Just in time for April Fools’ Day, we discovered that The North Face tries to set consumer expectations high for its products but rather ambiguously and with a bit of humor in the terms of its lifetime warranty:
*MOUSE PRINT:
What’s not so funny is the circular reasoning used for their lifetime warranty. It basically says that the product will last as long as the product lasts — whatever its life normally is. How ambiguous.
If you spot a bit of humor inconspicuously tucked into a company policy or contract, please submit it.
I took it to mean that, for example, they shouldn’t wait 25 years and return it due to 25 years worth of wear and tear like people did with LL Bean, that they should do it within reason.
I like the humor in the terms, but if they don’t mention a specific time frame, “lifetime” can mean whatever they want it to. That’s not a good policy.
I was shocked when a product I had with a “lifetime” warranty turned out to be only a couple of years. In the fine print it was actually “production lifetime”.