Q: I would like to ask if I’m legally bound to keep boxes of products for warranty purposes. Many establishments state that the box must be kept for the warranty period for it to remain valid.

The products we buy may be covered by two types of guarantees: the mandatory legal warranty of two years and the commercial warranty, which is voluntarily given by the seller.

For a consumer to claim a remedy under the two-year legal warranty, there is no need to keep the box. If a product turns out to be defective, the consumer needs to avail himself of the remedies the law provides as proof of purchase.

On the other hand, the commercial guarantee is a voluntary guarantee given by sellers and may have specific terms and conditions attached to it.

Since the law stipulates that the commercial guarantee, when given, should put consumers in a more advantageous position than that established by law and must not adversely affect other remedies available under any other law, if a commercial guarantee stipulates that consumers lose the right to a remedy under the guarantee if they do not keep the box, such a condition is not legally enforceable.

Therefore, consumers may still avail themselves of the commercial guarantee even though they did not keep the product’s original packaging.