Lexar’s Warranty System is Being Held Up by US Govt Approval

After shuttering its Lexar memory card business in June 2017, Micron sold the brand just 3 months later to the Chinese flash storage company Longsys and now Lexar cards are back from the grave. But Lexar is still waiting for US government approval, and the brand’s warranty process is at a standstill because of it.

A few months ago, photographer Nick Stern purchased a couple of Lexar SD memory cards and then discovered them to be faulty when his camera and computer would no longer detect them.

When Stern contacted Lexar, he was told that the company is only issuing refunds and not replacements right now due to changes going on behind the scenes.

“We are currently experiencing difficulties with fulfilling warranty obligations,” the tech support rep told Stern. “This is due to a large amount of changes to the systems we utilize for replacements and refunds.

“We are not able to offer a replacement at this time. However, we can offer to provide a refund […] for your Lexar memory cards.”

Stern then provided a PayPal email address and was told that his refund was on the way. After days of no followup, Stern contacted Lexar again and was told that Lexar is currently not able to issue any refunds until it receives United States government approval.

“Due to the sensitive nature of the CFIUS requirements, we must have official review and approval from the U.S. Government before we can move forward,” the rep replied. “Once this review is complete, we will begin issuing refunds to customers right away.

“We look forward to issuing your replacement or refund with approval from the U.S. Government.”

CFIUS stands for Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and it’s an inter-agency committee that reviews national security implications of foreign investments in US companies.

Confused, Stern asked, “Can anyone please explain what a refund of $32 for 2 cards purchased from Amazon has to do with the CFIUS?”

“Your RMA will be affected because we are owned by a Chinese based company called Longsys,” the rep responded. “The restrictions that have been put in place are in regards to foreign policy. Again, due to the sensitive nature of the CFIUS requirements, we must have official review and approval from the U.S. Government before we can move forward.”

So if you find faulty new Lexar cards on your hands, you may want to seek help from the retail outlet that sold the cards to you until Lexar’s business is given the green light by the government.