Voiding the Warranty

[undednubz]

So I have had problems with my surface pro 2 since day one. I bought it about 4 months ago, and the keyboard input was always laggy, touch input was way behind and it was just generally slow. I had my computer buddy check it out and it turned out I was having hard disk problems, Event ID 153 about 5 to 10 a minute. Anyways Surface Support said they would warranty replace the Surface. I took it to the MS store in SLC and the lady swapped it out for me. Upon completion of this she was trying to wipe the Surface.

Lady: "There were some problems and it says some files are missing so I will work on it in the back later."
Me: "I know there are, I put the recovery partition on a flash drive."
Lade: "What? That voids the warranty! Well since the transaction is already complete I will deal with it, but next time don't do that!"
Me: "Seriously? It's part of the OS how can that void my warranty?"
Lady: "It just does, next time make sure you put it back on if you bring it in."
Me: "Uhh ... OK!"

Is this true? Does putting the recovery partition on removable media void the warranty? It's part of the OS so I don't understand how it would and I read bits and pieces of the warranty manual and it didn't say anything about it. What are you guys thoughts? Thanks!

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

What you experienced is pretty much fact across all manufacturers. These days all of them majors have recover partitions and if you read the license agreement, (most people don't because it's long and boring), that would be a reason to void the warranty. For any of those companies. It's a risk you take by modifying anything that wasn't intended to be modified. Gaining root access or especially unlocking phones and tablets will cause the same problem.

 

[jefhart]

I'm glad to see you still got a new unit. Obviously removing the partition didn't break your hard drive but it was nice of her letting you off the hook and even telling you how to return it to 'warranty condition'.

 

[Seneleron]

ToS Doesn't mean a thing. You can install Linux on it, in any flavor you want, DBAN the drive. . . w/e If the HARDWARE failed, they owe you a replacement REGARDLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The lady was full of. . . well. . . .the end result of food being in one's body for a certain length of time

When it gets sent back for reconditioning, REGARDLESS of what's wrong with it [HDD, Pen tracking, bad screen, etc] At *SOME* point it's going to be re-imaged with their OEM imaging tool which is [gasp] Going to REAPPLY THE RESTORE PARTITION! it's a security measure to make doubly sure that NO DATA exists from the previous owner, for liability purposes.

Why would they use their own imaging tool? Because it's faster, more secure, and it's part of their procedure.

 

[leeshor]

ToS Doesn't mean a thing. You can install Linux on it, in any flavor you want, DBAN the drive. .

How many times have you tried that? I can tell you from experience that in a best case situation you may get lucky. Normally it IS reason for them to deny any, (hardware), warranty work. I've owned my own computer company for 25 years now and seen it happen over and over and the customers always wondered what hit them. The terms of service are there as a get out free card for the manufacturers and they spend millions crafting the legalese for that reason. Don't take them seriously at your own risk.