I'll bet you could have a lot of fun in a group of lawyers at cocktail hour if you asked them the difference between warranties, guarantees, sureties, indemnities, and Mr. T. I pity de fool...
Here in the shop we see a number of these words and have occasion to bandy them about frequently. We are assisted in this by the firms representing photographic equipment manufacturers that we purchase the gear from. By and large when something goes pear-shaped and it is not the fault of the customer, the wholesalers and the firms the represent do a good job of backing things up.
Sometimes the backup takes longer than others, and like articulated lorries, they emit a series of beeping noises, but eventually all comes good. For the most part they are sports about it all and in some cases stretch the statutory warranty period to double the time period - the gear is that good these days.
Several suppliers maintain a lifetime no-quibble replacement policy for stuff that fails - this can be related to volume of supply in some cases, but again they are betting, and finding, that there is enough reliability in simple devices to back this up. The consumer can approach their products with confidence.
Likewise, if the client is the sort of person who goes through life's minefields wearing heavy shoes, there are warranty extension cards available from reputable independent firms that add extra time - and for a fee also add replacement for accidental damage that the shooter might do. It costs, but some people attract costs...
For those who prefer to shoot craps with their camera purchases...and are prepared to encounter snake eyes...there is the internet overseas bucket shop eBay PayPal Western Union approach to it all. Fortunately the worst that can happen in these cases is nothing works and you never get your money back - but that is what shooting dice is all about. It helps if you rattle the computer mouse in your hand, blow on it, and shut out " C'mon Baby! Daddy needs a new DSLR! "
If you need to see how to do it we recommend " Guys And Dolls " on Netflix.
