What is Greenlee's Warranty of Brymen Multimeters? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: redg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 02:20:56 am
content: Many posts here, including some quite recent ones, say that Greenlee's warranty of Greenlee branded Brymen multimeters is lifetime, which seems to translate into something like the life of the product, whatever that means.However, the Greenlee web site clearly says that its products are warranted for one year, in accordance with Greenlee's "new Limited Warranty Service Policy":http://www.greenlee.com/support/warranty.htmlThis may well be a change, given what Greenlee says on its warranty page, that has taken place sometime this year.Is Greenlee's warranty for its badged Brymen multimeters any different? If so, where does Greenlee say that?On the face of it, it looks like Greenlee has pulled the plug on warranting its badged Brymen multimeters for more than 12 months.Thanks

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 03:29:34 am
content: Quote from: redg on August 15, 2016, 02:20:56 amQuoteIs Brymen manufactured by Greenlee Textron?Looking at their site for the DM-830A it states "Lifetime Limited Warranty" under description. Downloading the manual from their site I see the following:QuoteManual is marked:QuoteI went back and looked at a much older multimeter manual from Greenlee and it also states the one year. So I don't think anything has changed.

author: redg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 04:23:30 am
content: I suspect that Greenlee's "new" warranty policy, which has its own page and is web site wide, is intended to apply to everything that it sells - despite the fact that some older pages on the site may suggest otherwise.If there are exceptions to their "new" policy, they certainly aren't stated.Interested in knowing whether anyone knows for a fact, as distinct from speculation, whether the warranty for Greenlee branded Brymen meters is subject to the "new" warranty policy or are an exception; and if an exception, what that exception is.This is a question for which there is unquestionably a clear answer. Speculating on the answer is a waste of time.

author: CustomEngineerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 07:46:26 am
content: I bought a Greenlee DM-860A in January of this year. The warranty text on the last page is identical to the one posted by Joe. My manual is marked "52056270 REV 1 @ 2014 Greenlee Textron Inc. 10/14"

author: redg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 03:01:23 am
content: Quote from: CustomEngineerer on August 15, 2016, 07:46:26 amThanks, so eight months ago with text dating back two years.It appears that nobody knows whether multimeters are an exception to the "new" warranty policy. It would be nice to know when this "new" policy came into effect, but there's no date on the warranty page.I'll give Greenlee a call.

author: retiredcaps
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 03:37:41 am
content: Quote from: redg on August 17, 2016, 03:01:23 amI can't recall which thread, but someone (Lightages?) called Greenlee and got a verbal answer regarding the warranty. As I pointed out in the other thread, a verbal answer means nothing because that person could be giving you the wrong answer, their interpretation, may not work there tomorrow, etc.I have also asked, but no one can answer, what is the warranty in concrete number of years. For example, the Fluke 87V purchased from a Fluke authorized dealer has a minimum 10 year warranty that is clearly stated in their user manual.The best answer from Greenlee is a consistent answer in concrete number of years that is on their publicly accessible website.Anyway, it will be interesting to see what answer you get. Many people here are buying Greenlee meters under possibly incorrect assumptions regarding the warranty.

author: retiredcaps
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 03:47:40 am
content: Some relevant past threadshttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/greenlee-lifetime-warranty-an-answer-almost/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/greenlee-dm-830a-or/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/if-brymen-bm869s-is-cheaper-and-as-good-why-people-would-still-buy-fluke/msg733873/#msg733873

author: redg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 04:04:07 am
content: Quote from: retiredcaps on August 17, 2016, 03:37:41 amThe crystal clear answer from Greenlee, unless there is a stated exception that nobody has so far pointed to, is that it is a one year warranty.The caveat to this is that if Greenlee is still sending out warranty documents with its multimeters that say otherwise, I believe that it will have to live with that, although I can't see why anyone would want to get into a debate with Greenlee about what warranty period applies.And I agree with the view that what Greenlee has said in the past about its warranty for multimeters has been distinctly unclear.As I said, I'm going to phone them, but I think that this is murky enough that what's needed is a response from Greenlee in writing stating whether its warranty of multimeters differs from its warranty for everything else, and if so, how. I will ask them to confirm whatever they say by e-mail.If Greenlee won't give a straight answer to the question, it's a really good reason to stay away from buying its multimeters unless you are prepared to work on the basis that the warranty, in fact, is one year.

author: CustomEngineerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 05:55:27 am
content: Quote from: redg on August 17, 2016, 03:01:23 amYes, to show that the text has not changed in 4 revisions in 2 years. I'm not sure when exactly the 1 year warranty appeared on Greenlee's site, but it was already there back in January when I was looking at buying the meter. Greenlee made a new revision to the user manual in June of this year and still did not change the warranty text. Certainly seems like it still applies. If you really want to know for sure you could always buy a meter and then wait a year and try to submit a warranty claim.

author: totalnoob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 02:40:56 pm
content: I don't know, if the above are truly quoted from Greenlee's website and the product's manual, then it looks to be cut and dried to me. The Brymen meters have a lifetime warranty against defects, however, that lifetime warranty is subject to the same terms as their standard 1 year warranty. So you would need to find their standard 1 year warranty text to find out what that covers and what exclusions are in there and understand that those exclusions apply to the lifetime warranty of the meter. I.e., as an example, their standard 1 year warranty may exclude products that are dropped, so you know that if you drop the meter and break something, Greenlee will not repair/replace it under warranty (obviously if the meter looks brand new other than what broke, you may be able to get it replaced because the piece that broke was "defective").That's my reading of it. Its not exactly legalease, looks to be plain English to me.

author: LightlyDoped
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 03:34:38 pm
content: Quote from: totalnoob on August 17, 2016, 02:40:56 pmThis is the correct answer. It's a limited lifetime warranty as distinguished from a one year, fixed term warranty. Of course, it has some restrictions (limitations) like not providing coverage for things like misuse or abuse. The language is very clear. (But even if it weren't, at least in the U.S. any ambiguity is construed against the party who wrote the language, i.e., Greenlee.)

author: BMack
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 05:22:00 am
content: You'd also need to know if Brymen would consider the warranty valid in the US since they are not officially distributed here.

author: LightlyDoped
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 04:03:51 pm
content: Quote from: BMack on August 18, 2016, 05:22:00 amNo, you wouldn't. The warranty is provided by Greenlee to the purchaser. If you have a warranty claim, your recourse is with Greenlee -- not Brymen.

author: BMack
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2016, 02:47:22 am
content: Quote from: LightlyDoped on August 18, 2016, 04:03:51 pmThey're talking about buying a Brymen, not a Greenlee Brymen. What I'm saying is that you can't assume that Brymen's lifetime warranty will be valid in a country that doesn't sell Brymen, as Greenlee has the rights to distribute Brymen under the Greenlee name. So if you buy a Brymen from elsewhere, your warranty is likely void but without knowing for sure(some companies will honor warranty when they don't have to) I suggested to find out from Brymen.

author: CustomEngineerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2016, 04:09:51 am
content: Thats not correct BMack, the discussion is about Greenlee branded DMMs. Brymen does not offer a lifetime warranty as far as I have seen, Greenlee is the company that offers/offered the lifetime warranty.