On 20/09/11 19:21, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
Essentially in Europe at least those stickers mean very little at all.
The responsibility is with the manufacturer to prove that any internal tampering resulted in a failure and a broken "warranty void" seal is not sufficient except in cases where the very act of opening a device can cause failure (so for example opening a Hard Drive outside of a clean-room environment)
IANAL, that said: There is a difference between a manufacturers or retailer's warranty, and your rights under law. The warranty is usually something like "If it breaks within 1 year and it's not caused by you, and [insert any conditions the manufacturer wants to insert] then we'll fix it or replace it for free, excluding postage costs".
Your rights under English law, under the sale of goods act say something like [excuse the extreme paraphrasing], a product should last a reasonable amount of time, if it doesn't then you're entitled to a refund or replacement.
Replacing the HDD should not IMHO void your rights under law, providing YOU don't damage the machine.
The warranty is different. It is usually above and beyond your statutory rights, and the manufacturer or retailer can impose whatever terms and conditions they want, (provided they're legal). Clauses saying opening the case will void the warranty may well be present.
IANAL, YMMV, RTFriendlyWarranty :-)