2 year warranty period

You may have read about it in a newspaper article or heard about it on the radio – recent news has reported that under European legislation, if a fault develops in a product within a 2 year period from date of delivery, all consumers are entitled to a free repair or replacement.

However this is not strictly true. Nowhere under the UK’s Sale of Goods to Consumers Legislation 2002, as enacted on the 31st March 2003, does it state that consumers are entitled to this.

Somewhere along the line the media have managed to mix up the European legislation and the UK legislation.

When the UK legislation was implemented in the UK, the Government decided not to implement Article 5 of the European Directive 1999/44/EC responsible for the UK’s Sale of Goods to Consumers Legislation 2002. As it happens, Article 5 is the vital part which gives consumers the right to claim a free repair or replacement for a period of up to 2 years from date of delivery.

In the UK the Sale of Goods to Consumers Legislation 2002, stated that any fault that develops with products during the first six months from date of purchase is deemed to have been present at the time of sale and therefore the consumer is entitled to some form of compensation.  This compensation can take the form of a free repair or replacement, the choice is initially up to the retailer.  After the first six months period of time the consumer has to prove that any fault was present at the time of sale.

Consumers in the UK have the statutory right to be able to claim in a court of law for a period of up to six years (five in Scotland) that the goods were faulty at the time of sale or are not of sufficient durability and therefore claiming some form of compensation.  However this does not mean that goods should not go wrong during this time or that a reasonable charge should not be made for their repair.

It is unclear why Article 5 was not implemented; perhaps because it was felt that that as consumers in the UK already have the right to claim in a court for up to 6 years (five in Scotland), there was no need for the alternative two year repair or replacement warranty.

retra members understand both their legal and moral obligations to consumer and work hard to meet them when on the rare occasion that thing go wrong.

Ends.

For further press information please contact:
Jacqueline or Alex
JM Marketing
Tel: 01536 414555
Email: Alex@jmmarketingservices.co.uk

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