Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought my thermophore eight months ago. I always took care of it, and thought of it as a valuable investment --in terms of money, but also because it is very useful in my medical care. It worked very well... at first. Then it started to warm less and less. Till one day, it warmed no more. I did not worry. The manual stated that the manufacturer stood behind their products and that they had a shop in US soil full of workers willing to fix their products for free if under warranty, or repair them for $30 if past warranty. My thermophore was well within its warranty period. I sent it well packed with a copy of my original receipt. I was then, in shock, when I received a form letter that informed that my warranty did not apply because my thermophore had been manufactured over three years ago. Yet at least as far as a consumer can tell, the date of manufacture is not written anywhere in the original box, its manual, or the device itself. And, if the device spent over three years in an Amazon warehouse, is that reason to declare a product ineligible for warranty coverage? Why was this requirement never documented anywhere in the manual, in the warranty text, or the website of the manufacturer? And what about that $30 offer to fix the thermophore? I was instead, offered to be charged $40 instead. Needless to say a disappointment! This company and its product might have at some point manufactured excellent products, but seems that the pernicious temptation to destroy customer loyalty by saving a few bucks has seeped in... This is a manufacturer in decline. Look elsewhere for a good heating pad.