§3.2.6 Guarantees and after-sales services

Article 5(1) (e) in addition to a reminder of the existence of the legal guarantee of conformity for goods, digital content and digital services, the existence and the conditions of after-sales services and commercial guarantees, where applicable; Article 6(1) (l) a reminder of the existence of a legal guarantee of conformity for goods, digital content and digital services; (m) where applicable, the existence and the conditions of after sale customer assistance, after-sales services and commercial guarantees; Although presented slightly differently, the on-premises and off-premises/distance contracts are subject to practically identical requirements regarding information on the legal guarantee and possible after-sales services. The substantive rules on the legal guarantee are laid down in Article 10 of the Sale of Goods Directive (‘SGD’) and Article 11 of the Digital Content Directive (‘DCD’). These rules provide for: — In case of goods, the seller’s liability for the lack of conformity (defect) that existed at the time of delivery and become apparent within two years from the delivery (or a longer liability period as applicable under relevant national law); — In case of digital content or digital service, the supplier’s liability for the lack of conformity that existed at the time of supply and become apparent within two years from the supply (or a longer liability period as applicable under relevant national law) when they are supplied in a single act of supply, or within the contractual supply period in the case of digital content or digital service which is supplied continuously. Article 6(1)(l) CRD uses the term ‘reminder of the existence’, thus it is not necessary to provide detailed information about the legal guarantee. However, to comply with the information requirements, the trader must at least inform the consumers that there is a legal guarantee and indicate its duration. In principle, the SGD and the DCD fully harmonise the rules within their scope. Only in some aspects, Member States can provide for stronger consumer protection, in particular, longer liability periods (88). Traders, in particular cross-border online traders, may target with their offers the markets of several Member States without customising the information for each targeted market. Therefore, to cover the potential differences in national legal requirements, these traders should also acknowledge the possible stronger rules that may exist in different Member States that they target. Specifically, they should refer to the fact that two years is the minimum duration of the legal guarantee and that national law of the consumer’s country of residence may provide for stronger consumer rights. Beside the reminder of the legal guarantee, the trader suppling the goods or services must also provide information on any after sales benefits that are voluntarily provided by the supplier of the goods or services or other traders concerned, such as the manufacturer of the goods. Information about the existence and the conditions of after sale customer assistance, after-sales services and/or commercial guarantees must only be provided if such additional benefits are actually offered. Commercial guarantee is broadly defined in Article 2(14) of the Directive as undertaking to reimburse the price paid or to replace, repair or service goods when they are not in conformity or do not meet other requirements. There are no definitions for the other forms of benefits. In practice, the same type of benefit could be marketed under different names by different traders. The SGD makes the commercial guarantee, which can be provided by the seller or another party such as the manufacturer, legally binding on the issuer of the guarantee. Notwithstanding this, the consumer rights under the commercial guarantee are set contractually and will therefore vary from one trader to another or even for different goods offered by the same trader (89). Where, in accordance with Article 17 of the SGD, the producer issues a ‘commercial guarantee of durability’ for a certain period of time, the consumer is entitled to repair and replacement as established in the SGD. The information about these after-sales benefits should in particular explain where the respective service will be carried out and who bears the cost of transport (if applicable). Wrong or deceptive information about after-sales benefits can amount to misleading practice under the UCPD. The UCPD prohibits ‘presenting rights given to consumers in law as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer’ (see Article 6(1)(g) and point 10 of Annex I) (90).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07