Today’s question comes from Russell, who says, “A friend was recently denied a warranty replacement on a product from Amazon because he didn’t realize it was sold by a reseller and not the manufacturer. If I buy a Tablo from Amazon, how do I make sure it has a warranty?”
Online marketplaces like Amazon are great for hunting deals. Unfortunately, some deals may be too good to be true because of what Amazon and other retailers call third-party resellers.
If a product is out-of-stock via its regular vendor, third-party resellers can take over what’s called the ‘buy box’. In that case, when you hit ‘add to cart,’ you’re not buying directly from the retailer or the company that makes the product, but a separate entity that could have no official ties to the product’s manufacturer.
Why Avoid Third-Party Resellers?
When the seller you purchased from isn’t the manufacturer or an official vendor, you may not get the product you’re expecting if it arrives at all. It could be used, damaged or even missing components. Your purchase may not be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and typical return policies may be different or not apply at all.
If your credit card offers extended warranty protection, it likely also wouldn’t apply to any purchases from third-party resellers.
How to Ensure You’re Making a Legitimate Purchase
To avoid problems with any online purchase, make sure the product listing says ‘sold and/or shipped by’ the retailer or manufacturer of the product you’re purchasing. All products sold by Tablo via authorized retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart are fully covered by our 12-month replacement warranty. Alternatively, you can buy directly from the manufacturer’s website.
For example, when buying a Tablo from Amazon, you’ll want to see ‘ships from Amazon’ and ‘sold by Tablo TV’ below the ‘Add to Cart’ button.
If you don’t, try clicking on the links under where it says, ‘Other sellers on Amazon’. From there, you should be able to choose the actual manufacturer of the product you’re looking to purchase.
Have a question about watching TV that you’d like answered? Send us a note and you may see your question on the Tablo blog and in an upcoming issue of our newsletter, Stay Tuned!
