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Warranties

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What is the difference between a warranty and a guarantee?

You automatically get the consumer guarantees from the person or business when you buy, lease or hire their goods, or buy their services.

This is different to a warranty, which is a voluntary promise offered by the person or business who sold the goods or service to you, or who made the goods.

You have consumer guarantees regardless of any warranty provided by the supplier or manufacturer.

Common types of warranty

Express warranty

These are extra promises a supplier or manufacturer may make about such things as the quality, state, condition, performance or characteristics of goods.  An express warranty is not necessarily about the product breaking, it is about it living up to promises.

Example:

When a consumer buys a deck chair, the supplier says the chair can hold up to 100 kilograms. This is an express warranty about what the goods can do.

If the manufacturer or supplier provides an express warranty, they guarantee the goods will satisfy that warranty.

Example:

A supplier tells the consumer that a bed will last for 10 years. If the bed only lasts for six years, the consumer will be entitled to a remedy.

Warranty against defects – ‘manufacturer’s warranty’

Suppliers or manufacturers may provide a warranty that promises consumers that:

  • goods or services will be free from defects for a certain period of time; and
  • defects will entitle the consumer to repair, replacement, refund or other compensation.

This is called a ‘warranty against defects’, also commonly called a ‘manufacturer’s warranty’.

Example:

A consumer buys a deck chair that comes with a written warranty. The warranty says the manufacturer will replace the deck chair if it breaks within two years of the purchase date.

From 1 January 2012, a warranty against defects must be in writing and:

  • be presented clearly, expressed in plain language, and easy to read and understand; 
  • contain the warrantor’s name, business address, phone number and email address (if any);
  • set out relevant claim periods or procedures; and
  • include a statement that rights under the warranty sit alongside the consumer guarantees, which cannot be excluded.

There are penalties if suppliers or manufacturers fail to comply.

A warranty against defects may also contain an express warranty. Suppliers and manufacturers both guarantee goods will meet express warranties.

This means you can insist a supplier meets their responsibilities under the consumer guarantees to fix a problem, even if it is covered by other warranties, such as a manufacturer’s warranty.

Example:

When a consumer buys a deck chair, the written warranty (the warranty against defects) states that the chair can hold up to 100 kilograms. This is an express warranty about what the goods can do. If the chair breaks after a person weighing 50 kilograms sits on it, the consumer can insist that the express warranty contained in the warranty against defects be honoured.

An advertisement or a promotional brochure that simply mentions that a car comes with a ‘four-year warranty’ does not give enough detail about the nature of the warranty to determine whether it is a warranty against defects or an express warranty.

Extended warranty

Some suppliers or manufacturers offer extended warranties to lengthen the coverage of their basic manufacturer’s warranty.

You may be offered the chance to buy an extended warranty after, or at the time, you buy the goods.

Example:

When a consumer buys a deck chair the retailer says the consumer can pay an extra $20 for an extended warranty, to make sure the manufacturer’s warranty applies for three years instead of two.

Some suppliers or manufacturers may also tell you an extended warranty provides extra protection, which you would not have unless you buy it.

This is not necessarily true. The consumer guarantees provide rights that exist despite anything the supplier or manufacturer may say or do.

Extended warranties are optional.

A supplier or manufacturer must not:

  • pressure you to buy an extended warranty; and 
  • tell you that you must pay for any rights equivalent to a consumer guarantee.

When asked to buy an extended warranty, ask what it would provide over and above your rights under the consumer guarantees.

Example:

A consumer buys a plasma television for $6000. It stops working two years later. The supplier tells the consumer they have no rights to repairs or another remedy as the television was only under the manufacturer’s warranty for 12 months. The supplier says the consumer should have bought an extended warranty, which would have given five years’ cover.

A reasonable consumer would expect more than two years’ use from a $6000 television. Under the consumer guarantees, the consumer has a legal right to a remedy as the television is not of acceptable quality.

The supplier may also have misled the consumer about their rights.

When you do not have a warranty, or the goods or services are out of warranty

Whoever sold you the goods or service, or made the goods, will still be responsible for fixing any problems with the goods if they fail to meet a consumer guarantee, even if you do not have a warranty or extended warranty, or the goods or services are out of warranty.

You must be able to prove that you bought the goods from whoever sold you the goods or service, or whoever made the goods.