Hi Plamen
As I understood: The European warranty is worldwide (1 year) but
for the the American version you have to send it to Minolta service
in the USA.
US
I was in the US recently and was seriously torn between buying a
7HI there or waiting and ordering one from Germany (I live in
Portugal). The warranty issue was a main decider for me.
I asked about the warranty in the US. It is called an
"International Warranty" and talks about a different situation
depending on whether the camera was bought in the US, Japan or some
other countries.
Sorry I'm being vague but the warranty is vague. Basically it says
that it is an international warranty, but if you buy it in country
X you will have to have it warranty repaired in country X whereas
if you buy it in country Y you can have it warranty repaired
anywhere (in countries X, Y and Z). And it lists a bunch of
countries including US and Japan, but doensn't make it clear if
these are X countries or Y countries.
It's in English and very badly worded. I asked the sales guy who
seemed quite savvy. He said it was obvious. Then I told him to read
the first paragraph of the warranty card himself. He read it and
then he admitted he had no idea what it meant.
Germany
I had read that if you buy it in Germany it has a 2 year warranty.
I phoned (and emailed) ny-camera.de to confirm this.
The guy told me that yes indeed it has a 2 yr international
warranty. If I need warranty repairs in the first 2 years I can get
it fixed here in Portugal or send it to Germany.
I'm not sure about non-EU countries. The 2yr thing is apparently
the law in Germany. Electronic devices must be sold with 2yr
warranties. Maybe if I get it fixed in Japan they will only honour
the warranty for a year even if I bought it in Germany - who knows.
Netherlands
Apparently this German 2yr warranty is an EU law. (Does anyone know
this for a fact?). This would seem to imply that it should apply in
the rest of the EU, including the Netherlands. I haven't found out
yet. Perhaps it's only German law. Perhaps it's an EU rule which is
not yet passed into law except in Germany. (Just because the EU
decrees it, doesn't mean the member states obey it - Portugal for
example flouts EU law by charging crippling taxes on new cars - but
prefers to pay the EU a heavy fine than lose the tax revenue)
I am trying to find out about the Netherlands because of the site
that Hans referred me to that currently has the camera almost 200
euros cheaper than the German site. (And I used to live in
Amsterdam - so I'm biased)
My analysis then:
If you buy in the US:
1. For certain the warranty is only one year
2. Probably you have to send it to the US for warranty repair.
