Topic: Warranty coverage

As many of you know, Chumby Industries is effectively no longer operating as a normal business, and it thus not able to directly honor warranties on devices it sold that are still within the warranty period.

However, in cooperation with the trustee, I have taken possession of the remaining inventory of Chumby devices and am prepared to honor the warranties to the degree practically possible and as long as the inventory remains.

I am not, however, Chumby, so I cannot personally afford to simply send these units out and eat the associated costs, so what I'm asking is that customers pay for the shipping of these devices.  At this time, I cannot handle shipping of devices outside the US, but there's a small chance that may change.  I would also appreciate that the defective units be returned so they can be either be recycled or scavenged for parts.  Unfortunately, I cannot offer warranties on the replacement devices - they are provided as-is.  These are the best terms I can offer.

I can handle replacements for a small number of Chumby One and Chumby 8 devices, as well as power supplies.  I have not taken a full inventory yet, so I don't have a full count.

If you have a device under warranty that needs replacing, please contact me through the forum email link, and I'll try my best to help you.  I will not honor "I just don't like it anymore" or "the software sucks" returns or refunds - only the replacement of defective devices.

For those of you with devices that are out of warranty but in need of replacement, there isn't anything I can do for you at the moment.  Once the warranty period expires for all of the units in the field, which should be in December, then I will look into using any remaining units for replacements of out-of-warranty devices, though it will probably be a discounted price, not a free replacement.

This will only work if we all behave honorably - if this ends up being too much of a hassle or is abused, then I will simply return the remaining devices to the trustee and you can deal with with them instead.

Re: Warranty coverage

Duane,

I am constantly amazed that even after the end of Chumby Industries you continue to do everything you can help out the users. If I was in need of an employee with your skills I would offer you the best compensation package possible. Lets hope that everyone behaves and legitimate warranty requests can be resolved.

Thanks again for going above and beyond expectations!

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: Warranty coverage

Wow .. didn't know about it and what a pity to hear. Coincidentally I just put away my Chumby for good and have it advertised in a used gadget portal. What would interest me is if the app portal and the community will stay active? I wouldn't want to do an unfair sale if the potential new owner would not be able to use my ex Chumby for a while.

4 (edited by Joan Jett 2012-06-14 01:05:40)

Re: Warranty coverage

Let me just echo what Bolo said. I've never been one of the more active posters, but I have read most of the entire forum at least once. It is very, very rare to encounter an individual in Duane's postion who not only strives to act as honorably as possible given the circumstances, but who is able to communicate his thoughts over a keyboard with a clarity that belies the fact that he is not standing right in front of you. Thank you Duane, so much, for all the help and insights you have shared with the users over the years! Please try to continue checking in with the Chumby community as it continues to evolve and move in new directions!

Brian

Brian, #1 Joan Jett Fan

Re: Warranty coverage

daniello wrote:

Wow .. didn't know about it and what a pity to hear. Coincidentally I just put away my Chumby for good and have it advertised in a used gadget portal. What would interest me is if the app portal and the community will stay active? I wouldn't want to do an unfair sale if the potential new owner would not be able to use my ex Chumby for a while.


Not to worry. Your Chumby will not become a paper weight. Pretty much anyone who is actively looking for one knows what is going on and knows how to extend the life of a Chumby.

PLEASE! Don't forget to deactivate your Chumby before you sell it. Failing to do so can cause some problems for the next user.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: Warranty coverage

daniello wrote:

Wow .. didn't know about it and what a pity to hear. Coincidentally I just put away my Chumby for good and have it advertised in a used gadget portal. What would interest me is if the app portal and the community will stay active? I wouldn't want to do an unfair sale if the potential new owner would not be able to use my ex Chumby for a while.

I would suggest deactivating your Chumby as Bolo suggested; it is possible for the new owner to do so by requesting such through the forums here, but that may be more work than they want to go through.  I also think it would be fair to let a potential buyer know that the Chumby servers will likely remain operational for a while yet, but that the company is defunct and there is the possibility of the service shutting down at some point.

What you can also tell them though, is that the Chumby is a very hackable device, and documented processes exist to make the device independent of the Chumby servers so it will continue to be functional even beyond the potential shutdown of the servers.  The Chumby community as you can see, is also fairly active, and between Zurk, myself, and a few others, there will continue to be a place for the community members to hang out and discuss Chumby hacks even if the official forums here go dark one day.

Re: Warranty coverage

Yet another round of thanks to Duane. Who ever heard of "customer service" that outlasted the company? There hasn't been any good news in this topic in a while, but Duane came up with some. I guess we just can't thank this man enough. He obviously believes in his product, as well as us users. You can't find examples like this in American business any more. He's standing by Chumby the device, even though Chumby the company has faded. He should be very proud of the Chumby. Hey, it outlasted HP's web OS by a wide margin! I hope he realizes how much the Chumby has taught some of us over the past months, improvising to back things up. Too bad they don't give awards to companies with no employees. Thanks again, Duane.

Re: Warranty coverage

Duane, my offer of a beer (or three) still stands!

Linux Guy - Occasional Chumby Hacker