ru How to exercise your product guarantee
Italy has fully adopted European consumer protection legislation (1999/44/EC and 2011/83/EU) through its Consumer Code,implemented by (Italian) Legislative Decree no. 206 of 06/09/2005, recently updated, above all with reference to distance sale agreements such as online purchases, with (Italian) Legislative Decree no. 21 dated 21/02/2014.
Please find below Gimi’s summary of the general customer satisfaction guidelines to follow if one of our products is found to be faulty.
A product is classed as being faulty when it doesn’t fulfil the requirements and the technical qualities promised by the retailer. Faults and a lack of essential qualities or promises are all classed as non-conformities that are covered by a 24 month guarantee from the date of purchase.
As the consumer has 60 days to report the issue from when they discover the defect, the guarantee actually lasts for 26 months from the date of purchase.
Furthermore, the Law assumes, unless proven otherwise, that non-conformities arising within 6 months from delivery of the good in question, must have been there from the beginning.
The most striking new requirement is the fact that, according to the new regulations, it is the retailer in the first instance who is responsible for offering the consumer the solution to their problem, and no longer the manufacturer.
You can therefore go to the shop where you bought the good in order to replace it and allow the retailer to check the fault, demanding for the issue to be handled with the greatest diligence. The retailer shall then, in turn, claim back from the wholesaler or the company. It is easier for retailers to do this – compared to the consumer – as they are used to dealing with their suppliers.
Depending on the type of product and the fault in question, the retailer shall propose, within an appropriate amount of time following the request, either the repair or the replacement of the product with an identical or similar model, as long as the latter doesn’t have a lesser value, or a suitable price reduction or, lastly – and only in the case of a serious flaw – the cancellation of the contract and the return of the price paid proportionate to how much the product has been used.
The “commercial” guarantee that Gimi offers on certain ironing board models does not replace, but rather extends the guarantee period provided for by Law, thus granting a longer duration: also in this case, it is the retailer who has to replace the faulty goods and who must undertake to provide customer satisfaction, claiming back from the manufacturer afterwards.
It is of fundamental importance to request and keep the sales receipt proving the place and date of purchase, whereas it is not so important to send the ‘warranty coupon’ to the manufacturer.