Nokia phones warranty period extended to account for COVID-19 disruption

The novel coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our normal ways of life, especially businesses and schedules that have more or less been running smoothly just a few months ago. Many companies, particularly banks and network operators, have offered customers some grace period for bills that are due during quarantine periods. So far, those extensions have only applied to things that have to be paid. Now HMD Global is extending that same practice to things that are also expiring in the next few weeks: your phone warranty.

During days when you're stuck at home and most businesses and services are closed, the last thing you need is to worry about the devices that keep your world going round. That's why software developers like Google and Microsoft are trying to hold off on making big changes that could suddenly render critical apps and operating systems unusable.

HMD Global is now doing the same thing for Nokia-branded phones, both its more popular Android smartphones as well as its feature phone revivals. For those phones whose warranties will expire between March 15 and May 15, the manufacturer is giving an extended warranty period of 60 days. At the latest, that would mean the latest warrant would expire in mid-July.

Additionally, customers in the US and Europe still have access to the company's online repair and return services during his period. This removes the need for owners to take the risk to go to repair centers, authorized or otherwise, which may not even be open at this point anyway. They can simply have their phone shipped, repaired, and then returned within a certain time period.

This extended warranty announcement is definitely welcome at a time when users might be stressed about the uncertainty imposed by due and expiry dates. Hopefully, other manufacturers will also make such commitments to show that not only are they protecting the health of their employees but are also thinking about the sanity of their customers.