Why does HP backdate the warranty period by 2 months?

[Jack262]

I bought a laser printer at Costco on 2/23/2021.  The warranty says it covers 1 year from the purchase date.  The HP website says the warranty is expired because it has the start date as 12/23/2021, 2 months before I actually bought it.  Someone else on the forum said it's because HP doesn't start the warranty from the purchase date, but uses an earlier date such as the date it shipped the printer to the store.  Is that true?  If not, why would HP start the warranty period exactly 2 months before the actual purchase date?

[ShlomiL]

Hi,

The warranty information is calculated by the manufacturer date, unless a proof of purchase is provided to update the purchase information.

Please follow below steps to dispute the warranty by providing the purchase information:

https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/ish_2534210-1364541-16

Shlomi

[Repairatrooper]

@ShlomiL is correct.

Because of the nature of a database, there has to be some data in it so when the printer is manufactured and the serial number is entered into the database, they attach a warranty time period of 1 year plus 3 months to account for shipping and warehousing. This however is only intended as a placeholder. The act of registering your printer when purchased causes the date to be adjusted to reflect 12 months from date of purchase. If you never register, then the system has no way to know for sure when the device was sold so the warranty end date reflects the arbitrary time assigned at birth. I have seen units that out of the box show as expired because the stock has sat unsold for a long period of time.