How to keep track of your warranties (and actually use them)

Most warranty claims fail for boring reasons: no proof of purchase, a faded receipt, or the warranty ran out last month. Here's a simple system to keep every warranty ready to use.

By Memento · Updated 1 November 2026 · 3 min read

You pay for a warranty every time you buy a fridge, a phone or a laptop. It's built into the price. Yet when something breaks, a lot of people never claim it. The product still had months of cover left, but the receipt was nowhere, or nobody remembered when it was bought.

A warranty only helps you if you can prove it. This guide shows what to keep, where to keep it, and how to make sure you know before a warranty runs out.

Why warranty claims fail

No proof of purchase. Almost every manufacturer and shop asks for the receipt or invoice. Without it, many will refuse, or only offer a paid repair.
The receipt faded. Most till receipts are printed on thermal paper. Heat, sunlight and time turn the print pale, and after a year or two some are blank. A receipt you kept carefully can still be useless.
Nobody knew the dates. The fault started in month 23 of a 24-month warranty, but by the time anyone checked, it was month 26.
Missing details. Some claims need the model and serial number, or the warranty card stamped by the shop. Those get lost with the box.

What to keep for every warranty

For anything you'd be upset to pay for twice, keep these together:

The receipt or invoice, showing the shop, date and price.
The warranty card, if there is one, with the shop's stamp or signature.
The model and serial number. They're on a sticker on the back or bottom of the product, and often on the box.
The warranty length and what it covers: parts, labour, or both.
Any registration email, if you registered the product with the manufacturer.

Make a digital copy on the day you buy

The single best habit is to photograph the receipt and the warranty card the same day, before the print has a chance to fade. A clear photo is accepted by most shops and service centres, and you can't lose it in a drawer.

Take the photo flat, in good light, with all four corners in the frame. If the invoice runs over several pages, keep them together as one file rather than three loose photos. Keep the paper original too, somewhere dry and away from heat; a digital copy is your backup, not a reason to throw the original away.

Try it: Image to PDFTurn photos of certificates, IDs, receipts or any document into one PDF, under the KB limit you need.

Know when each warranty ends

A pile of receipts doesn't tell you anything about dates. Work out the end date once, when you save it: the purchase date plus the warranty length. Then set a reminder a few weeks before that day.

Why a few weeks before? Because that's when to check the product properly. Small problems that you've been living with, a noisy compressor, a weak battery, a sticky key, are still free to fix inside the warranty and expensive the day after.

Memento: receipts, warranties and bills, rememberedSnap it, and Memento fills in the details, reminds you before dates run out, and backs up to your own Google Drive. Free for Android.Get it free

Making a claim

Check the warranty is still valid and the fault is covered. Accidental damage and water damage usually aren't.
Contact the shop or the manufacturer's service centre. The warranty card or the manufacturer's website says which one handles claims.
Send or show the receipt, the warranty card and the serial number. Describe the fault and when it started.
Keep a note of every call and email, with dates and reference numbers.

If the shop says the warranty is the manufacturer's problem, or the other way round, ask them to put it in writing. In many countries consumer law gives you rights against the seller as well, separate from the manufacturer's warranty. Your local consumer protection office can tell you what applies where you live.

A system that takes one minute per purchase

When you buy something with a warranty: photograph the receipt and card, note the model, the end date and the reminder, and put the paper in one folder at home. That's it. When something breaks, everything you need is in one place, and you'll know the answer to "is it still under warranty?" in seconds.

Memento was built for exactly this. Snap the receipt, and it reads the shop, price, date and warranty length for you, works out when the warranty ends, and reminds you before it does.