In France, a reconditioned product is always needed. It is a product that has undergone tests to meet the legal obligations of safety and use by the consumer. Its functionalities must have been tested and, if necessary, repaired. It must have been emptied of all personal data recorded by the previous user. Since 1 January 2022, the warranty has been extended to connected products (connected watch or refrigerator, voice assistant, etc.) as well as to digital services and content. You can therefore take advantage of the legal guarantee of compliance if, for example, your connected watch, an online video game, your favorite social network, your subscription to Video on Demand (VOD) or a dating site does not work. The duration of the legal warranty: The directive offers a legal guarantee of conformity of 2 years from the date on which the item was delivered to the consumer. Most countries have introduced a 2-year guarantee of conformity, but six countries apply a longer shelf life, with 4 of them taking into account the expected lifespan of the product. In 14 countries, the period for used products can be shortened, but must not be less than 1 year.

If you choose to have the product repaired, but the seller does not, you can request a replacement. This also entails a renewal of the legal guarantee of conformity and an extension of the period for action by two years. In France, a suspension of the guarantee until 2022 under the commercial guarantee was only foreseen in the event of closure of more than 7 days. The commercial guarantee does not replace the legal guarantee of conformity or the guarantee against hidden defects. In addition, in France, commercial warranty contracts must mention the existence of the guarantee of conformity AND the guarantee against hidden defects. If you buy something for private use, for example for non-professional purposes, from a European dealer, you are entitled to a legal warranty of two years. Your rights vary depending on the date of purchase due to the new European warranty legislation (Directive 2019/771), which must be transposed into the national legislation of the different Member States. The differences are important! This type of warranty is unknown to most European sellers, as it only exists in France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Italy and Romania. A warranty is an agreement from the manufacturer that confirms that they will repair or replace an item if something goes wrong within a certain time frame after purchase.

As a rule, the manufacturer offers free warranties. The warranty statement must be clear and comprehensible, indicate the conditions of use of the guarantee, such as its duration and place of application, and include the name and address of the guarantor. At the request of the consumer, the guarantee should be provided in writing or on another durable medium. The legal guarantee is mandatory and valid throughout the EU for two years from the date of receipt of the goods. In the case of used goods, the warranty rights may not be less than one year. In addition, there is often an additional commercial guarantee. However, this is a service that dealers or manufacturers can offer voluntarily. A warranty is an obligation of a seller or manufacturer to the consumer to refund the price paid, to replace or repair the product or to act during the specified period in the manner specified in the warranty statement or corresponding advertising. The warranties are legally binding and are in addition to, but not in lieu of, your statutory consumer rights for the defective products described above. Contact your seller. It is responsible for the application of the legal guarantee of conformity. It should not send you to the manufacturer.

Do they contribute to legal protection in the EU, Iceland and Norway? ECC-Net conducted 342 inspections in 25 countries, checked 104 websites, contacted 127 stores and surveyed 543 online consumers. The results show that not all commercial guarantee offers go beyond the legal guarantee and contain numerous exclusions. The retailer of a product may offer a warranty, which is additional optional protection offered at an additional cost. It`s similar to an insurance policy – it covers the product beyond the manufacturer`s warranty period. In France, this is only possible within the framework of the legal guarantee against hidden defects. The direct liability of the seller: in many cases, the seller has passed the consumer on to the manufacturer, also for the application of the legal warranty. If you have chosen to repair the product instead of replacing it, but the seller does not pass, you can request the replacement of the goods with an extension of the legal guarantee of conformity of 2 years. The legal guarantee to which every EU consumer is entitled has been introduced in certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods.