Introduction

About this guide

This guide describes Milestone’s return merchandise authorization (RMA) processes for Milestone Husky NVR products. The primary objective is to provide guidance to Milestone channel partners on how to service and handle warranty claims on the Milestone Husky NVR product line. The guide can also be used by end-customers to understand how warranty claims are handled.

The guide further outlines the responsibilities and activities for the different involved parties, hereunder the End-customer, Milestone Reseller, Milestone Distributor and Milestone.

Process overview

As illustrated below, the RMA process consists of two principal activities: problem assessment and mitigation, and hardware replacement. In the problem assessment and mitigation phase, steps are taken to understand the nature and source of a hardware issue. This analysis starts with a first assessment by the end-customer and may involve the Milestone Reseller and Milestone Support, if and when required.

The second activity is the replacement process through which a defective Husky NVR unit, or parts thereof, is replaced, and involves both the dispatchment of the replacement unit or part and the return of the failing unit or part.

Customer support

With the aim to provide the best possible support on our Husky NVR products, End-customers shall always contact the Milestone Reseller from whom the Husky unit was purchased as the first point of contact regarding any questions or support requests. To support the first level analysis of a potential issue, Milestone provides a range of support resources for both End-customers and Milestone Resellers: https://www.milestonesys.com/Husky-support/

Please note that any warranty obligations are conditioned by an intact warranty seal, indicating that the actual Husky unit has not been opened. It is therefore important that the unit is not opened by the End-customer or the Milestone Reseller during the initial diagnostics phase, unless specific instructions have been received from Milestone Support.

Milestone Husky Limited Warranty

All Milestone Husky NVR units are covered by a limited hardware warranty that covers defects in components, materials and workmanship in Milestone Husky NVR products, and storage drives purchased from Milestone. The warranty period is three years, unless otherwise agreed and specified, where the warranty period starts the date when Milestone ships the unit. For full details on the actual terms and conditions for the limited warranty, see the Milestone Husky Limited Warranty Agreement.

If Milestone determines that an issue is the result of a defect in materials or workmanship, but the issue is not possible to be resolved remotely, Milestone may agree to replace the product or part under the limited warranty.

Please refer to the order confirmation and purchase invoice for details about the warranty coverage period. Milestone Resellers may contact Milestone Reseller Support and Sales Support team to validate whether a specific unit or component is covered by warranty, or not.

What is replaced?

Milestone will, unless otherwise agreed (see Data Protection Replacement option) below), replace the complete Milestone Husky unit (including HDDs) as per the original purchase from Milestone. Dependent on the nature and extent of the specific hardware issue, Milestone reserves the right to replace individual components that are hot-swappable and accessible without opening the Husky NVR unit itself. When returning an individual HDD, both the HDD and the tray shall be returned.

Data Protection Replacement option

If the hardware issue concerns the barebone unit and the HDDs are fully operational, the End-customer can request a Data Protection Replacement, where the End-customer keeps the original HDDs and only replaces the barebone unit. This allows the end-customer to protect and retain the control of any recorded video data, while replacing the barebone unit.

For Milestone Husky M series units, Milestone always sends replacement units with new HDDs. If an End- customer has requested Data Protection Replacement, the HDDs mounted in the replacement unit shall be swapped with the End-customer’s existing HDDs before returning the failed unit. In this way the failed unit is returned with the HDD set received with the replacement unit, while the End-customer retains original HDDs and data to be used in the new replacement unit.

When End-customers’ requests Data Protection Replacement on Milestone Husky X series units, Milestone will only ship a new barebone unit to the customer. This allows the End-customer to shift the original HDDs to the new replacement unit, before the failed unit is returned.

The data protection handling shall be agreed with Milestone Support before the replacement is authorized and initiated. It is the Milestone Husky reseller’s responsibility to ensure that the correct products are returned according to the return authorization.

Packaging and condition of returned goods

Units and components that are returned to Milestone under these return merchandise authorization (RMA) processes shall be returned in the shipment packaging in which the replacement unit was received. If it is not possible to reuse the shipment packaging, Milestone Support shall be notified and alternative packaging shall be provided by the Milestone Reseller.

It is the responsibility of the Milestone Reseller that:

• Correct product(s) are returned to Milestone according to the return authorization given by Milestone.
  Any discrepancies are to be covered by the Milestone Reseller
• Product(s) are packaged and shipped correctly and justifiably according to the Milestone’s directions. Milestone reserves the right to accept units that have been damaged under transport, due to flawed or incorrect packaging or shipment methods.

Shipment

Milestone covers both the shipment of the replacement component or unit and the return shipment of the failed component or unit. The return shipment shall be made via the freight service prepaid by Milestone. Milestone uses different freight companies in different regions and includes companies such as: UPS and FedEx. It is the responsibility of the Milestone Reseller to arrange pickup of the failed component or unit with the appointed freight company within five business days after the reception of the replacement component or unit.

Validation of received products

As a part of the RMA process, Milestone will make a root-cause analysis of the failed products upon reception. This verification includes, but is not limited to, the examination of:

• Verification of product serial numbers
• Physical damages (originating from transport, incorrect mounting or otherwise unintended use)
• Intact and unbroken warranty seal
• Validation of the information provided to Milestone Support by the Milestone Reseller during the problem assessment phase

This validation process normally takes up to 10 business days, but there may be isolated situations where this validation takes longer.

Once the unit has been validated, the RMA procedure continues.

Out of warranty handling

If the validation process (described above) proves that the problem with the product is due to reasons outside Milestone's limited hardware warranty (for full details on the actual terms and conditions for the limited warranty, see the Milestone Husky Limited Warranty Agreement. The warranty may be voided by Milestone at Milestone’s sole discretion.

In the event that the warranty has been voided, Milestone will require payment for any replacement unit sent to the End-customer as a part of the RMA process:

• Advance RMA
  In the Advance RMA handling, Milestone will issue a separate invoicing of the Milestone Reseller for the replacement unit.
• RMA
  Milestone will not issue a credit note to the Milestone Distributor for the purchased replacement unit.

The End-customer can decide to have the product repaired by Milestone on separate expense, or have the failed product returned. Any further shipment costs related to the failed unit is to be covered by the End-customer.

Geographical variations in the replacement process

While the problem assessment is the same globally, Milestone applies geo-specific replacement processes to be able to serve the end-customer in the best possible way. The RMA process is divided into the following two geographical groups:

Milestone may work with service partners in some regions to provide parts of the RMA service described in this document.

Milestone Resources

Milestone provides a range of support resources for both End-customers and Milestone Resellers on the Milestone website. All material listed in the RMA processes in the subsequent sections are available on this support page.