Thomann Germany refuses 2nd Hand Warranty / Guarantee

Hey TrabanT,
Sorry to hear about your problems mate.

I am about to buy a second hand machine and I have been asking myself that warranty question actually and it states on the Elektron’s site in the FAQ under warranty:


Elektron machines bought 2010-07-05 and later come with a three year limited warranty, starting from the date of the original purchase. Being able to prove the date of the original purchase with an invoice or a receipt is necessary if you require warranty service.
If the machine should need a repair during the warranty period no charges will be applied for parts or labor. This warranty is transferable to other owners should the Elektron machine be resold during the warranty period.

It clearly states here that the general warranty is transferable to a second hand owner as long as you have the invoice!..
I have emailed them about this and I am waiting for the reply so i will keep this tread updated when I get a response :+1:
Cheers!

after weeks (launch of AR and AK) Elektron told me they would accept the broken Octatrack and I would not have to go through Thomann.de … but then Thomann.de accepted warranty from 2nd hand owner because I had a written form from buyer no 1 …

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I was wondering about this,

2nd hand market plays a huge role in our music gear consumerism, so I find it strange how I can’t find any official information from Thomann on their Warranty policy when it comes to resold items.

Did I miss something?
Is it a grey area?
Is it a straight “no”, but with some exceptions here and there?

It’s there. At least the German terms and conditions clearly mention 3 year warranty as non-transferable. The same way do all other shops exclude this as far as I can tell.

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I can’t find it,
Can you link to it, please?

Btw, Elektron does have transferable warranty on all their products! Cheers to that!

In europe, ( EU ) warranty is one to two years, depending on product and country for any product sold to consumer. This is manufacter warranty. This is the law.

Thomann, extends this warranty to 3 years. By adding one year on their “good will”. This is retailer warranty.

Manufacter warranty is attached to the product, not the owner and starts at the time the product is sold to the first customer. This warranty is transferable to as many user as there are during the warranty period.

The retailer warranty is only given to the first owner of a product and not transferable. If you buy second hand, you loose the benefit from it.

As simple as that.

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Thomann German AGB

Search for paragraph 6, 1

Edit: it’s the same in their English terms.

EU law I believe, not European…

It’s never occurred to me that I could try to use the warranty remaining on a second hand item.

In EU countries it’s at least 2 year guarantee where you have the right to complain about stuff like manufacturing faults etc. it’s not necessarily the same thing as manufacturers warranty. Some countries leave even longer like Sweden that gives three.

Swedish laws:

One of the reasons that larger companies don’t usually transfer warranties can be because of how they can handle things like refunds etc. it’s very uncommon that they can transfer the money back to someone that didn’t buy the product is it’s impossible to repair and they can’t replace it.

EU regulations:

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Yeah, I lacked a bit of english technical language on this subject, thanks for clarifying my mumblings !

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Lolz
image

To be fair, folk have been moaned at for not using the search function… :joy:

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Sorry if that was mentioned already by some of you, didn’t read all posts …

From my experience I know:

  • if we by B-ware equipment from a shop, they give full warranty in the EU.
  • some retailers, who are specialized to sell used equipment give up to two years warranty, sometimes it’s one year only, but they tell us in advance
  • most retailers I know make it quite clear that their warranty is only granted for the first buyer.

IMO … if we by from a private person second-hand it’s up to the manufacturer to grant the warrenty or, if we are lucky, we get support from a nice retailer, but often they are not obligded to do this … the original invoice is only proof that we are still under warranty to be granted by the manufacturer.

If you buy an item 2nd hand from online retailer then simply try to prioritise a local buyer and get an agreement from them to be your go-between in any warranty claim.

10 years later doesn’t make the thread obsolete, I see second hand items sold every day with mention of remaing time for retailer warranty…Which could be considered a scam/false advertising if you’re nitpicky…

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I think most people mention the ‘remaining’ warranty in good faith. But this does not change the fact that it is false in most cases because the retailer’s extended warranty does carry over to second hand buyers.

Whenever I sell something that is still under warranty I always take care of any warranty issues that come up for the person who bought it (contacting the manufacturer, explaining the issue, and forwarding any information/shipping labels/etc back to the person who bought it). Guess that is one of the benefits of buying from a fellow elektronaut :-).

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