I can’t see any legal basis in the United States that a manufacturer would be able to deny warranty claims for discounted products sold by an authorized retailer at the time of purchase. The Federal Trade Commission and State Attorney Generals have many resources available to protect consumers to enforce warranty laws.
Eh couldn't Adorama get around this by having a "site-wide" promotion? Seems Focal is pissed they are violating their policy for unauthorized promotion specifically on the Utopia 2022. Tbh, I wouldn't say "shady", you see many people get good deals with their dealers on items such as the Susvara, etc. which are well under MSRP. Only difference is that Adorama was advertising this quite publicly.
Do we have to register product for warranty ? How will a buyer be notified that the headphone is not covered under warranty ? Not everyone is on head-fi or Reddit. Adorama is authentic dealer and they offered discount. What is the ground to deny a buyer of warranty?
Do we have to register product for warranty ? How will a buyer be notified that the headphone is not covered under warranty ? Not everyone is on head-fi or Reddit. Adorama is authentic dealer and they offered discount. What is the ground to deny a buyer of warranty?
Good point. Not all buyers will be privy to Focal's announcement, which was only made on Reddit... How would they know a product on Adorama is not being warranty-honored, coming from an authorized dealer no less.
I didn't register my previous two Utopias (since I asked the dealer how to take off the cups - but they told me not to...), I was the original owner and kept the receipts though.
Do we have to register product for warranty ? How will a buyer be notified that the headphone is not covered under warranty ? Not everyone is on head-fi or Reddit. Adorama is authentic dealer and they offered discount. What is the ground to deny a buyer of warranty?
Many hifi brands have rules their dealers have to follow regarding discounts. When a dealer breaks those rules, the brand has every right to revoke the benefits of buying from an authorized dealer.
Do we have to register product for warranty ? How will a buyer be notified that the headphone is not covered under warranty ? Not everyone is on head-fi or Reddit. Adorama is authentic dealer and they offered discount. What is the ground to deny a buyer of warranty?
There is no basis in the United States. More likely is that none of the orders will be shipped and anyone trying to place one at this point will have a charge for $2600+tax festering on their credit card for at least 3-5 business days until it’s refunded— that headache alone isn’t worth it and Adorama‘s customer service is worse than Spirit Airlines. My assumption is that a dealer like headphones.com brought the Reddit thread to Focal’s attention (snitched) when people asked them to price match and that’s why Focal hastily intervened. Only a dealer could have gotten in touch with a Focal on a Saturday.
And I have to agree with the comments in that thread. Focal has made another self-inflicted gunshot wound with their warranty policy and posting a statement on Reddit that makes a baseless threat to deny claims is embarrassing. They need to professionally handle this offline with Adorama and if UMRP pricing really mattered, they would move to a drop-ship model. It comes down to this— Focal should have designed a reliable headphone in 2016 with affordable spare parts like headbands so there would be no need to talk about warranty coverage and slow repairs.
Damn no shipping to the UK. I'd buy it at that price.
The only problem is I can't get over how much I like the look of the 2020 and earlier models, which I have one of, to me it's a much cooler looking headphone. Not sure I'd want the aesthetic downgrade, but I could do with a warranty and this would have that...
The reddit post seems like BS to me. My order is in processing and credit card still shows a temporary auth. Will update if / when there is a shipping notification
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