Complaint Review: SanDisk Corporation - Internet Internet

     Nothing wrong with publicizing what their policy is.  My only point was that their policy isn't different than other memory chip makers.

"The card I purchased was from a paypal confirmed USA address so it is less much less likely to be a fake then say one from CHINA."

  One more thing.   I also happen to be in the IT business and have had a lot of experience with bogus chips recently.  Just an FYI, most of the fakes are being sold from U.S. addresses on places like Ebay.  When I alluded to Chinese fakes, I didn't mean they were actually being purchased directly from China.   The counterfeiters flood their U.S. scammer distributers who make the sales on auction sites.

   The fakes I have seen so far look almost perfect on the outside, with only minor variations in color.  All came from American sellers on either Ebay or Ubid.

as the IT director for a company I have significant experience with the warranty policies of venders I work with.

The card I purchased was from a paypal confirmed USA address so it is less much less likely to be a fake then say one from CHINA. I also offered to provide both pictures or even the original device for them to evaluate. They refused both offers stating that since the listing did not state that the product was new that they would not warranty it.

Also ... I should NOT have to FIND the warranty and then spend my valuable time combing through for any landmine issues. It is the responsibility of the company (in this case SanDisk) to make those documents readily available.

In the future this posting will be available for future potential buyers of SanDisk products who need to know what potential value the 5-year warranty may actually have.

If SanDisk thinks this should be "business as usual" or "Standard Practice" then that is their perfect right as a business to treat their customers that way. However... it is conversely my perfect right to make sure that as many possible future customers of theirs are fully aware of what they are in for if they buy SanDisk products.

   Generally speaking, you should not assume that warranties are transferrable from the original purchaser.  Unless it's a high-end item like the HP computer (above) or a vehicle, most warranties apply only to the original purchaser. 

  As it happens, I am in the market for a 16 Gig micro SD for my Sansa Clip.  Last week I was reviewing specs and warranties from several manufacturers.  I had zero problems locating Sandisk's warranty on their website.   My guess is that you didn't even bother to look until you had a problem.

  I second the suggestion of just buying the product from a retailer.  There are huge amounts of bogus memory cards being sold on Ebay.  I've seen several and they look authentic on the outside, but are just cheap Chinese junk on the inside.  One of the tipoffs for these chips is that they are never sold "BRAND NEW in the ORIGINAL PACKAGING".  For the amount of money you're spending, it's just not worth the risk to save a couple of bucks on Ebay.

I marked this one a rip-off not only because they did not honor their warranty.

I call this one a rip-off because they (like some other less reputable companies) do not post the details (i.e. fine print) of their "warranty" in such a manner that potential buyers can easily find them.

For Example: the advertisement of the 5-year warranty on the product page
www.sandisk.com/products/mobile-memory-products/sandisk-microsdhc?tab=features could have been linked to the actual text of the warranty.
or
the text could have been marked in some way as to warn potential buyers that they should read the the warranty such as "click here for further details"
or
something as simple as a "more" link linking the warranty text would have been nice
or
another TAB that contained the text of the warranty

as it stands I did not know how to find the actual text of the warranty until told by the SanDisk rep to download the product manual. After downloading the manual I looked through the index and found the "fine" print.

In my experience the reason companies hide the details of any policy or warranty is because they believe those policies would make buyers more cautious about a purchase or even not make a purchase. Companies that have consumer friendly policies usually make them very easy to find.

Here are the terms for Sandisk memory card warranties:

"This warranty is provided to the original end user purchasing from SanDisk or an authorised reseller, and is not transferable."

The bold emphasis was added by me. Here's the link to the Sandisk webpage:

http://apac.sandisk.com/Retail/DocumentInfo.aspx?DocumentID=3010

The text clearly states that a warranty cannot be transferred and that the card must be purchased either from Sandisk or one of their authorized dealers.

I suggest that you not buy cards from eBay. That site is flooded with counterfeit memory cards and it can be very difficult to tell the difference between a genuine Sandisk card and a fake. Memory cards are so cheap these days that you might as well just buy from a reputable (and authorized) dealer and enjoy some protection at the same time.

I recently sold an HP desktop computer on ebay.  I had purchased the computer brand new from office depot in Evansville, Indiana.  However after about 5 months of having it I decided to sell it on ebay.  I did not purchase any extra nonsense warranties or anything of that crap they try to sell you.  However hp had a standard 1 year warranty.  When I sold the product the guy called hp who was happy to transfer the warranty as long as I called in and verified the information.  So I agree they should have honored the warranty. However the guy should give the ebay user a bad mark. If he is an avid ebay user then the guy will refund your money or give you a product of equal value. 

Sandisk, or any company for that matter, won't honor a warranty if you are not the original owner and can't produce the original receipt of purchase.  Warranties are not transferrable to a second owner, so Sandisk is not in the wrong here.

You should be going after the eBay seller and get your money back since he/she obviously sold you a defective product.