SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty years ago, Gene Hanfling bought a set of blinds for the skylight in his downtown Salt Lake apartment. Two months ago, they failed.

“You can see how much the blinds were bowing — right down the center line,” Hanfling said as he pointed to the damage. “They weren’t even closing properly.”

Good thing Hanfling held onto both his limited lifetime warranty statement and the original receipt. But, when he called the manufacturer, he said he was told “lifetime” doesn’t apply to every part.

“’There may be a cord inside the center, and if that cord failed, that’s only warrantied for seven years,’” Hanfling said a rep told him.

“Which I don’t see anywhere in here,” he said, looking at the warranty. “Yeah, it’s not in the language.”

When he pushed back, he was given a

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