Q: I recently bought a second-hand mobile phone, and the person who sold it to me informed me it still had a one-year guarantee. I confirmed this with the company the phone was originally bought from, which scanned the mobile’s barcode and verified the exact date when it was bought.

The phone needs to be repaired, but the company is refusing to undertake free repair without the guarantee papers. Unfortunately, the person who sold me the phone did not give me the guarantee documents.

Do I have any legal rights in such a situation?

A: Usually, when we buy a second-hand product from another consumer, this is bought as tale quale and should a problem with the product arise, legally we don’t have any rights.

However, since in your case the company can confirm that the phone was originally bought from them and that its commercial guarantee is still valid, it should not bring any excuses, as it should know what the guarantee covers.

Should you not manage to solve this problem with the company, you may file a complaint with the Office for Consumer Affairs by sending an e-mail to fair.trading@gov.mt.

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