[s-cars] [Es2] Do I want an Optima?

[Brett Dikeman]

On Sep 27, 2006, at 6:59 AM, Stephen wrote:

> ---------- I believe that the Odessey Battery comes with a 3yr  
> warrantee .

I find warranties to be laughably worthless.  I suspected my Optima  
was not up to snuff and tried to take it back to Auto Zone.  The  
counter jockey asked for my phone number; I gave it, my cell, every  
phone number I could think of- the system didn't have any record of  
me. They refused to accept the battery back, claiming they hadn't  
sold it or it wasn't under warranty.

A call to Optima, and they used the stickers on the battery to verify  
that a)it had been sold through Autozone and b)it had been  
manufactured on thus-and-such day, month, and year- and it was  
impossible for it to be out of warranty.  "Take it back to Autozone,  
have them call us if they don't believe you."

Took the battery back to Auto Zone, told them what Optima told me.   
"Sorry, you're not in the system, I can't accept it back."  "Optima  
says the battery was resold by Auto Zone and manufactured on a date  
that means it couldn't possibly be out of warranty.  Here's their  
phone number."  "Yeah, I don't care."

I tried Sears, which refused to discuss it soon as they found out  
they hadn't sold me the battery.

Called Optima back, and was informed that if I wished to have it  
warranted by Optima, I'd have to PAY to have an Optima dealer test  
it, then PAY to ship it to Optima, where THEY would test it, and then  
DECIDE if they would honor the warrantee.  I think shipping from  
Optima via freight might have been included.

The only company I've had more warranty-honoring problems with is  
Apple.  One of many problems I've had with them: several years ago on  
a $3000 laptop, they refused to replace a $5-10piece of the power  
adapter that had broken.  "It's not covered by the warranty."  "Sure  
is.  Here's the warranty, and it says nothing about not covering any  
specific parts."  "It's not covered by the warranty."  "Tell me where  
it says that."  "It's not covered by the warranty."

Megan (former lister who I chatted with occasionally) bought an iBook  
and tried to return it within the 7-day return policy.  The policy on  
the Apple Store website at the time said "7 days after receipt", and  
it typically takes at least 3-4 days, since Apple ships direct from  
Asia.  Well, guess what?  Apple Store employees claimed it was "7  
days after leaving our warehouse", and when she called 9 days after  
it shipped, they told her to go fish even after she read the policy  
right off the Apple Store website and gave the "customer care" rep  
the URL.

The list goes on, including a Powerbook 1400 I had in college that  
was shipped back to Apple THREE times under warranty for crashing  
randomly and failing to wake up from sleep mode; each time they  
claimed they "tested" it, found nothing wrong, and shipped it right  
back, despite each time my including a lengthy report of how to  
reproduce the crash.  During its third stay with Apple, the situation  
ended with an Apple "customer advocate"(think ombudsman type of deal)  
screaming at me.  At least it was under warranty- had it not, I would  
have had to pay to ship both ways

Apple's not the only big name; my father has owned Sony VAIO laptops  
almost exclusively for a decade; I think he's had at least 4.  I  
think he's insane as they're plasticky, huge bricks- but he loves  
them, and they seem to hold up decently.  His latest developed a  
screen flicker under warranty; he got an RMA number while under  
warranty, but shipped it weeks later (after the warranty ended but  
the RMA was supposedly still valid) and Sony promptly sent him an  
estimate for a $700 repair (complete laptop LCDs can be had on ebay  
for well under $400 for most laptops, even the highest resolution  
ones.)  Despite numerous escalations, Sony has refused to do the very  
simple repair.

Own anything Nikon?  I hope it came with a USA warranty card, or  
you're screwed.  Hope you bought it from an "authorized" Nikon  
dealer, or you're similarly screwed; the warranty isn't transferrable  
AND you need proof of purchase from an "authorized" dealer to get  
warranty service.  Want to check if that Nikon dSLR on ebay is USA or  
grey market?  You can call Nikon all you want, they'll refuse to tell  
you if the serial number is USA or grey market.  Bought it anyway?   
Hope nothing goes wrong- as if it does and it's not a USA camera,  
Nikon USA won't just refuse to repair it under warranty, they'll  
refuse to repair it AT ALL.  I like the newer Nikon dSLRs and think  
they're superior to the Canons in terms of user controls and  
capabilities, but I constantly advise friends and associates to buy  
Canon, because they a)don't care about grey market vs. USA for  
warranty purposes, b)will gladly repair anything you send them, and c) 
allow their warranties to be transferred.

Brett