October 13, 2005

Devries Column

Do you have to answer those nosy questions on product registration cards?

This week’s question:
I have a pet peeve that really involves an invasion of privacy. Every time I buy a new household appliance now, there is a form to fill out about the item with a lot of nosy questions. The form looks like a warranty card that obviously may be important, but the company asks a lot of questions that are none of their business. What can I do?

Sally S.
Almaden Valley

Dear Sally:
I can assure you, Sally that you are not the only one with this pet peeve. Count me in too. And I have a hunch there are many other Almadeners in this same category.

We at our house purchased two bathroom faucets recently and here are some of the questions on the “product registration card”:

Do you have a cat? Or dog?

Do you donate to charitable causes?

Which is your annual family income?

Not including yourself, what is the gender and age in years of children and other adults living in your household?

What is your occupation and that of your spouse?

What is the market value of your home?

And so on. Twenty-two groups of questions, one group with 28 sub-questions! Incredible! And it’s none of their business. These questions and 99 percent of the other questions on the “product registration card” had absolutely nothing to do with faucets! Very, very irritating, to say the least.

So, do you have to send in your own personal, private information to protect your warranty? Absolutely not. And the legal authority for that fundamental principle is California Civil Code §1793.1. It provides as follows:

“Every manufacturer, distributor, or retailer making express warranties with respect to consumer goods shall fully set forth those warranties in simple and readily understood language, which shall clearly identify the party making the express warranties, and which shall conform to the federal standards for disclosure of warranty terms and conditions set forth in the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (15 U.S.C. §2301 et seq.) and in the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission adopted pursuant to the provisions of that act.”

And here’s the good part that pertains to the so-called “product registration” card:

“If the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer provides a warranty or product registration card or form, or an electronic online warranty or product registration form, to be completed and returned by the consumer, the card or form shall contain statements, each displayed in a clear an conspicuous manner, that do all of the following:

(A) Informs the consumer that the card or form is for product registration.

(B) Informs the consumer that failure to complete and return the card or form does not diminish his or her warranty rights.

The two provisions of the law stated above are part of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act that became effective Jan. 1, 2004.

A complete copy of the current version of this law can be found in the “Consumer Warranty Protection” chapter of the California Civil Code, which starts with §1790. You can log onto the California Legislative Counsel’s Web site at www.leginfo.ca.gov. Head for the California Law section.

So you can see that not only is the consumer not required to send in the form in order to protect or guarantee his or her warranty rights, but the consumer must be told that his or her failure to complete and return the card or form does not diminish his or her warranty rights.

Having said that, you might want to complete parts of the form and send it in so as to be advised of product recalls, new versions of that product, and things of that nature.

And you certainly would want to keep your receipts and proof of purchase for all products that may pose some danger to you, or may break down, or for any proper reason you may wish to return the product. That is an entirely different topic and an important one. But just to send in some purely personal, private information in order to be placed on another junk mail list (print or electronic) is definitely not necessary. And it is an entirely different topic if you chose to participate in market surveys—that is up to you. Just so you know that you as a consumer do have options.

Donald J. DeVries
Almaden Valley

Donald J. DeVries is an attorney practicing law in Almaden Valley. If you would like him to answer your question in his next Almaden Times column, you can reach him by e-mail at don@almadenvalleylawyers.com, fax at (408) 268-6502, telephone at (408) 268-9500, or mail at, 6475 Camden Avenue, Suite 200, San Jose, CA 95120. Your matters are personal and private, so of course, he will not disclose your identity or any details about your situation. To view Almaden Times columns since 1986 visit www.almadenvalleylawyers.com. DeVries writes this column to provide you with general information about important legal matters affecting California residents—not to give you legal advice about your specific matter. No attorney-client relationship is created by these articles. The law is complex and constantly changing and varies from state to state. So you should consult an attorney before taking any action that would affect your personal or business matters.