If the entrepreneur misleads the consumer and the consumer believes that he is being offered an extended warranty, when in fact it is insurance, it may be a deceptive act, i.e. an unfair business practice. In such a case, the entrepreneur faces a fine from the Czech Trade Inspection.
The extended warranty is negotiated beyond the statutory two-year period for exercising rights to repair or refund when a defective product is found. As a rule, it starts running as soon as the legal one expires, but it can have a different length.
The problem is, however, that it can have conditions of application different from the classical one. “Therefore, it is necessary to read them carefully and make sure that it is even worth buying it,” said the director of the consumer organization dTest, Eduarda Hekšová.
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What the warranty card must contain
The seller must issue a warranty certificate in text form written in a comprehensible language. By law, it must state the product designation, the content and terms of the warranty, the name and registered office of the provider, and the procedure for exercising rights.
In addition, it should contain information that the two-year legal period for exercising rights is not affected by negotiating an extended warranty. “However, the warranty conditions are often stated in the entrepreneur’s general terms and conditions of business, but this does not change the fact that the seller must issue you a warranty certificate,” said Hekšová.
A contractual guarantee may contain countless exceptions, exclusions and other provisions precluding its application. The period that the entrepreneur has for making a complaint can also be negotiated differently – often one can encounter a period of three months compared to the statutory period of thirty days, which is set for a two-year period for exercising rights from a defect.
An unpleasant surprise can also be the exclusion of the possibility of withdrawing from the contract, i.e. refunding the money. Based on the contractual guarantee, however, the customer must usually be entitled at least to the delivery of a new item without defects or to the repair of the item.
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Insurance only covers certain risks
Insurance can be more complicated than a guarantee, as it also includes an insurance company. Consumers should verify that they are a direct party to such a contract and check the applicable insurance terms well before purchasing. “Insurance may or may not have the same scope and conditions as a statutory or contractual guarantee,” explained Hekšová.
Insurance usually only covers selected risks that threaten the insured object. A specific feature of insurance that consumers should be aware of is also the necessity of paying a co-payment or the question of whether the insurance company will pay an amount corresponding to a new item or an amount reduced by the age and wear and tear of the item.
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