What do we guarantee?

Any purchased equipment is ever broken. In the event that the failure occurred within the warranty period, we look at the situation with optimism - after all, the seller has certain guarantees with respect to us, the buyers. That is, we are required to repair the damage free of charge or, at the worst, to return the money paid. And we, armed with a guarantee coupon and a check for the purchased goods, hurry to the store to seek justice.

But not everything is so simple. Under the law on protecting our consumer rights with you, which now has become fashionable to quote at every step, we can demand free repair, replacement of the warranty or refund. At the same time insist on repair (that is, to impose it on us) the seller can not by law. But in practice in the vast majority of cases we will be sent to the service center. We go there in the hope of free repair, but gradually it turns out that this is unlikely to be achieved. No one is in a hurry to fulfill the guarantee obligations. "Specialists" of this institution will do everything to not recognize our case as a guarantee and offer repairs at our expense.

Why is this happening? The fact is that in addition to its own service workshops, available at every major home appliances store, there are so-called authorized service centers. Producers and suppliers of technology, as a rule, do not hurry to open their own services (this is troublesome and not very profitable), but conclude contracts with existing workshops that this service will officially repair the goods of this firm. Such a service is called authorized. Under the contract with the manufacturer or the supplier, the service undertakes to repair the warranty goods of this manufacturer at its own expense. The same periodically compensates for the service costs for the purchase of parts and proper repair work.

But in practice, the manufacturer firm very strictly controls the legality of such free repair for us. It is worth the representative of the company to prove that the case is not guaranteed - and all repair costs will remain unpaid to the service. According to statistics, from 5 to 10% of all repairs are not recognized as warranty. Therefore, in order to insure about possible loss of money, such services do everything possible to nullify the seller's warranty obligations in relation to the goods we bought. Most often for this we are trying to prove that the breakdown was due to our fault due to inaccurate treatment or willful damage. Any scratch on the hull (we are not talking about more serious defects) can be a reason to forget about all the warranty obligations. And if the technics really has traces of attempts of independent repair, business absolutely gone - here to us will refuse on quite lawful bases.

Repair at their own expense, offered to the majority of applicants, at a cost comparable to the purchase of a new thing. Due to fabulous repair amounts, the service tries to compensate its costs for unpaid warranty repairs. And to ensure the store's warranty obligations to customers - not in its interests, it's easier to "hang" this headache on the consumer.

What should we do? It is best not to deal with the service centers at all. The warranty technique broke down not through our fault - we go to the store and demand to return the money to us. Or replace with another quality product. If the seller refuses us and sends us to the service, his demands are illegal. Armed with the "Consumer Rights Protection Law" (Article 18) and write a claim, we force the seller to sign a second copy. Refuses - send by registered mail, do not forget to make an inventory of the attachment. The letter must be sent with the receipt of the receipt. The warranty obligation for the purchased goods includes the seller's duty to conduct an independent examination within ten days and find out the reasons for the breakdown. Then he must either pay the money, or justify the refusal. If the answer is delayed, in addition, we have the right to "tear off" a penalty (one percent of the cost of goods per day), and in the absence of an answer, you can contact the Rospotrebnadzor or the court. But most often the store returns money without bringing the case to court.

The seller has the opportunity to deliberately damage the item taken for examination and to nullify all claims of the buyer. To prevent this from happening, it is better to turn to an outside center for an independent examination. If the buyer is right, the costs of the examination will be withheld from the seller. You can also insist on free examination at an authorized service center (such a service is required to be provided there by law).