'Aluminess Make This Right': Woman Tries To Use Her Car's Lifetime Warranty. Then A Worker Tells Her Something Unexpected

"What does a lifetime warranty actually mean?"

Woman Tries To Use Her Lifetime Warranty. Then A Worker Tells Her Something Unexpected

Photo by: thervchickadee & tashatuvango

Steve Ecker

By: Steve Ecker

Mar 27, at 6:00am ET

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A woman says she tried to use her lifetime warranty for an Aluminess car part only to be told that it didn’t apply and she’d have to pay for a replacement. Now she’s calling on the company to make things right.

In the text overlay of a TikTok, Kelly B (@thervchickadee) writes, "Aluminess made us pay for the new part, instead of covering it under their ‘lifetime warranty.’"

Then she does a side-by-side comparison of the old and new Aluminess parts. The old one has a crack in it and appears smaller and less sturdy than the new one. "Look at the difference in the product. What does that tell ya?" she says. "That tells me that they needed to be fed up or else they wouldn’t have changed it. To me this makes me say well they had a problem that they knew was going on."

"Yeah I still think this was WRONG and their 'lifetime warranty’ is a fraudulent way to make more sales," Kelly adds in the caption. The post has generated over 36,400 views as of this writing.

What Does A "Lifetime" Warranty Actually Mean?

Most of us assume that a lifetime warranty means just that: the item is covered for life. Whether the warranty is redeemed a month after purchase or 10 years later, consumers assume it’ll be a hassle-free exchange. In practice, however, this isn’t always the case.

Turns out, "lifetime" has a wide variety of meanings that can be defined by the seller. Some define "lifetime" by the product’s anticipated lifespan; others by the buyer's lifetime.

It’s also become something of a marketing strategy. You see it used in the automotive industry for products ranging from fluids to brake pads.

When purchasing a product with a lifetime warranty, it’s best to read the fine print to understand the company’s policy. Many include various requirements in order to redeem a lifetime warranty, such as registering the product, not modifying it, or a time limit within which you can redeem it.

Aluminess does promote its lifetime warranty for parts. For the warranty to be redeemed, the product must have been installed properly following instructions provided by Aluminess.

"Any modification to the original product design, function or use of any Aluminess products will void the Aluminess warranty. Aluminess will have sole discretion to determine warranty eligibility for any and all Aluminess products sold to any purchaser," Aluminess writes on its website.

If the consumer does not follow these instructions, it may deny the warranty claim.

How Do You Redeem A Lifetime Warranty?

The law governing lifetime warranties is complex and gives companies significant leeway in defining their policies.

According to Consumer Affairs, here are four things you should do to have the best chance of redeeming a lifetime warranty:

Document the policy day of purchase of product with a screenshot: Warranties can change at any moment and this photo evidence can be used to redeem the warranty.
Register product with the manufacturer immediately: When the product isn’t registered, companies can easily deny the warranty claim. As most warranties are time based, without documentation, the company has leverage to deny the claim since there is no proof of purchase.
Buy the item with a credit card: Credit cards broadly offer warranty protection. This means the credit card provider will step in once the original warranty wears out and can give additional warranty protection.
Redeem the warranty when there’s any minor damage: Don’t wait until the product breaks. Even small issues can compound over time can be used against you when attempting to redeem a warranty.

Is This An Example Of False Advertising?

Some of the viewers believed Aluminess should’ve covered the purchase and understood Kelly’s frustration.

"That tells me that they knew their old product was a POS over time and that they needed to improve it," one person wrote.

"They should have stood by their warranty without question," a second agreed.

Others observed that the product quality had improved since Kelly bought the part.

"This is typical manufacturing ngl, if they know there’s a problem they don't tell you since that costs money, they wait till you complain and only send what's needed. Only like 10% will ask," one opined.

Another blamed research and development (R&D) for the difference between the old and new parts. "It means R&D continued into the life cycle of the product and they invested money into improving the design after production started. Probably after failures like the one you show in the video were reported," they wrote.

"Products improve all the time. In a few years they'd probably have done even more improvements. It doesn't mean they knew this was a problem at all. It does tell you that since designing iteration one, they discovered a problem and fixed it. You still probably shouldn't have paid for the replacement," a third commented.

What do you think?

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"Yeah, I’m still confused as to what the lifetime warranty actually means. Still feels like false advertising in my book," she replied back.

Motor1 has contacted Kelly via Instagram and TikTok direct message. We've also contacted Aluminess via email. We will update this story if either party responds.

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