warranties

If they were previously repairing or replacing second hand goods under warranty then good on them. That is going above and beyond. Also out of curiosity how do you define "lifetime warranty"?

Usually outdoor brands like Thermarest (or for me recently it was Black Diamond) don't ask you for a proof of purchase, they don't really care if you bought it on ebay or in an "official" shop or if your friend offered it to you because he is no longer tramping. And that should just be the case, as most people don't keep the receipt for what they buy. And lifetime warranty can mean different things depending on the brand. Thermarest says it is the "life time of the product", which doesn't really mean anything really, but other brands say it's for the lifetime of the original owner (I had that with some speakers, but the company died before me!).

"they also wont repair second hand goods under warranty, you need proof of purchase..." I can understand requiring a proof of purchase to prove the new-purchase date of an item, but surely they can't make the manufacturers' warranty legally expire just because the item's been transferred to someone else. By that standard they could try to claim that if you buy something from Macpac as a gift for someone else, the warranty could expire as soon as you hand it over. I'm fairly sure that'd be illegal on their part. "Also out of curiosity how do you define "lifetime warranty"?" Most manufacturers mean that if there's a manufacturing fault in the item then they'll fix or replace it at any time, but they exclude normal wear and tear. It's probably not much trouble for them because most manufacturing faults would show up early anyway, and chances are they'd require you to prove something was their fault on a 10 year old item. Osprey stands out as an exception. They claim they'll fix or replace any damage on any aged pack, free of charge. Probably the positive publicity and good will they get from this far outweighs the occasional person who intentionally chooses to put their pack under a bus just to claim on the warranty. https://www.ospreypacks.com/us/en/customer-support/all-mighty-guarantee

Just to clarify some more, scanning the Consumer Guarantees Act it looks like retailers possibly don't have to honour a warranty... but manufacturers possibly do. Apparently the original agreement between retailer and consumer only lasts until the consumer disposes of the item. Clause 20(1) says that you lose the right to reject goods from the retailer if the consumer's disposed of them. (eg. by selling them.) http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0091/latest/whole.html?#DLM312826 Where gifts are concerned, though, there's a very specific exception. Clause 24 states that if a consumer acquires goods and gives them to someone as a gift, then that person can exercise any rights or remedies that would have been available to the consumer. BUT for second hand items, clause 27 then goes on to talk about options against manufacturers. It effectively seems to say that the manufacturer's liable for its warranties whether to the original consumer, or any person who acquires the goods from or through the consumer. http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0091/latest/whole.html?#DLM312831 Maybe proof of purchase is needed if the warranty had an expected time limit, but if Macpac's trying to say that it doesn't need to honour its warranties because you bought the item second hand, I wonder if there'd be a strong case to wave clause 27 of the Consumer Guarantees Act in front of them.

so who is the manufacturer? the company with their brand name on the product or the company that owns the factory that makes the product in Asia. i've had two issues with macpac gear recently that were definitely warranty issues, in both occasions the first response i got from them was to want proof of purchase, and in one case deny it was manufacturing defect when it clearly was. i had to spend time pointing out to them they were wrong to get the warranty honoured and avoid incurring a charge in one case because they wouldnt give my gear back without charging a shipping fee even without repairing it. and they'd charge me more to repair it.

From the CGA: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0091/latest/whole.html#DLM311058 manufacturer means a person that carries on the business of assembling, producing, or processing goods, and includes— (a) any person that holds itself out to the public as the manufacturer of the goods: (b) any person that attaches its brand or mark or causes or permits its brand or mark to be attached, to the goods: (c) where goods are manufactured outside New Zealand and the foreign manufacturer of the goods does not have an ordinary place of business in New Zealand, a person that imports or distributes those goods

Reading Macpac's FAQ directly below the warranty statement, it does seem to say that nothing's really changed except the wording, and that they'll continue to repair manufacturing faults regardless of how long it's been. That suggests that the time since purchase (proved by a receipt) is irrelevant if the problem is a manufacturing fault, but it might be important if the claim of a manufacturing fault is based on an argument that some aspect of the item shouldn't have failed so quickly from the time when it was new. There's no mention of second hand, but based on what's stated in clause 27 of the CGA, I reckon Macpac would be legally obliged to fix (or replace) a manufacturing fault with an item regardless of whether you purchased it new. I'm not a lawyer, though. I'm just reading the law but not interpreting it with expertise.

i was specifically asked for a receipt for proof of purchase since the purchase didnt show up in their system against my account...

Ive had the same "we dont care" response from two seperate macpac stores over my three year old reflex jacket, where the sleeve hems have debonded. In my day it was generally understood that a $300+ goretex jacket, with care, was good for a lifetime of lite use tramping. Now you get three years and a shrug. Back in the 80s a friend went on the train to wellington and their packs were in the guard van, and a stove melted a hole in one of the macpacs. Macpac didnt even hesitate and fixed it no questions asked. Still, that company is now gone, perhaps finding no profit in such a policy.