Tesoro's warranty policy is a two edged sword

[dan b]

If you buy a new Tesoro, it's great (generally). If you have issues that they feel shouldn't happen under normal use, not so much. But for the most part, the warranty is good.

However, if you buy a Tesoro 2nd hand that might only be 1 week old, then it's a bad policy. The second that machine changes hands it's no longer protected by warranty. The other manufacturers have a better warranty policy from the perspective of protecting the machine. I don't know what percentage of Tesoro's end up sold, but I would think that there are a fair number of machines out there, some pretty new, that are not protected by warranty.

The other manufacturers have better warranties if you look at it from that perspective. It might force more new sales, but it also might force the used buyer to look at products that still have warranty coverage.

Perhaps a better policy would be to provide a 2 year warranty on the machine, but lifetime to the original buyer. That could easily be controlled by having a used buyer register to transfer the limited warranty into his name. It would be easy to keep track of all that with a simple spreadsheet on their end.

Just thinking out loud...

Dan

 

[tab-nabit]

Look back at folks who were not the original detector owner and many times you find Tesoro made good fixing the detector.
Sometimes the detectors are no longer current models and there is a good chance they will fix & tune it no charge. Original owner or not.

 

[MarkCZ]

Some companies do have transferrable warranties, but not lifetime!
Others have five year warranties, but they are not transferrable at ALL! not even 10 minutes of pre-owned!
Many people thought that the Tesoro detectors had a lifetime warranty like a Craftsman 1" boxed end wrench, just having it in your hand meant you had the rights to a FULL warranty, tnd that was NEVER true! although they were lots of reports of Tesoro taking care of some problems of down lined owned units, they didn't have to!
They were not doing it under any rights of warranty! they were just being kind hearted to help their customer's as much as they could.

If, your looking at the other brands that are offering transferrable warranties, you'll find that your looking at Detectors that cost upwards towards a thousand dollars or more, even then its not a lifetime warranty.

Now, if you would like to pay $1,000.00 for a Tejon, or $750.00 for a Compadre I'm sure that Tesoro would be willing to extend their warranty polices.

They have a very fair price on their units,
They offer a Lifetime Warranty to the original owner (that's hard to find in todays world),
The resell value of their used units is very good because the company with take care of service issues at a very affordable price Way Down The Road.

Mark

 

[ken ward]

Like MarkCZ said. Ihave bought a few used Tesoros from people here on this web. Never anything wrong. I called Tesoro to see if they would check it out for me. I told them to let me know how much it would cost.
Well, I sent them in and they did not want anything to check them out . They would even tune them up. No charge. Also no charge for postage. I done that with another brand detector I got used. I called that company and they wanted $50.00 just to check it out and tune it up. I sent it in to have it checked and tuned. They did a good job, but it cost me $50.00.. I do not mind to pay to have something checked out.
And I will pay. How often do you hear of a New Tesoro being bad. If it is they will fix it. That thing will last a life time if you do your part and take care of it. That is how I feel... KEN

 

[MarkCZ]

n/t

 

[Scanman]

The resell value of their used units is very good

From my observations, the resale value is incredible on the Compadre and the Silver, I regularly see sales of 30 bucks less than the cost of a new unit. On all other units, in general, it seems the resale value is half of the cost of new, which seemed to have been confirmed, when speaking to RH, and he offered half price trade in value of my excellent condition LST.

I am not sure what to read into this? Is the detector really only worth half the cost, without any warranty? Are new owners paying an inflated cost just for the lifetime warranty?

From my non scientific observations, it seems to me, other detectors manufacturer's hold their value better?

If a prospective new owner, that is more interested in upgrading their detector every couple years to have newer technology, than opposed to hanging on to a dinosaur for life, then why buy new?

I think the Warranty is a double edged sword for Tesoro as well.

 

[Neil]

Some companies do have transferrable warranties, but not lifetime!
Others have five year warranties, but they are not transferrable at ALL! not even 10 minutes of pre-owned!
Many people thought that the Tesoro detectors had a lifetime warranty like a Craftsman 1" boxed end wrench, just having it in your hand meant you had the rights to a FULL warranty, tnd that was NEVER true! although they were lots of reports of Tesoro taking care of some problems of down lined owned units, they didn't have to!
They were not doing it under any rights of warranty! they were just being kind hearted to help their customer's as much as they could.

If, your looking at the other brands that are offering transferrable warranties, you'll find that your looking at Detectors that cost upwards towards a thousand dollars or more, even then its not a lifetime warranty.

Now, if you would like to pay $1,000.00 for a Tejon, or $750.00 for a Compadre I'm sure that Tesoro would be willing to extend their warranty polices.

They have a very fair price on their units,
They offer a Lifetime Warranty to the original owner (that's hard to find in todays world),
The resell value of their used units is very good because the company with take care of service issues at a very affordable price Way Down The Road.

Mark

Not true Mark. There are several detectors by a couple of manufacturers in the $500 and less range that offer transferable warranties. You dont have to spend $1000 or more to get that.
I think Dan has a great idea there.

 

[dan b]

Maybe some of you haven't heard about Tesoro's new policy. If you are not the original owner, there is no more tuning or fixing just because they are nice guys. It's $50 just for them to take a look, and it goes up from there. The detector could be 1 week old, and if you didn't buy it new, it has no warranty.

 

[REVIER]

From what I can see and have noticed on a few newer posts and remembering many that were older this is what I think is the current state of the warranty policy at Tesoro.
It is true and well documented that most of the time anyone that owned a Tesoro, original owner or not, if it was not a model that was way out of date with parts hard to come by or unavailable, or broken through certain kinds of severe abuse like dropping it in a lake, the Tesoro people were happy to fix, repair or service those units fo nothing else than the shipping charges paid for by the current owner back to the factory more often than not.
I have actually seen posts from Tesoro representatives that did not state this exactly for legal reasons, but heavily alluded to this and you understood this if you were good at reading between the lines.

Now it appears this policy has recenty changed, slightly, and there indeed "might" be a charge for parts or service if you are not the original owner.
Not a ripoff, crazy amount of charges for parts and/or service, but some.
Maybe not all the time, either, but I have read a few getting charged...something.

I don't blame them at all, the current state of the economy and cost of parts and shipping nowadays they finally stood back and looked at all this free service they have done over the years for second and third owners and did the math and finally got a better idea what it has cost them.
The goodwill and reputation they have achieved because of this policy has been priceless, but the way business's are run in the present environment calls for a leaner run ship with a sharper eye on the bottom line.

Still a great company, still have the best original warranty on the market, and even with this change still a fantastic company with products that I wouldn't think twice buying used.
They still understand what customer service really means.

 

[WV62]

If you want to stay in business you can't just keep fixing everything for nothing.

 

[dan b]

I don't believe it's optional. $50 minimum fee no matter what the issue. They expect you to produce the receipt to prove you are the original owner or you pay the $50. I don't blame them. James ran Tesoro with his heart. Vince seems to be more business minded, which is what you need to do to stay in business.

My only point is that to buy a newer used Tesoro is to buy a machine with no warranty whereas others will possibly provide you with some warranty protection. In that scenario Tesoros warranty policy is weak.

 

[Scanman]

I think it just made more business sense, while they were gaining name recognition, to be more lenient with their warranty. I am sure Tesoro never foresaw folks earning a living, selling used, just back from the factory, repairs on ebay.

 

[MarkCZ]

Some companies do have transferrable warranties, but not lifetime!
Others have five year warranties, but they are not transferrable at ALL! not even 10 minutes of pre-owned!
Many people thought that the Tesoro detectors had a lifetime warranty like a Craftsman 1" boxed end wrench, just having it in your hand meant you had the rights to a FULL warranty, tnd that was NEVER true! although they were lots of reports of Tesoro taking care of some problems of down lined owned units, they didn't have to!
They were not doing it under any rights of warranty! they were just being kind hearted to help their customer's as much as they could.

If, your looking at the other brands that are offering transferrable warranties, you'll find that your looking at Detectors that cost upwards towards a thousand dollars or more, even then its not a lifetime warranty.

Now, if you would like to pay $1,000.00 for a Tejon, or $750.00 for a Compadre I'm sure that Tesoro would be willing to extend their warranty polices.

They have a very fair price on their units,
They offer a Lifetime Warranty to the original owner (that's hard to find in todays world),
The resell value of their used units is very good because the company with take care of service issues at a very affordable price Way Down The Road.

Mark

Not true Mark. There are several detectors by a couple of manufacturers in the $500 and less range that offer transferable warranties. You dont have to spend $1000 or more to get that.
I think Dan has a great idea there.

Whites and Minelabs!
and the only ones of those that I've seen transferrable warranties concerns were in the upper line models, so, I knew those had it, I never followed the mid range and down models.

And I'm sure there may be some manufactures of other brands that I don't know much about at all!
I guess I should have posted an itemized list, I was just staying in the "General" aspect of things.

Mark

 

[MarkCZ]

Some seem to be jumping from trade in value to the outright sell of a used unit!
Trade in is WAY different than buy and selling in like classified adds.

With used you have to take in condition,
Time of season,
Age of unit,
Do you know who your buying it from,
Has been modified.
All of these changes how much the unit will bring.
What I was meaning, was the used Tesoro's move (sell) very well in the classifieds, even the older models and one reason for that is the company is pretty well know for taking care of their products, warranty or otherwise.

Mark

 

[Scanman]

Just my observations on ebay, the higher end units can be found for half the cost of new. I agree, IMO there is no better detector to buy used, because with a Tesoro, unless it is a very old unit, chances are you will be able to pay to have it repaired. Thats better than having to toss it.

 

[MarkCZ]

Just my observations on ebay, the higher end units can be found for half the cost of new. I agree,

That's how I have gotten into the higher end units, I can't put a $1,000.00 in a metal detector and drive a $4,000.00 car, so I buy used.
Just like I can't afford to buy a new car @ $20,000.00 so I buy used for $7,000.00

But, some brands and models I am a bit afraid to buy because the companies just quick stocking parts for them, they don't have a problem working on them, its just the parts supply dry up, like membrane touch pads, when they are gone, they're gone!
LCD displays, when they're gone, they're gone!
Processors for a certain model, when its gone, its gone!
So, they toss out a five year warranty and when production of that model stops, they only need enough parts for FIVE YEARS, then they just can't fix it anymore. This is also a marketing strategy used by some companies, they want to SELL NEW units and not screw around with older stuff, it make more money sense to them.

Mark

 

[Neil]

Some companies do have transferrable warranties, but not lifetime!
Others have five year warranties, but they are not transferrable at ALL! not even 10 minutes of pre-owned!
Many people thought that the Tesoro detectors had a lifetime warranty like a Craftsman 1" boxed end wrench, just having it in your hand meant you had the rights to a FULL warranty, tnd that was NEVER true! although they were lots of reports of Tesoro taking care of some problems of down lined owned units, they didn't have to!
They were not doing it under any rights of warranty! they were just being kind hearted to help their customer's as much as they could.

If, your looking at the other brands that are offering transferrable warranties, you'll find that your looking at Detectors that cost upwards towards a thousand dollars or more, even then its not a lifetime warranty.

Now, if you would like to pay $1,000.00 for a Tejon, or $750.00 for a Compadre I'm sure that Tesoro would be willing to extend their warranty polices.

They have a very fair price on their units,
They offer a Lifetime Warranty to the original owner (that's hard to find in todays world),
The resell value of their used units is very good because the company with take care of service issues at a very affordable price Way Down The Road.

Mark

Not true Mark. There are several detectors by a couple of manufacturers in the $500 and less range that offer transferable warranties. You dont have to spend $1000 or more to get that.
I think Dan has a great idea there.

Whites and Minelabs!
and the only ones of those that I've seen transferrable warranties concerns were in the upper line models, so, I knew those had it, I never followed the mid range and down models.

And I'm sure there may be some manufactures of other brands that I don't know much about at all!
I guess I should have posted an itemized list, I was just staying in the "General" aspect of things.

Mark

Actually minelab and garrett I was thinking of, even though Ive had whites its been years since Ive had those and dont remember those if their warranty transfered.

 

[bik-il]

Considering the cost of labor, parts and shipping these days,
50 bucks is a bargain. It's not economically feasible to expect a company (any company, not just Tesoro) to consistently absorb such costs and at the same time wonder why there's not much news coming out of R&D about new products.
I would hate to guess at what the annual tab is for Tesoro and can only dream about what would happen if those resources went towards bringing a new machine to market
Hypothetically, a lifetime warranty ain't worth much if the company offering it goes belly-up in the process of unconditionally honoring it. If Tesoro ever falls,(God forbid) so does the warranty. Even for original owners.

 

[PostalTwo]

2nd, third owner should make no difference they should fix it free. the only exception i could see would be that the unit is older than 25 yrs and its on the second owner really if its life warranty they shouldnt need fixing. however i do understand the whole charge for a checkup thing, but if it needs fixing then it should be free. think about it sell a new unit then a year later it breaks and then no warranty for a second owner ? di selling it break it somehow? i think not .makes me rethink buying a used unit for sure, unless its like half of retail maby not even then

 

[MarkCZ]

2nd, third owner should make no difference they should fix it free. the only exception i could see would be that the unit is older than 25 yrs and its on the second owner really if its life warranty they shouldnt need fixing. however i do understand the whole charge for a checkup thing, but if it needs fixing then it should be free. think about it sell a new unit then a year later it breaks and then no warranty for a second owner ? di selling it break it somehow? i think not .makes me rethink buying a used unit for sure, unless its like half of retail maby not even then

Well that would be nice for sure, but! if I get the same warranty for a used unit, then why would I buy a new one?
One of two things happens,
The price on used would be near the price as news,
Or nobody would buy a new one unless in was newly designed model.

Mark