Yokemate of Keyboards
Posts: 2720 from 2003/2/24
Quote:
amigadave wrote:
these oppressive regulations?
First, as a sidenote, I think it's amusing to see the difference between the European views and some American views. I.e. in most of Europe we have the idea that ultimately it's a societys responsibility to protect the weak, cure the sick, etc. Or like the topic here, consumer protection (for legal guarantee is about
consumer protection). While some people across the waters look at these things as "oppressive regulations".
In Europe we have the word "opression" in our languages too. But with our European history in regard (Nazism/Fascism/Communism), I suppose we use it for a whole different spectrum of things than consumer/citizen protection.
The legislation applies when a
company is selling to a
consumer (where it's unconditionally mandatory).
Legal guarantee for defective products has
at least a 2 year prescription period. Many counties practice an even longer period, like Sweden who has 3 years. It's 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 5 years in Scotland. But
it can never be shorter than two years after delivery. It is
the final seller in the supply chain of the goods that is obligated to fulfill the gurantee towards the consumer, so it is within the sellers interest to market good-quality products.
The consumer must notify the seller of the defectiveness "within reasonable time" after discovery. How long time this is, depends on several things, like the type of product, the type of defectiveness, etc. The time span can never be less than two months. Generally speaking the consumer should not wait, but act as soon as the defectiveness gets discovered.
<6 months after delivery it's the seller that must prove that the item was not defective in case of a conflict ("reverse burden of proof").
>6 months, the consumer must prove that it was defective (so-called "original fault").
>2 years (or more in some countries), the legal guarantee period has ended.
Then there is also something called Commercial Warranty, which might look very similar concept, but is really different from a legal point of view. Issuing commercial warranties is a completely voluntary move from the (often) producer, and is done for marketing reasons and to increase the value of the product in relation to its competitors. Toyota offering a generous 12 year warranty against rusting, may actually win them some purchase decisions over a car manufacturer offering only 3 or 5 years warranty. It also communicates to to customers that the manufacturer really believe in the quality of their products. The Commercial Warranty can
never stipulate conditions that are
lower or worse than whats granted by the Legal Guarantee in respective countries. A six month manufacturer warranty on a hairdryer, will still mean
at least two year (or indeed more) legal guarantee in the EU.
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm (Click "Guarantees for faulty goods")
Choose country at the bottom of the page to explore the
additional consumer protection that applies in various countries on top of the basic mandatory 2 year legal guarantee.
To sum up, the key to the consumer protection laws, is wheter the seller is a company and the buyer is a consumer. And as others has pointed out, Amiga kit is a company. So if you are about to choose between buying from some hobby-dudes in a basement with a soldering iron, or from a EU company like Amiga kit, chose the option that brings you the best protection!
An other interesting issue I am curious about, is whether this product has a CE-marking?
MorphOS is Amiga
done right! MorphOS NG will be AROS
done right!
