Q: Nearly three years ago my daughter and I purchased two laptops. We opted to pay for an extended warranty that covered them for three years. This guarantee will expire in a month’s time.

A few months ago my daughter’s laptop started giving us some trouble with the keyboard and the screen sometimes blacked out.

According to the guarantee, these problems are repaired free of charge by the seller. A few days ago, the screen started to black out again.

Since the guarantee is about to expire, should I request to have the laptop replaced instead of repaired? I’m worried that if the laptop is repaired and the same problem crops up, the guarantee would have expired and I can no longer claim free repair.

A: Since the two-year legal protection has now expired, your laptop is only protected by the purchased three-year commercial guarantee.

To verify if you’re entitled to ask for a replacement, you need to check the terms and conditions of the commercial guarantee.

If the guarantee allows such a remedy, you may claim a replacement but if it doesn’t, then the seller may choose to repair the laptop.

In case the only possible solution is another repair, since the guarantee is about to expire, you may try asking the seller if he is willing to extend the commercial guarantee for a few months just in case this specific problem crops up again.

This is not a legal right, so the seller may reject your request. If this happens, then you are only legally entitled to an extension of the guarantee for the period of time the guarantor had the laptop in his possession while executing the guarantee.

Once the guarantee expires, any repairs or replacements have to be paid for.