The guaranty

Every product addressed to consumers has a two years legal guaranty. The seller is bound to provide the consumer with a good which is perfectly working and in conformity with the characteristics advertised in the offer and expressly required by the consumer and confirmed by the seller during the purchase. In all these cases, the seller is responsible for the conformity of the good and for its functioning: this means that he will have to take care of providing the necessary repairs or technical assistance. The consumer may ask for the replacement of the defective product with a new one or with the refund of the paid price, in case it cannot be fixed within a reasonable time or in a satisfying way for the consumer.   

Besides the two years legal guaranty, envisaged by the law, the item may have a second guaranty , called a “commercial” one which is added to the first one in order to provide the product with a longer period of guaranty (i.e. for a longer period than 2 years). Such guaranty is optional, differently form the one provided by the seller, and it can only improve our rights according to the basic legal guaranty while it cannot diminish them: for example, the consumer is free to choose between bringing the item to the seller premises or the technical service according to what he thinks would be more favourable for him (i.e. where the provided guaranty is longer), but he cannot be obliged by the seller to address to one place instead of the other.     

According to this regulation, the seller is required to provide a perfectly working product and he is responsible for the defects showing within two years starting form the delivery or hand-over. Therefore, it is extremely important to keep the purchase receipt in order to be able to prove the date and the place of the purchase and in order to be able to contact the trader in case a problem occurs. Furthermore, it’d be advisable to keep a photocopy of the receipt as well, in case this one fades during the two years guaranty period.

But what happens if the good is defective? According to article 130 of the consumer code, the seller is responsible for any defect existing at the time the good is delivered. In this case, the consumer is entitled to ask the seller for the repair or the replacement of the good, free of charge in both cases, unless the remedy requested is impossible or disproportionate. The repairs or replacements must be completed by a reasonable time and without any significant inconvenience to the consumer, taking account of the nature of the goods and the purpose for which the consumer purchased the goods; for example, if I purchase a refrigerator and it turns out to be detective, the seller cannot offer to repair or replace it after six months, because this item is used every day.  The consumer may require an appropriate reduction of the price or have the contract cancelled in case the repair or replacement are impossible or disproportionate, the seller has not repaired or replaced the item within a reasonable time or in case the replacement or repair carried out caused significant inconvenience to the consumer.

It is important to remember that: as soon as we realise that the item has a defect or it is not perfectly working, we should write a letter to the seller (remember that the seller and not the producer is  responsible in such cases) reporting the defect or the problem within two months from when you have found it out. Remember that when the defects are shown during the first six months after the purchase, it is assumed that the defects (arising by six months after the delivery) already existed on that date. This makes it much easier for the consumer who is not obliged to provide a proof of the defect as he would just have to complain towards the seller about it and ask for the repair or the replacement of the good, or, in case it is not possible, for the refund of the paid sum.