THOSE PRODUCT REGISTRATION CARDS

Have you recently purchased a new television set, a new computer printer, a new refrigerator, or any other new product which carries a 90 day, a one year, or a limited life-time warranty? If so, did you return the product registration card? When you fail to return the registration card, you may be in for a rude awakening if the product develops a defect within the stated warranty period.

Consumer protection laws require the manufacturer to stand behind their warranties, whether or not the purchaser registered the product purchase. What I don't like about those cards is that they include a check list for a lot of personal information such as your annual income, your educational attainment, your occupation, your family and household make-up, your hobbies, and other crap. They do that to sell this information to other merchandizers. That's why you get more and more junk mail.

Let me tell you what happened to me. Believing that the warranties would be good even if I didn't mail in the product registration cards, I just stopped mailing them in. When a new (top brand) computer printer I had purchased went on the blink, I contacted the manufacturer in accordance with the instructions in the owner's manual. I was informed that because I did not register the product at the time of purchase, the warraanty period started on the date of manufacture, rather than on the date of purchase. While my printer was serviced in accordance with the warranty, I lost half of the covered one year period by not returning the product registration card.

Now, I always return the product registration cards and I strongly suggest all of you do the same if you want to be covered for the entire warranty period. However, when I send the cards in, I do not check off any of the personal information items. I only list my name, address, and phone number, the product name and model number, the serial number if called for, and the place and date of purchase. By the way, the manufacturers also want your registration so they can notify you in case of a product recall. So, for your own protection, don't forget to return those product registration cards.