I've followed this thread since the start and while I think its unfortunate that the OP has a broken razor, however, I think its inaccurate to say that Rockwell's warranty is not valid or that they are somehow a "bad actor".
A warranty is generally a carefully crafted extension of legal rights to certain parties in certain conditions. Its a contract between a manufacturer/seller and a buyer and its usually not transferrable. It has specific terms and conditions that must be met to be legally enforceable. Shaming or coercing Rockwell into extending those legal rights to a party where the terms and conditions aren't met is a stretch. I'll grant you that there's no harm in asking and its true that some parties in the wet shaving space will extend their warranty in circumstances where it strictly speaking doesn't apply. They do this in their discretion, freely and voluntarily and as Shane of Blackbird mentioned above, its a little easier for a smaller player to do this than larger ones. Its a problem extending a warranty to a person who has no receipt, can't remember where or when he bought it or how it was paid for, they just have the broken item in their possession. Thats a tough one from Rockwell's perspective.
So here are some tips for increasing the likelihood that your warranty will be honoured:
- Remember where you bought the item;
- Inspect the item for damage before you accept it - can't do it online but for sure in a brick and mortar;
- If you purchase online then inspect the item as soon as you receive it, if its damaged contact the vendor asap with pictures;
- Pay with a credit card and keep the receipt. If you buy online, retain the electronic invoice;
- inquire with vendor first about exchange, most will do that for you and they will deal with the manufacturer;
There is so much secondary market activity in wet shaving with both hardware and software that the bigger ticket hardware makers have to limit their warranties just like any other manufacturer of products does and its common knowledge that "lifetime warranty" almost always means the life of the product in the hands of the original purchaser - read the warranty.
I am sorry that the OP has had this unfortunate experience and I am by no means suggesting that there has been any attempted malfeasance on anyone's part, but you have to agree that there has been a certain amount of carelessness on the OP's part regarding proof of purchase and I don't think its an indication of bad faith that Rockwell has chosen to rely on the strict interpretation of its warranty in this case. I appreciate that the OP has posted about his unfortunate experience with Rockwell. The takeaway that we can all learn from the OP's experience is that we should be more careful in retaining proof of purchase receipts on the off chance that a problem arises. The more expensive the product the higher the degree of care and attention to retaining receipts.
https://www.getrockwell.ca/pages/quality-guarantee
I pasted Rockwell's guarantee wording from its website (.com is the same) and the Lifetime warranty is only on the 6s, the others have a 60 day replacement guarantee and there's also a parts replacement in some cases. Its stated that the guarantee applies to a "customer's" "purchase" which means that you have to establish that you are a customer who purchased the razor - mere possession of the razor isn't enough. I would add that in my opinion, Rockwell's wording regarding its guarantee could be clearer and more explicit. The wording on their website strikes me as the victory of the marketers over the lawyers - I would have had much more explicit wording. Marketers hate that because they feel it has a chilling effect and kills the vibe.