What means "Lifetime Support" for you?

12 years ago

Yesterday, in the newspaper I saw an ad of a software for mobile phones that had "Lifetime Upgrade", in bold, with a *.

The * said, "until the lifetime of the mobile device or three years whichever comes first." What nonsense!?

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koolphoto 12 years ago

If you keep the claim open ended like that it is all of the above. And I know a guy that would take you to court in 20 years if you didn't honor your claim just because he takes pleasure in going to court.

Your cell phone story reminds me of when the cell providers started offering data services in the US. It was unlimited data until you read the fine print which told you unlimited meant not more the 5 gigabytes.
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officer_iron

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Sumit Menon

Yesterday, in the newspaper I saw an ad of a software for mobile phones that had "Lifetime Upgrade", in bold, with a *.

The * said, "until the lifetime of the mobile device or three years whichever comes first." What nonsense!?

That's no surprise at all unfortunately. And the majority of people probably will pay no attention to the fine print (which of course is exactly what the ad is hoping for).

It's no wonder that people become so cynical on companies and advertisements. Once they get taken, it's hard to convince them that another company will treat them any differently.

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mafumoo 12 years ago

My take on it?

Never trust a sales pitch. There is a lot that people can get away with claiming on sales pages as long as their fine print clears it up.

I set a "risk price". A price limit for myself that I am willing to risk in a given amount of time. If it was 25$/month say, then I don't worry to much about fine print, or weather the guarantee is honest while spending that money.

Anything over that Risk Price budget gets a good investigation before I pay a sent. I read the fine print. I look for honest costumer reviews.

Also, Legally, if their sales page states something like Lifetime Guarantee, They must specify what that means in their "Fine Print" because it is such an open phrase.

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- marciayudkin 12 years ago
  
  On brakes and other automotive parts, "lifetime guarantee" means for the life of the car on which the parts are installed.
  
  In the Internet arena, I assume it would mean either the life of the product or the life of the buyer, which ever ends first.
  
  Marcia Yudkin
  
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Adnan Firdous

12 years ago

Hmm...lifetime support! Probably till the product dies!

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bwh1

12 years ago

So this means that the merchants can decide what is the definition of LIFETIME?

Just add it at your sales page that for a mobile device that 3 years is good enough, and you are good to go.

Interesting!?

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razorhound

12 years ago

lifetime support till the guy sold his business.

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Lucian Lada 12 years ago

Originally Posted by razorhound

lifetime support till the guy sold his business.

The guy who buys it is responsable for the costumer too. If it wouln't be that way everyone would sell their companies to friends/husband/family to get rid of this responsability.
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- Kay King 12 years ago
  
  I always assume it's the life of the product. I certainly don't think a lifetime guarantee is my lifetime or the sellers lifetime.
  
  Products may be supported and sold for years or may be outdated or useless at some point.
  
  Same is true of a lifetime membership in something or other - it's only good as long as the membership is available.
  
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Lucian Lada

12 years ago

I thinks it's until the merchant dies. If he kills the product but you still usr it he has to give you support. Just because he doesn't sell it anymore doesn't mean you can't use it and request support if needed.
Also if the merchant dies the company can live on through it's buyers or inheritors so you can ask them for support. It's common sense.

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pablo2011

12 years ago

if its a recurring subscription you have a better chance. if its a one time pay theyll prob find excuses

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E. Brian Rose

12 years ago

Years ago, I made the mistake of promoting a fairly expensive product to my list that had a "Lifetime Money Back Guarantee". The product cost was around $300. Two years later, just before Christmas, I got a refund request. It was a rotating payment system, so 100% of it was on me.

I have not promoted any product that offered a lifetime no questions asked return policy since.

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Tom B

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose

Years ago, I made the mistake of promoting a fairly expensive product to my list that had a "Lifetime Money Back Guarantee". The product cost was around $300. Two years later, just before Christmas, I got a refund request. It was a rotating payment system, so 100% of it was on me.

I have not promoted any product that offered a lifetime no questions asked return policy since.

haha that is a big ouch! I am sure you weren't the only refund request that person made in order to purchase gifts for the holidays.

OP, yeah, it is mainly lifetime for the product. If the vendor decides the product is dead then support will die as well. You have to decide if the vendor is honest enough no matter what his support guarantee.

Especially in the IM realm where products seem to have short life spans.

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Micah Medina

12 years ago

Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose

Years ago, I made the mistake of promoting a fairly expensive product to my list that had a "Lifetime Money Back Guarantee". The product cost was around $300. Two years later, just before Christmas, I got a refund request. It was a rotating payment system, so 100% of it was on me.

I have not promoted any product that offered a lifetime no questions asked return policy since.

What a tremendous jerk! I hope they invested that 300 dollars in a bodyguard. I'd learn kung-fu and go after somebody who did that to me.

or just think mean things about them over the internet...

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HairyPoppins

12 years ago

If there's no fine print to read I'd take it as the life of the merchant. If you make the claim I believe you should stand behind your products. Unless it's operator error then I think whatever is damaged is 100% on them as you had nothing to do with it.

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Gedas

12 years ago

For me it means till merchant or I die. Whichever comes first...

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sbucciarel

Banned 12 years ago

The lifetime of the product unless the product owner dies first.

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Ben Gordon

12 years ago

The term "lifetime" refers to the lifetime of the product, not the owner's nor buyer's lifetime. As per Google's definition, lifetime means, "The duration of a thing's existence or usefulness." When claiming that your customers will receive lifetime support or updates, they must receive the support stated as long as the product is listed and selling.

Obviously you can use an asterisk after the lifetime support and explain the truth about the term "lifetime" in fine print however that is very misleading and may cause you trouble. I personally hate being tricked therefore I would never mislead any of my customers. I accurately present the information about the product/service they will receive.

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A.Green

12 years ago

Two years later, just before Christmas, I got a refund request.

Wanna bet the person who did that needed some money for Christmas gifts and was happy to have "found" $300? Sigh.

To answer the question, I think from a large company, I would assume it's the life of the product. If I bought a Nikon camera with life-time support offered, I would presume Nikon has the wherewithal to actually honor that offer should I need help with something five years after the purchase.

If it were a piece of software from a one-person, online-only company, though, honestly, I'd feel bad bothering the person more than a year after I bought the product unless if were just for some quick question. That's because I would presume the seller couldn't realistically honor his/her offer and just included it in the sales copy to sound good.

So it depends on how much I think is realistic to expect from the seller. That said, I personally wouldn't make an offer of support I wasn't prepared to keep.

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Fryde Markus

12 years ago

Yeah, sounds something like til the product dies! I guess it's a rude idea if you promote your products saying til people dies.

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Tom B

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Fryde Markus

Yeah, sounds something like til the product dies! I guess it's a rude idea if you promote your products saying til people dies.

haha Yeah, I could see all the faked deaths of IM'ers in order to get out of support.

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bwh1

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Thomas Belknap

haha Yeah, I could see all the faked deaths of IM'ers in order to get out of support.

LMAO about the "faked deaths of IM'ers".

Maybe there will be a WSO offering PLR to a swipe file, just enter your name and print your death certificiate to hide from your clients.

And to Brian, that sucks..

that had a "Lifetime Money Back Guarantee". The product cost was around $300. Two years later, just before Christmas, I got a refund request. It was a rotating payment system, so 100% of it was on me.

I have not promoted any product that offered a lifetime no questions asked return policy since.

Can't imagine why

Finally I had a good laugh today.

G.

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sal64

12 years ago

From a customer's perspective, it's a promise that they get access to support for the life of the product / service.

From a seller's perspective it's a marketing ploy based on the calculated risk that customers won't be bothered contacting you...

... runs for cover from ethical vendors.

Originally Posted by bwh1

I followed some threads where this issue was mentioned (or the lack of it), and I would like to ask what exactly is the definition of lifetime support

- till I die
- till the merchant dies
- till the product dies

someone has to die I guess :rolleyes:

And do we have any chance to actually claiming this if we buy a product or can this be put in the "marketing" category, aka good to have it on a sales pitch but actually not delivered.

G.

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What means "Lifetime Support" for you?

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