Class Action: Gillette, Venus, Braun, Oral-B Warranties Contain Illegal ‘Tying Arrangements’ that Prohibit Certain Repairs

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Procter & Gamble and subsidiary Gillette face a proposed class action that alleges the companies have unlawfully tied the validity of their consumer product warranties to the use of only authorized repair services or replacement parts.

The 17-page lawsuit says the so-called “tying arrangements” wielded by the companies, who make and sell products under the Gillette, Venus, Braun and Oral-B brands, violate state and federal law and are not immediately apparent to buyers at the point of sale.

The plaintiff, a Shirley, Massachusetts resident, claims to have bought a Braun electric shaver in June 2019 under the belief that he would be able to repair the product himself if it malfunctioned. The consumer was unaware, the suit says, that any self-repair to the shaver was prohibited under the terms of the product’s warranty.

“Defendants disclosed on the packaging that the Product included a one-year limited warranty but did not disclose that the warranty included an unlawful repair restriction,” the complaint says, claiming the plaintiff would not have purchased the shaver, or would have paid substantially less for it, had he known the full nature of the defendants’ warranty. 

According to the lawsuit, the defendants condition warranty coverage on the usage of their own repair services. The companies’ warranties include specific language that states that a warranty “becomes void if repairs are undertaken by unauthorized persons and if [brand] parts are not used,” the suit states.

According to the case, Procter & Gamble and Gillette, by conditioning their warranties in this manner, have violated the tying ban in the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which prohibits a company from conditioning its warranty on a consumer’s use of any article or service, other than one provided free of charge under the warranty, identified by brand, trade or corporation name.

The lawsuit looks to cover all U.S. buyers of Gillette, Venus, Braun and Oral-B products that came with a warranty provision prohibiting self-repair and/or the use of unauthorized parts.

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