CREATIVE PRODUCTS WARRANTY RETURN POLICY 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Prior to warranty holder ( You ) making any warranty service return of a Creative product ( Product ), You are strongly advised to first: check the available self-help options on the Creative Support Web Page www.creative.com/support for Your Product model. Self-help options may assist You in promptly resolving the more common issues encountered. This may save You the time and money otherwise involved in sending Your Product to our Service Center. back-up Your information in Your Product that is capable of storing data. Creative is not responsible or liable for any data stored on the Product that is lost, deleted or becomes otherwise inaccessible. All data may be deleted from the Product during servicing. Our Service Center does not back-up Your information nor perform any data retrieval or recovery as part of warranty servicing. 2. SERVICING OF PRODUCT If You have confirmed that Your product requires a warranty service, You can submit an on-line Warranty service request directly to Creative or return to your retailer for warranty service. For all Products under warranty sent to the authorized service center for servicing, Creative will at its sole discretion, perform one of the following: (i) Service or repair the Product; (ii) Replace Product with a new or refurbished product of the same model; (iii) Replace Product with a new or refurbished product model of equivalent value. Where we service or repair the Product under a valid warranty, You will not have to pay for any labor charge or replacement parts. Where we service or repair the Product that is not under a valid warranty, there are service charges (see Section 11 Out-of-Warranty charges). 3. WARRANTY RETURN PROCEDURE We do not facilitate walk-in warranty returns at any service center. All warranty returns must be requested online via the Creative Support Web Page (http://www.creative.com/support). After You would have completed/submitted your return request you will be issued with a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number. It is very important that your RMA number is visible on the outside of your parcel so we can easily identify your return. Any warranty return Product without a valid RMA number will be rejected. We reserve the right to return the Product without examination, servicing, repair or replacement, and to charge You for pre-paid shipping (or other transportation) costs. 1
All returns must be enclosed with a copy of proof of purchase of the Product by a dated itemized receipt to be eligible for this limited warranty. You should retain the original proof of purchase for the duration of the Warranty Period. Returns without a copy of the proof of purchase may be deemed as out of warranty and will require payment of a service fee (see section 12 Failure to Make Payment). Ensure You carefully pack Your Product so it reaches the authorized service center without damage. As Creative is not responsible for damages incurred in shipping, we recommend you securely pack the product in a box using bubble wrap, foam or packing peanuts. Damage to Your Product caused during shipment or while in transit to the service center will result in a deemed Warranty-Void situation. Creative or its authorized service center will inspect your product. If Creative determines based on the inspection that the product does not require servicing and/or replacement, Creative reserves the right to return the product to you as it is. A minimum non-refundable diagnostic and handling fee will be payable by You if Creative determines that Your Product is not in need of repair or it is warranty-expired or warranty-void. In the event that You fail to make the payment within three (3) months from the date the fee is quoted to you, Creative will dispose of the Product permanently without notice and liability to You. 4. SEND ONLY THE REQUIRED ITEMS You need only return the defective Product, as indicated in your warranty return request, to the service center. Creative is not responsible for other products or accessories returned with the defective item. Do not enclose cables, CDs or other equipment, as these may not be replaced or returned to you. For DOA (Dead On Arrival) cases, You are required to send to the service center all the contents intact in their original condition, including the Product, accessories, manuals, packaging, outer box and all other items received. 5. RMA NUMBER VALIDITY PERIOD A RMA Number is only valid for Thirty (30) calendar days from issue date. You need to ensure the Product reaches the service center before the expiry date. Creative reserves the right to reject the Product should it arrive after the RMA expiry date. In some cases, an e-mail may be sent to You for clarification or for payment purpose and requiring You to respond within a stipulated period. Any non-response or late response may result in the Product returned without being serviced or withheld at the service center until full payment is made. 6. WARRANTY REQUEST INFORMATION Any change to the address for return of the serviced Product or other change for that particular transaction is not permitted once a RMA number has been issued. Therefore it is important that You key in Your details correctly. Please contact Creative Customer Support Service via the Creative Support Web Page (http://www.creative.com/support) should You require to make any changes on Your warranty request. DO NOT USE A HOTEL/PO/FBO/APO BOX ADDRESS - Deliveries from the service center to boxes at any Post Office (PO), Fleet Post Office (FBO), Army Post Office (APO), Hotel or other such addresses 2
cannot be arranged. You must therefore ensure not to use such addresses for the warranty return ticket. Otherwise, it may take a much longer time for the serviced Product to reach the re-directed address. Creative reserves the right to charge You additional administration and shipping (or other transportation) fees for such cases. 7. COST OF SHIPPING You shall bear cost, inclusive of any duties and taxes, of shipping (or other transportation) of the Product to the authorized service center for any RMA return. Creative shall bear the cost of shipping (or other transportation), inclusive of any duties and taxes, from the service center back to You after completing the warranty service. 8. RISK OF LOSS OR DAMAGE You are responsible for arranging shipping (or other transportation) to the authorized service center and all the costs involved. Risk is only transferred to us when the service center receives the warranty return Product (please see Section 9). Prior to that, we are not responsible for the Product, including any damage or loss during shipment or while in transit. We are responsible for arranging shipping (or other transportation) from the service center to the designated address provided on the warranty return request and the costs involved, unless otherwise stated in writing. Risk is transferred to You upon delivery at the designated address irrespective of the recipient who acknowledges or takes delivery of Your Product. 9. PRODUCT ARRIVES AT SERVICE CENTER DAMAGED OR WITH DISCREPANCIES You must ensure the warranty return Product and the Product which You declare to get the warranty return service are one and the same. You should also declare any pre-existing or user-induced damage to minimize the need for investigation and further processing. Otherwise, the service center may not service and return the serviced Product within the typical turnaround time stipulated in Section 13 (Service Turnaround Time). If You fail to declare pre-existing or user-induced damage when requesting a warranty return or if Your Product is damaged during shipment or while in transit, we will e-mail You requesting payment of a Warranty-Void fee to service the Product. The determination by the service center on what amount to pre-existing damage or user-induced damage or otherwise is final even if You are able to produce supporting evidence to the contrary or the evidence is inconclusive. 10. PRODUCT MODEL TRANSITION From time to time, certain Product models will reach End of Service Life. This means that in spite of a valid warranty, any warranty returns for such Product models may not be serviced, but may be replaced by a more recent model, equivalent-price range product as solely determined by us. The warranty return procedure to follow is the same. 3
11. OUT-OF-WARRANTY CHARGES Depending on the age of your product and the availability of parts, it may be possible for Creative to provide an out-of-warranty repair or replacement service for a fee. Please refer to Creative Support Web Page http://www.creative.com/support or contact Creative Customer Support Service for the charges applicable for Your Product model. 12. FAILURE TO MAKE PAYMENT You may be required to make credit card payment for certain warranty return cases, such as for servicing of Warranty-Void, or Warranty-Expired products. Should You fail to make payment, we reserve the right: Not to process the warranty return request. Not to process the warranty returned Product received and shall return to You as it is. Withhold the Product that has been serviced until full payment is made. In the event that the required payment is not made within 3 months of sending You a notification, Your Product will be treated as unwanted and may be handled as we deem fit, including permanent disposal, without notice and liability to You. You shall have no claims against us and would still be obliged to pay for services rendered. 13. SERVICE TURNAROUND TIME Generally, the RMA turnaround time is 10-15 business days from the day it was received. If no product is received after 15 business days, please contact Creative Customer Support Service via the Creative Support Web Page http://www.creative.com/support for further assistance. 14. SERVICE STATUS Upon a successful RMA being issued and sending Your Product to the service center, You may check the service status at Creative Support Web Page. 15. INSPECTION OF SERVICED PRODUCT Immediately upon delivery of the serviced Product, You are to check the packaging and the serviced Product. Should there be any significant damage to the packaging or obvious condition concerns with the serviced Product, You may decline to take delivery and immediately contact Creative Customer Support Service for assistance. By any recipient taking delivery of the serviced Product at the designated address, You are deemed to have accepted that the serviced Product from the service center is proper, correct and in good condition. 4
If You encounter any defect after taking delivery of the serviced Product, You would need to raise a new warranty return request and re-send the Product to the service center for further servicing in accordance with the applicable warranty terms. 16. REFER TO LIMITED HARDWARE WARRANTY ACCOMPANYING PRODUCT From time-to-time, we may update this Warranty Return Policy without notice. In such a situation, we will still process Your warranty return request according to the most current Limited Hardware Warranty Policy and Warranty Return Policy at Creative Support Web Page. However, the terms of the Limited Hardware Warranty or other warranty document accompanying the Product, including any updates, shall take precedence over the online policies. 17. CONTACTING US ON WARRANTY RETURN POLICY If You have any questions or wish to clarify on our Warranty Return Policy, please contact Creative Customer Support Service via the Creative Support Web Page http://www.creative.com/support for further assistance. 5