Goods should conform to the descriptions and specifications provided by the seller in the contract of sale and if the product purchased does not provide the functions it is reasonably expected to, you as a consumer are entitled to a remedy.
In this regard, your rights are equally protected anywhere in the EU and you are entitled to request the seller to provide for a remedy under the relevant rules provided by means of European consumer legislation in this area.
The legal guarantee is mandatory under EU consumer law. But the seller may decide to offer the consumer additional protection by means of a guarantee, known as the commercial warranty. This is a voluntary service offered by the seller or the producer, sometimes even by a third party. It is important to note that a commercial warranty cannot affect the consumer’s rights under the EU legal guarantee.
Rather it should upgrade them, for example, by having a longer duration, covering situations not covered by the legal guarantee or offering additional services such as repair at home. It must be noted, however, that the commercial warranty protects the consumer under the conditions which are laid down in the guarantee document.
Commercial warranties have become an integral part of marketing. Both directives 1999/44/EC and 2011/83/EC on consumer rights include specific rules related to commercial warranties.
In some member states, it is more common for commercial warranties to be offered against payment than in others. Like any other thing commercial, warranties can be beneficial but there could be disadvantages as well.
‘Commercial warranties, are they worth the money?’ The European Consumer Centres in France and Germany investigated this question in cooperation with their European colleagues of the ECC Network and published results in a detailed study.
The study compares the legal guarantees and commercial warranties in EU member states Iceland and Norway. It also shows that the legal guarantee of at least two years (directive 1999/44/EC) is applied quite differently across Europe and that commercial warranties are not always beneficial.
The objective of this study is to help consumers understand their legal rights and to decide whether or not to purchase commercial warranties as well as a reminder of the possibilities given by the legal guarantees. The legal guarantee has a duration of two years from the date of purchase or delivery.
Particularly beneficial to consumers is the fact that defects that appear within the first six months are presumed to have existed on the day of purchase and sellers are liable unless they can prove it could not have arisen through normal use. Under the legal guarantee you have the right to free repair or replacement within a reasonable time frame or to a partial or total refund.
Every commercial warranty should provide additional benefits, but the provider is free to fix the conditions
If the defect arises more than six months after purchase or delivery, you will have to prove that the item did not meet its requirements, usually by getting an independent expert to perform a technical examination of the product.
Every commercial warranty should provide additional benefits, but the provider is free to fix the conditions. Therefore, before signing up for a commercial warranty, as a minimum, it is advisable that you check a number of issues, such as whether the seller has informed you about the existence of a legal guarantee.
When offered a commercial warranty, it is also important to verify and determine correctly who is offering such a warranty – whether it is the seller or the producer. It is important to establish the duration of the commercial warranty and if it covers the same period as the legal warranty.
Particularly important for commercial warranties is to determine what services are offered under their warranty and what is excluded from coverage. For example, immediate refund or no repair but automatic replacement of the product? If the warranty offers the exact same hierarchy of remedies as the legal guarantee, it might not be very advantageous, unless its duration is longer.
Other things to consider are costs covered: spare parts and labour, transport costs of the repairer or shipping costs for returning the item.
If only spare parts are covered, you will have to pay for the rest. Labour costs might be far more expensive. How much will you have to pay for shipping or technical examination of the item? When it comes to cross-border purchases, it is also important to determine if there are any geographical restrictions to the coverage under the commercial warranty.
Finally, it is also important to determine how much the warranty costs and if it is offered against payment. Compare the price of the warranty with how much the item is likely to be worth by the end of the warranty period.
Further information on this report, a summary table with an overview of the main rules governing legal guarantees and commercial warranties together with a fact sheet for Malta are available at http://eccnetmalta.gov.mt/commercial-warranties-are-they-worth-the-money/ .
This information has been provided by the European Consumer Centre Malta. The ECC-Net is a European network consisting of 30 European Consumer Centres representing EU member states and Iceland and Norway.
The network is co-funded by the European Commission and the EU member states. In addition to helping consumers in case of a complaint or dispute, members of the ECC-Net engage in joint projects in order to investigate specific business sectors.
ECC Malta is hosted by the MCCAA.
odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt
Odette Vella is senior information officer, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.