Remember that scene in The Big Bang Theory where the gang wants to upgrade the hard drive in their DVR, but Sheldon is hesitant because it’ll void the warranty? I hate to say it (actually, I’d love to say it), but that is complete malarkey.
Despite the show’s insistence that “This little orange sticker is all that stands between us and anarchy,” those little orange stickers are unenforceable and completely illegal thanks to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975. This law forbids companies from voiding the warranty on a device that the owner opened up and repaired or modified themselves. As long as a repair or modification doesn’t damage other components, companies have no grounds to void your warranty, even if you break the sticker seal.
The FTC has recently taken action against a handful of large companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo—all three of which have since updated their warranty policies. That just scratches the surface, though, and there are still millions of devices out in the wild that have these stickers attached, scaring owners out of fixing their own stuff. Luckily, the FTC is still on the case, hosting a workshop later this year, which will focus on how manufacturers are keeping device owners out of their own stuff and limiting repair options.
But for now, we still have to deal with these stickers on newer and older devices alike. Last year, we ran a couple of campaigns asking our community of fixers to take pictures of these warranty-voiding stickers on their own devices. And oh boy, there were more stickers than a middle schooler’s Trapper Keeper.
The Big Tech Companies That Use These Stickers
Crucial
@iFixit Guess what I just found? 🙂 #VoidIfRemoved #RightToRepair pic.twitter.com/YmHAWwWnAx
— Walter Galan (@mr2incredible) October 18, 2018
Samsung
View this post on Instagram
I like my “Warranty Void Stickers” crispy. How about you @ifixit ? #voidifremoved
PNY
View this post on Instagram
Asus
Asus hopped on the #voidifremoved train with their DRW-24B1ST-N28 optical drive. pic.twitter.com/LTHLAGKhfu
— wyatt johnson (@wyattsandroid) May 18, 2018
Don’t turn it on; “void” the warranty first! #VoidIfRemoved pic.twitter.com/ze7puW44H4
— yakkoj ? (@yakkoj) May 20, 2018
MSI
I know the #VoidIfRemoved contest is done, but I kinda void warranties for fun, might as well start publishing some.
This here is an MSI GT73VR-7RE-Titan “Laptop” and one brittle bugger to scrape off later on… pic.twitter.com/v6PcZzNl03— Gennadi (@XXGcKiFjob) October 15, 2018
AMD
Kingston
Acer
#voidifremoved As you can see, Acer Aspire V3 It wasn’t bought from US, but I wanted to shame them for sticking stickers on their products in other countries. pic.twitter.com/NXNAAnI41f
— Ali Devrim Oğuz (@adonizer_rocks) May 10, 2018
@iFixit @motherboard from my @Acer Swift 3 SF315-41 #voidifremoved pic.twitter.com/DLsMsipaeQ
— Rino Adi Pratama (@rinzimpulse) May 3, 2018
We’re positive there are more companies out there that tack these stickers onto their products. So if you have a device around your house—or see one out in the wild—that uses a warranty-voiding sticker, let us know by tagging us (@iFixit) on Twitter or Instagram and using the hashtag #voidifremoved. Also: hearings are coming up in the next few weeks in California and Oregon, and we’re expecting a floor vote on the Minnesota bill. Call your legislator and tell them you support right to repair!
4 Comments
I’ve mentioned it in other comments, but it does get a bit tricky with warranty stickers on products that are resold and the warranty is provided by the seller and not the manufacturer. So if I buy a Samsung or Nanya memory module that’s sold by iFixit or OWC, the sticker is supposed to show who was the seller and who provided the warranty. On top of that, they often just churn out a lot of these for all sorts of customers, including OEMs, resellers, and internal customers. When Apple receives or sells a memory module, it somehow comes with Apple’s warranty even without any means to identify it as a part that was directly or indirectly sold by Apple (I guess a receipt is the proof). If it’s sold by iFixit, the sticker is supposed to be the proof. And sometimes these companies sell modules to the public where they add a warranty sticker to indicate that it’s a retail module.
Y YPW - Reply
I was sad to see my EK 280mm AIO have one of these stickers. I emailed and reached out, linked to this article.
Ross Fisher - Reply
Asrock actually voided my warranty on a graphics card based on those stickers. “It is our policy.” “Your policy doesn’t trump Laws.” “It’s our policy.”
https://www.yelp.com/biz/asrock-america-...
newsance80920 - Reply
is this the same in canada too
Nevin - Reply