System Warranties and Terms

We have a few flavors of warranties for the systems we sell.

Things have gotten necessarily complex, and this is meant to be a place to clearly define the terms and conditions for all the systems we sell.

This is a place to:

1. Document the current warranties
2. Provide links to printable versions
3. Provide practical guidance on implementing warranties for sales/tech staff (beyond the text of the warranty)
4. Provide links to any other materials that may be required at the time of a system sale (such as stickers, handouts, FAQs, manuals, etc)
5. Document historical versions of warranties (via history view), especially those that are recent enough they may be "live"
6. Discuss possible revisions (on discussion tab)

Warranty for PC and Intel-based Mac Systems

This applies to any system we sell that comes pre-loaded with the Ubuntu operating system.

Here's the text of the warranty we hand out, transcluded (YES!) from System Warranty:

Free Geek warranties this system's hardware for six months from the date of purchase. Failed hardware components will be repaired or replaced as necessary to keep your system fully functional for the duration of the warranty at no charge. Unless performed by Free Geek Tech Support, changes to the system's hardware, as well as damage caused by negligence, will void this warranty.

Should your system suffer a complete failure (as determined by Free Geek Tech Support) you will be issued a store credit for the full purchase price of your system; a new system purchased with this credit will be covered by a renewed warranty effective the date of the replacement's purchase.

This warranty only covers hardware failures and we are only able to address issues that can be demonstrated under our supported operating system (currently Ubuntu 10.04). If you choose to install another operating system the problem will be diagnosed using a live-boot version of our current supported operating system; issues that are only present while using an unsupported operating system are not covered under this warranty.

Systems returned due to issues other than hardware faults are subject to a 20% restocking fee applied to store credit.

Free Geek provides Technical Support for issues related to the hardware or software included ‌in the system as it was sold. Technical Support services are available free of charge for the duration of the System Warranty, then are available for another year after the warranty expires for a charge of $10 per issue (plus the cost of parts, if necessary).

Free Geek Tech Support is available from 12:00PM to 5:45PM, Tuesday through Saturday.

To receive support services:

• Call (503) 232-9350 and select option 6. If your call is not answered (you call outside of open hours or all techs are busy) please leave a message with your name, phone number, and a short description of your problem.
• Send an email to support@freegeek.org. Include contact information and a short description of your problem.
• Come see us! Techs are available to assist you during the Tech Support hours listed above, or you can drop off your system at the Front Desk during Free Geek's open hours (10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Tuesday through Saturday). We process systems in the order they are received, so it may take a few days to resolve your issue.

Technical Support is not available for software issues related to unsupported operating systems. Hardware damage caused by negligence will be repaired at Free Geek Technical Support's discretion and is subject to service fees plus the cost of parts.

Technical Support is only available for the system(s) you purchased from Free Geek. We appreciate your patronage, but do not currently have the resources to provide service for systems obtained elsewhere.

Warranty for PPC Mac Systems

Here's the text of the warranty we hand out, transcluded (YES!) from Mac PPC Warranty:

This Macintosh system is sold with no operating system installed.

Free Geek warranties the original hardware on this system for 90 days from the date of purchase. We will repair or replace defective hardware and ensure that the system and its components function. Changes to the original system hardware may void this warranty.

If, during this period, the system has a hardware issue that cannot be resolved or repaired, Free Geek will issue a Store Credit for the full purchase amount of the system. Any replacement system purchased with this credit will be treated as a separate transaction and will be covered for an additional 90-day period.

This warranty only covers hardware. We can diagnose hardware problems on systems that have had an appropriate Mac or Ubuntu Linux operating system installed, but we are not able to provide technical support for the use of software, including the operating system.

This warranty does not cover cosmetic or aesthetic considerations; please make sure you are happy with the appearance and general condition of the system before you purchase. Any returns must be based on a lack of hardware functionality, and will only be allowed once Tech Support has determined they cannot fix the issue, or provide an equivalent replacement.

For any hardware issues you are having with your system, please bring the system to Free Geek's Front Desk, and leave it for Tech Support to diagnose.

Warranty for Laptops

Laptops are currently covered by our standard System Warranty, or by the Mac PPC Warranty as appropriate.

Warranty for Servers

Needs work!

Currently mentioned on Server Sales but this is not complete or totally accurate. Need to draft actual policy on this and provide a printable version.

Basically, Servers are sold with 14 day warranty on hardware. No tech support. If there is a hardware problem, they are to drop server off with Tech Support, but it will not be diagnosed until next server build shift, so it will likely take a week to get an answer/credit back.

Free Geek warranties the original hardware on Servers for 14 days from the date of purchase. Our Server Build Program is small, and still under development. We do not offer Tech Support. You are on your own to actualize your server dreams. We can provide hardware replacements in some cases, but we may not have the parts for every machine. In the event of a return for repair, your system may be held for up to a week or two before we can take a look at it.

If, during this period, the system has a hardware issue that cannot be resolved or repaired, Free Geek will issue a Store Credit for the full purchase amount of the system. We do not give cash back. Any replacement system purchased with this credit will be treated as a separate transaction and will be covered for an additional 14-day period.

Servers are tested with the latest stable release of Debian. We verify basic hardware functions in this Operating System (OS) only. We cannot diagnose in any other OS.

Systems which are returned because of issues outside of this warranty may be subject to a 20% restocking fee. For more details please speak with a Thrift Store staff member.

As-Is Laptop Policy

From page: As-Is Laptops

Obviously, these are sold as-is, but the actual text from the stickers we slap on these reads:

This Laptop is sold AS-IS
No Warranty, No Returns, No Tech Support
We verify it will POST (Power On Self Test), and that the screen works, but that's it.
Unless you enjoy working on laptops, you probably don't want it.
This machine does not have hard drive. It may be missing other parts. It's a roll of the dice.

Scraptop Policy

From page: Scraptops

They're as-is. That's it.