. The technician claimed while replacing his machine\u2019s fan that the customer\u2019s OWC Data Doubler<\/a> voided his warranty. The technician noted that should his motherboard fail, his warranty would be voided because of the Data Doubler. But after some intrepid persistence, a more senior employee later notified the customer that the technician was \u201cabsolutely and positively incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately scare tactics and misinformation like this are occasionally used so a manufacturer can refuse to make repairs to a part covered by the warranty simply because an entirely separate part has been upgraded by the user. But as seen above, staying informed is the best weapon against these tactics.<\/p>\n

Common upgrades such as memory<\/a>, hard drives<\/a>, SSD\/flash drives<\/a> and optical drives<\/a> install into existing locations in a machine without modification to the system, and their presence does not cause harm to the machine. And simply installing them does NOT void your warranty.<\/p>\n

Like the United States, which has specific consumer protections<\/a>, most other countries offer protection that users should be aware of. And while sometimes there is posturing by a service representative, it\u2019s in the interest of both the manufacturer and customer that the warranty be honored with fairness to the customer. Here are some examples of other countries with such laws in place:<\/p>\n