EU Statutory Warranty -vs- Apple's (and other's) "full 12-month Warranties"

mathepac

First off this is not a pop at Apple or any other manufacturer or retailer. I was reminded of this "EU Statutory Warranty" by a post on another forum

Under EU law, the minimum warranty a manufacturer can offer a consumer is two years, known as the "EU Statutory Warranty". Under EU law the seller is obliged to administer the processing of claims under this law.

Question for boardsies - How many retailer with a presence on www.boards.ie (or elsewhere) have advertised this fact and acknowledged their legal obligations under this EU-wide law? Answers on the back of a €50 note please.

Link to article.

And remember, warranties are in addition to your rights as a consumer under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980
This is Irish law, posters in other jurisdictions need to hunt out the equivalent.

Did anyone know of this law before now and if so have you used it in discussions about faulty items purchased? It is often linked to in the fine print about the "conditions of sales" on a web-site or contract, but the issue for consumers is I believe the transparency of all the fine print when attempting to initiate a claim.

Gumbi

There are Irish laws regarding "reasonable usage". One year warranty for most things is BS.

For example, white goods (washing machine, microwave etc) have a designated lifespan of 4-7 (I think). If your product should fail after 2 years, you'd def have a case for small claims.

mathepac

I forgot to mention in my post that the issue for Extended Warranties sold by retailers / manufacturers is that the period they cover is now two years from the anniversary of the sale. Watch out for this and watch out for retailers who claim that EU law doesn't apply in Ireland because of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980.

@Gumbi thanks for you reply but I think you might need to read the OP again.

whiterebel

Its not the manufacturer, its the seller that provides the warranty if you read the article. I wonder why you put Apple up there if it wasn't a pop at Apple? Why didn't you put Zanussi or Electrolux, products I have bought in the last few months with a 1 year guarantee......?

foggy_lad

whiterebel wrote: »

Its not the manufacturer, its the seller that provides the warranty if you read the article. I wonder why you put Apple up there if it wasn't a pop at Apple? Why didn't you put Zanussi or Electrolux, products I have bought in the last few months with a 1 year guarantee......?

The new law stated that any warranty or extended warranty supplied by the manufacturer or sold by the retailer must be for two years and theretailer is responsible for dealing with all claims.

whiterebel

foggy_lad wrote: »

The new law stated that any warranty or extended warranty supplied by the manufacturer or sold by the retailer must be for two years and theretailer is responsible for dealing with all claims.

When was this law brought in?

mathepac

whiterebel wrote: »

... I wonder why you put Apple up there if it wasn't a pop at Apple? .....?

Ohhh, I dunno, maybe because the article I linked to was specifically about Apple's AppleCare warranty, but has broader applicability, which I mentioned. Maybe you missed that part?

whiterebel wrote: »

Its not the manufacturer, its the seller that provides the warranty if you read the article. ...

In Apple's case (or Dell/IBM/HP for other examples) they are both manufacturer and seller, but their respective products are also sold by retailers. Sorry if this wasn't clear to you.

foggy_lad

whiterebel wrote: »

When was this law brought in?

It is the EU directive on electric goods giving consumers two years guarantee but that was not brought in here in Ireland because our sale of goods act provides for greater and longer protection in most cases

D3sperado

The EU directive that introduced the 2 year warranty period was implemented into Irish law without mentioning any time period. As Foggy lad said the reasoning behind this seems to be that the Sale of Goods Act potentially offers greater protection that two years.

Apple actually have a good section on their website http://www.apple.com/ie/legal/statutory-warranty/ which sets out some EU laws. Pretty much every white goods manufacturer only gives a 1 year warranty period. The reason they can get away with this is because their warranty is essentially seperate from the statutory warranty period and will have a sentence in it saying something along the lines of "this warranty is in addition to and does not affect your statutory rights", so you can still rely on the legislation (though this may be a battle in itself)

whiterebel

mathepac wrote: »

Ohhh, I dunno, maybe because the article I linked to was specifically about Apple's AppleCare warranty, but has broader applicability, which I mentioned. Maybe you missed that part?
In Apple's case (or Dell/IBM/HP for other examples) they are both manufacturer and seller, but their respective products are also sold by retailers. Sorry if this wasn't clear to you.

The whole post is a bit of a jumbled mess, I wouldn't think its very clear to anyone. Sale of Goods Act applies here, not the EU directive. Contract is with the seller, they are the people you deal with in the event of a fault.

Procrastastudy

This old chestnut again?!

This is the Statutory Instrument that gives effect to the directive. I don't see two years mentioned anywhere in the SI.

I'm not an expert in how European Law becomes binding in Ireland but it's my understanding that an SI or Primary legislation is needed in the case of a directive and the SI/legislation is binding not the directive. Any corrections are most welcome.

OP are you referring to a different directive?

Interesting is section 7;

7. (1) The seller shall be liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity referred to in Regulation 5 which exists at the time the goods were delivered.

(2) In the case of such a lack of conformity, the consumer shall, subject to, and, in accordance with, this Regulation, be entitled to have —

(a) the goods brought into conformity free of charge by repair or replacement, or

(b) an appropriate reduction made in the price, or

(c) the contract rescinded with regard to those goods.

(3) In the first place, the consumer may require the seller to repair the goods or to replace them (in either case free of charge) unless this is impossible or disproportionate.

(4) Either of these remedies shall be deemed to be disproportionate if it imposes costs on the seller which, in comparison with those of the other remedy or of any other remedy mentioned in this Regulation, are unreasonable, taking into account —

(a) the value the goods would have if there were no lack of conformity,

(b) the significance of the lack of conformity, and

(c) whether the alternative remedy could be completed without significant inconvenience to the consumer.

(5) Where the remedy of repair or replacement is provided the repair or replacement shall be completed within 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 required them.

So in the case of a Laptop for work/college or a mobile phone it would seem that it being away for weeks at a time could very well be grounds for rescinding the contract. (I hate that word being used in this context! It should be repudiate.)