Sold out Batteries and Fenders??

[roro]

On segway.com they offer the P-Series Batteries and the fenders in the Closeout Store.

What will happen when they are sold out???

What will they say, when somebody calls in 2007 and ask for a fender for his P-Series Segway which he purchased in 2006 ???

What?

Rob

[Tarkus]

On segway.com they offer the P-Series Batteries and the fenders in the Closeout Store.

What will happen when they are sold out???

What will they say, when somebody calls in 2007 and ask for a fender for his P-Series Segway which he purchased in 2006 ???

What?

Rob

Once sold "all gone".

They will say "buy an I series". The "P" doesn't meet the industrial standard that INC. now seeks.
It's to bad it had it's place.
Just my .02


Regards,
Alan

[luckie]

If the laws haven't been changed recently: I believe a vendor must support their product up to 7 years from the date of sale. Hence it seems likely Segway Inc will shelve lots of stock parts for the p Series to support folks in the future. Of course numerous parts on the p Series are identical to the i Series (in particular to the i167).

Hopefully Segway Inc will soon release a successor to the p...

The p133 was the favorite model of Dean Kamen and Doug Fields and it was the one that was "almost" affordable at $3995.

[Desert_Seg]

Doug,

I believe (but could be wrong as it has been a few years since I studied law) that the rule is based on a requirement of useful life which normally does not exceed) four (4) years, irrespective of the warranty, and is often quite lower.

The useful life is for both product and components so...

1. If a component of a major item (the battery on a Segway) has a useful life of one (1) year, then the manufacturer has to be able to support the major item (Segway) for the useful life of the longest "living" component.

2. If the Segway has a component with a useful life of four (4) years than the entire unit should last four (4) years PROVIDED you replace those items with a shorter useful life as appropriate.

3. If the unit (Segway) fails within useful life, YOU (the buyer) must prove that the failure was due to a component still under useful life IOT have the manufacturer repair the unit. If the failure is due to an out of life component that you, the buyer, are responsible. This is a VERY difficult part to prove as the burden is on the Buyer.

Also, if I remember correctly, once an item has been identified as EOL (end of life) I believe there is only a one (1) year requirement for support and services but this is true of electronic components and possibly not for a vehicle.

I'll pull out my law books (ok, just slip the old West Law CD into the Laptop) and look it up tomorrow.

Steven

Disclaimer - I studied law a few years ago and while I have attempted to keep abreast of the law I am NOT a practicing attorney nor do I claim to be one. Please ue my comments above as the opinion of a "reasonable man", just that and only that :-) (there is a little tongue in cheek there)

[Gihgehls]

Please ue my comments above as the opinion of a "reasonable man", just that and only that :-) (there is a little tongue in cheek there)

Yeah, but you're hardly average, DS!

[luckie]

Doug,
Also, if I remember correctly, once an item has been identified as EOL (end of life) I believe there is only a one (1) year requirement for support and services but this is true of electronic components and possibly not for a vehicle.

Hmmm...

Well, I based my comments on a previous experience with the Newton MessagePad produced by Apple Computer. When the Newton was EOL'ed by Steve Jobs in 1998 the laws at the time provided consumers the protection that support was required of the company for 7 years into 2005. Clearly many things, even laws ie individual rights, may have changed since.

Doug

[Desert_Seg]

Doug,

Don't take my words as gospel. I'm not only going to research it but I've also scheduled coffee with our attorneys to ask...I'll have the answer in about 90 minutes.

Another caveat, this regulation varies around the world. Whilst I studied US based law this is often very different from laws in other countries or regions (such as the EU). Additionally, each state has its own modifications to the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code). As I remember, both CA and MA make some pretty touch additions to the UCC.

Please consult your own attorney and your own state / country laws.

Also, I'm sure Inc knows all these laws / requirements / etc. They are good at what they do, after all :-)

Steven

[Desert_Seg]

Alrighty then. Just got back from the afore mentioned coffee and here is the skinnny:

1. Useful life is the driver. So the manufacturer / vendor has to be able to support your ability to repair the item during each part's useful life. However, my supposition above (that useful life is the duration of the longest lifespan) may not be entirely correct.

2. It appears there is more to useful like and the "end of life" cycle than meets the eye. Each state / country determines this separately and the number of spare components that need to be replaced can be dependent on then number of units sold.

As an example, if 1,000 widgets were sold, each with two batteries, that would make 2,000 batteries that Widgest 'R Us (WRU) might have to keep once they discountinued the item. However, since the actual failure rate of the battery is (as an example only) 3%, then WRU would only have to keep 60 batteries on hand (there is an actual formula for this but none of know or cared enough to try to find it).

Doug, we discussed your 7 year issue above and while we came to no conclusion we did determine that this might be an implied software warranty, not a hardware / repair issue. Of course, since Apple is based out of CA, and CA has some real screwy laws, we couldn't really make a determination.

One final note. If their is a long warranty / repair tail on an EOL announcement, replacement parts can (and often do) go up in price. There is NO requirement to provide components at a low price....only to provide them....so while you may be able to get a battery from WRU, it will cost you more to replace it than to nuy a new model of widget!

FWIW,

Steven

Now off to my second glide of the day...in wonderful 105 degree heat....and about 90% humidity!