Warranty Registration on your power tools?

[SHADOWFOX]

Do you really have to register your tool immediately after purchase to qualify for the warranty? I have bought a bunch of power tools recently and about half of them I have not filled out the warranty registration form. Does it matter if you register your tool like a month or two of purchasing it? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[jhart]

Chris, my understanding is that you do not have to register your warranty, as long as you keep proof of date of purchase i.e sales reciept.

[jwaterdawg]

To qualify for the Ridgid Liftetime Warranty I am pretty sure you have to register your tools. I'm not sure that's what you were asking about though.

[SHADOWFOX]

Is there a time limit from the date of purchase? Reason why I am asking is I am about a month behind on registering some recently purchased power tools.

[mschrank]

A MONTH!!!? If I returned my registration within a month of purchase I would think I was being really on top of things!

I don't know the answer...if it is an issue I would think there would be some mention of it on the registration literature. If not, I can't think why the timing would be important, as long as you have a receipt showing the purchase date.

[WayneJ]

I think that if there is a recall on the tool , the compamy would know who to send it to. I don't think that i've sent in half of them.
Wayne

[MilDoc]

JHart is correct - you do not have to register to get warranty service, but you must keep a dated receipt. And jwaterdawg is also correct. Ridgid requires registration for their "lifetime warranty." If you register late they have the right to say "forgedaboutit."

Registering does allow the company to contact you in the event of a recall, however.

BTW, if you do register, yo do not have to answer all the personally invasive questions on most cards, ie, income, phone, etc, unless you want to get a lot of junk mail (both snail and otherwise).

[LCHIEN]

Most warrantly registration cards are a poor excuse for a user survey on your stamp. According to the Moss Magnussen act of many years ago, you do not have to register to get the warranty benefits - just keep proof of purchase date in the form of receipts - not always easy to do in this day and age of fading receipts.

And, why do you even have to provide date of purchase info on a lifetime warranty?

[LinuxRandal]

Don't know about power tools, but some warranties start the day of purchase. If not registered, and no receipt, sometimes they can be figured out by the serial numbers (manufacturing date)

[John Hunter]

The only ones I do within a month are the ones I can do online. The mail ins lay around on my desk until I get tired of looking at them.

[mater]

I had a problem with a Dewalt tool I didn't register and the repair shop checked it by the serial number to confirm it was under warranty.

[cwsmith]

I would think that the time between purchase and registration is pretty much up to each company's policy. You didn't mention the particular brand of the tools in question, but like previous posters have mentioned, probably in most cases, written registration isn't a necessity. However, why leave it to chance. I'd check with the particular company to be safe.

With regard to Ridgid's "Limited Lifetime Service Agreement", one should note that it is an "agreement" and NOT a warranty. Part of that "Agreement" is that the tool MUST be registered. Without registration, you only have Ridgid's 3-year warranty against defects in material and workmanship. Their "Service Agreement" covers wear parts like motor brushes, bearings, chargers, and even batteries.

I know a lot of people get a little confused by Ridgid's LLSA, and often the assumption is that it is a lifetime "warranty" and therefore registration doesn't matter. Here is the link to the "Limited Lifetime Service Agreement", it states quit clearly that the tool MUST be registered:
http://www.ridgid.com/Manuals/RidgidLSA.pdf

I hope this helps,

CWS