Tamron’s 6 year warranty is a great claim to fame and provides much needed security to those who might be more cautious towards 3rd party lenses. However, just like the famous quote from Tommy Boy, “A guarantee is only as good as the man who writes it” and unfortunately, Tamron, has built in quite a few exceptions to its guarantee. Continue past the break for the breakdown.

Tamron’s 6 year warranty is a great claim to fame and provides much needed security to those who might be more cautious towards 3rd party lenses. However, just like the famous quote from Tommy Boy, “A guarantee is only as good as the man who writes it” and unfortunately, Tamron, has built in quite a few exceptions to its guarantee.

Of course the Tamron guarantee is limited, so are the warranties of virtually every brand. But most brands use the warranties as a guide or general policy to prevent abuse, but commonly stand behind their product or service when required. The largest example with this is with the used lens market. While technically, all second hand lenses are not covered by the manufacture warranties. Many companies chose to make exceptions in cases where the manufacture is clearly to blame. I have in the past worked with companies like Canon and Amazon that go the extra step to ensure that the product or service is up to standards, regardless of the particular polices.

Here is the case. An open box Tamron lens less than 90 days old sold from an authorized reseller, with a legitimate serial number, and an unfiled warranty card, is technically not covered from manufactures defect. This is where the policy comes before the product. We all know that there is nothing that should theoretically stop an unused but still ‘used’ lens from being insured from the manufacture (especially one that claims a 6 year warranty) from manufacture’s defect, but due to the policy at hand, Tamron will not accept it. While other companies make exceptions in these cases to stand behind a product instead of a policy, Tamron will not.

What does this mean to you? Well, apart from my case in question, extra care should be made in reading the warranty coverage document in Tamron products. In the case that Tamron finds a method of blaming the policy (physical damage, wear & tear, used), they will. No matter what the repair, how old the lens, or what the condition, you can count on Tamron to honor the policy and not the product.

Unfortunately for us, the Warranty Policy protects Tamron just as much as it protects us with exceptions for almost everything in the books that could go wrong. What customers need, especially when purchasing 3rd party items, are companies that stand behind their products rather than policies; Companies that will acknowledge when a problem affects their product and do everything in their power to fix it. No one expects 100% of products to work 100% of the time, but we do want manufactures to fix the issues when they occur. Thankfully, some companies still do. In my case, Amazon has gone out of their way to fix an issue that was hardly theirs to begin with. Amazon has gone outside of their ‘policy’ and offered a solution to a problem that should have been handled by Tamron. Canon & Nikon have also been known to honor and fix their products instead of reaching for exceptions. While I have not personally contacted Sigma in these cases, others have told me that their services have improved. It is unfortunate that the 6 Year Tamron warranty is just a document and not a statement from the manufacture that they stand behind the products they make.