[sspiff]

I'm in Europe, but it may well be that a similar law is in effect here. However, a lot of consumers (me included) wouldn't know about that, and companies try to get out of repairs that they are legally required to perform.

Take a look at Apple's warranty: they claim to provide only 1 year of warranty, while European law requires them to provide two years. They will repair your device in the second year (it's the law!). However, I bet their confusing labeling etc. will cause a lot of people to believe their warranty has expired. Those people will either not ask for a free repair or pay their shop to repair the device.

[freehunter]

In the US, Magnuson-Moss is often referred to as "the lemon law" (a defective product that can't be repaired is colloquially called a "lemon"). Specifically, "the lemon law" refers commonly to cars that have issues the dealer didn't specify before the sale and will not/can not fix.

Problem is, the FTC requires you to have a lawyer file a lawsuit and coordinate your legal costs and representation with the FTC, generally requiring a lawyer specifically dealing in lemon law cases. I've been down this path with a defective cell phone (HTC Touch Pro) and trying to get my carrier to replace it, and it's impossible to find a lemon law lawyer that deals in anything besides used car sales.

As always, the law is well intentioned but enforcement is next to impossible, just like you said.