Two year guarantee on all consumer goods

I have a question regarding warranties & my rights...hope someone can help. First I have just been looking around on the EU website for warranty info and came across this snippet:


In late 2002 I purchased hearing aids to the tone of around €5,000 a pair & 13 months later one of the microphones went kaput and the hearing aid had to be sent back to Denmark for repair and I was told they were out of warranty & so I had to pay €200 repair fees. My question is was this directive in effect in Germany in 2002 & if so can anything be done now at this late date?

Thanks..

Apparently it was. According to this website: http://www.evz.de/UNIQ121017011227405/doc670A.html, Germany, Finland and Austria were the only countries to incorporate it into national law on time: i.e. by 1 January 2002.


Maybe the following places could help you:

• your local consumer centre http://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/
• the Danish Consumer Council http://www.forbrugerraadet.dk/english/
• the European Consumer Centre in Kiel http://www.evz.de/UNIQ121017043527266/doc76A.html

Ok thanks for the help, will give it a go.

If you purchased them in Germany then the 2 year warranty is valid.If however you pay the money then under the eyes of the German Law you have accepted responsability.

Addendum to the Guarantee issue...

Our car had a recall action under 2 years ago and the clutch was replaced. The "new" clutch went again last week and I had to fork out 1,500€ for a new one. I tried to argue my case that the "recall" clutch should have a 2 year guarantee from the time it had been replaced. Not so, as it was a recall and I didn't pay anything for the recall action the replaced item is not guaranteed under German law. Guarantees only apply if you actually paid for the item...

It's even trickier. The dealer(s) HAVE to give you a 2 year guarantee, but the manufacturer(s) are not bound to offer a 2 year warranty as well. Also, 6 months after your purchase, YOU have to prove that the cause of the defect wasn't caused by yourself. Within the first 6 months the dealer would have to prove you broke it.

To sum it up:

0-6 months after purchase
You can go to your dealer and demand 1. a replacement 2. a free repair 3. your money back. You can choose the solution you prefer.

6-24 months after purchase
You can go to your dealer and demand 1. a replacement 2. a free repair 3. your money back. You can choose the solution you prefer, but if your dealer is a bitch he can still blame you for breaking it. You've got to prove him wrong.

99% of all manufacturers know that and therefore offer a warranty that lasts exactly 2 years and covers repairs or exchange, so the dealer can send in defective units to get them repaired for free.

About your case with the clutch: it's correct that most manufacturers share this point of view, but there are exceptions. For 1,500€ it wouldn't hurt to ask the Verbraucherzentrale.

TabulaRasa, thanks for your input. I did ask the Verbraucherzentrale. The problem is that the clutch was fixed through a recall action (for which I paid nothing). There is no warranty on that replaced clutch because I didn't pay for it...