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A while back I broke the screen of my kindle while traveling. Not only was I surprised that Amazon covered this under the warranty, but the service I received w

by nfg 14y ago

A while back I broke the screen of my kindle while traveling. Not only was I surprised that Amazon covered this under the warranty, but the service I received was really fantastic. The Kindle had originally been shipped to Ireland (where I live), but I was in India when it was broken. I phoned Amazon and they had a replacement shipped to Kathmandu (the next stop on my itinerary with dates certain enough that I was happy to have something shipped there). It was shipped fine and they reimbursed the cost of shipping back the broken unit (I sent a scan of the distinctly dodgy receipt issued by a Kathmandu shipping agent) and they also paid me back the import charge that Nepalese customs levied on the "new" Kindle. All told I was blown away by the quality of the service given the funniness of what I was asking them to do (shipping to random locations etc).

Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
You hear a lot of stuff like this, though it makes sense - keep the happy user's Kindle working, they keep buying books.
nagrom 14y ago
Allow me to counter your anecdote. My 18-month-old Kindle Keyboard screen broke last month, while I was travelling in Russia. It hadn't been impacted or scratched, it just started to become unresponsive on about 40% of the surface and failed. I got offered 10% off a new kindle basic or kindle touch once I got home, despite the customer service rep admitting that a kindle should last longer than only 18 months. I'm so annoyed about this that I am seriously considering buying a competitor's replacement instead.
- Kadin 14y ago
  Well, it was out of warranty. It's unfortunate that 1-year warranties have become the norm, but that seems to be the key difference between your anecdote and the parent's. They'll do a fair bit to help you while a device is in-warranty, but as soon as it's out, you're basically on your own. If you use a Kindle heavily, and it's starting to behave at all flakily as you get towards the end of the warranty period, it's worth calling up Customer Service and pushing them hard for a replacement before it runs out. (I have a friend who writes the warranty-expiration dates in Sharpie on the back of his electronics when he buys them. I thought this was a fairly decent, if dorky, little lifehack. I don't bother but that's just because I buy most of my stuff used.)
  - nagrom 14y ago
    In the UK, regardless of manufacturer's warranty, the manufacturer is bound to replace the device if it begins to fail within a reasonable time period due to manufacturing defects. For electronics, this is generally accepted as being 5 years. This clause is one of those cited by electronics firms for the 'treasure island' tax applied to things sold in the UK. Of course, it requires that you spend a whole bunch of time writing letters and threatening legal action. Frankly, for the sake of £150, I'd rather just stop buying things from Amazon; it'll do me good to explore other ecosystems, I guess.

by nfg 14y ago

Tyrannosaurs 14y ago

You hear a lot of stuff like this, though it makes sense - keep the happy user's Kindle working, they keep buying books.

nagrom 14y ago

Allow me to counter your anecdote. My 18-month-old Kindle Keyboard screen broke last month, while I was travelling in Russia. It hadn't been impacted or scratched, it just started to become unresponsive on about 40% of the surface and failed. I got offered 10% off a new kindle basic or kindle touch once I got home, despite the customer service rep admitting that a kindle should last longer than only 18 months. I'm so annoyed about this that I am seriously considering buying a competitor's replacement instead.

Kadin 14y ago
Well, it was out of warranty. It's unfortunate that 1-year warranties have become the norm, but that seems to be the key difference between your anecdote and the parent's. They'll do a fair bit to help you while a device is in-warranty, but as soon as it's out, you're basically on your own. If you use a Kindle heavily, and it's starting to behave at all flakily as you get towards the end of the warranty period, it's worth calling up Customer Service and pushing them hard for a replacement before it runs out. (I have a friend who writes the warranty-expiration dates in Sharpie on the back of his electronics when he buys them. I thought this was a fairly decent, if dorky, little lifehack. I don't bother but that's just because I buy most of my stuff used.)
- nagrom 14y ago
  In the UK, regardless of manufacturer's warranty, the manufacturer is bound to replace the device if it begins to fail within a reasonable time period due to manufacturing defects. For electronics, this is generally accepted as being 5 years. This clause is one of those cited by electronics firms for the 'treasure island' tax applied to things sold in the UK. Of course, it requires that you spend a whole bunch of time writing letters and threatening legal action. Frankly, for the sake of £150, I'd rather just stop buying things from Amazon; it'll do me good to explore other ecosystems, I guess.