Question about warranties
 

BajaBoi spent nearly a grand on a welder. came with a 3 year warranty. 1.5 years later... Broke. Manufacturer is upholding the warranty but insisting he pays shipping on replacement parts they send and to ship the whole thing back and forth if the replacement parts don't fix it. It's HEAVY. It doesn't specify in the warranty that the consumer is liable for these charges. Is this normal/legal?

"Is this normal/legal?"

Lamentably, you can't miss how common the practice is.

Then they wrote the warranty, didn't they?

I heard back in the day, "The big print giveth and the fine print taketh away."

However, it's certainly possible that the parts they're shipping (presumably at their expense) will make the welder work again. I don't suppose you know what the problem is, do you? I'm just curious.

thanks. I've seen warranties that say the consumer is responsible for such things (and usually avoided those products), I guess the naive/used to real consumer protention Brit in me wants to believe that if it isn't specified the consumer pays, it's implicit they don't. Other things I've claimed on warranty have never asked me to pay shipping :( But they weren't such big ticket items

If you reach the point where it seems cheaper just to buy a new one, make sure it is a different brand.
I have even found that telling the company you are having trouble with that that is your intention helps get a better outcome.

yup, that will be the next step. For not he just paid the ridiculous $20 shipping for a replacement circuit board and is hoping that will fix it. But if it doesn't, the cost to ship the whole thing there and back will be well over $100 so.......

Also, Paypal stopped working. I guess it didn't practice safe social distancing