Guarantees and Warranties

Guarantees and warranties emerge as a means of safeguard the rights of the customers. These are legal instruments and with the strength of guarantees and warranties, the seller or the manufacturer is liable to face the judicial courts if they fail to fulfill guarantees and warranties.

In the case of guarantees, the manufacturers are liable to replace the purchased item, if the product is found below the prescribed standards. Generally, guarantees are given by the manufacturers and it is applicable irrespective of whether the consumer paid for the article or not.

Whereas warranties are provided by the retail sellers or distributors and it requires payment to make it legally viable. A warranty is a promise, either written or implied and it is only relevant to the repairing of articles (within the validity period) or replaces the spare parts or defective parts.

The difference between guarantees and warranties is because of dissimilarity of expectations. With the strength of guarantee, a customer can get the money back or benefit by the complete replacement of the purchased item, if the purchased product does not meet the standards or it is defective, on the other hand in the case of warranties a customer can get the article product repaired if it is defective.

Warranties

There are different types of warranties, here sellers or the manufacturers are liable to repair or replacement of the article if it does not meet the prescribed standards.

Express warranties

An express warranty is clearly stated or expressed either in writing or verbally. Normally an express warranty is a guarantee to the customers regarding the product’s quality and reliability. In the case, if the product fails in fulfilling the promise then the manufacturers or sellers should fix or replace the article or defective parts.

Here warranties are expressed in writings only on products packaged in order to strengthen the customer’s decision making while purchases, Manufacturers print some words to maximize the customer’s confidence while doing purchases, but the words “warranty” or “Guarantee” do not appear on the package.

Verbal express warranties are guarantees given by the sellers or dealers verbally, here in this case proving the existence of the verbal warranty given by the seller or dealer is quite difficult.

Basically, there are two types of express warranties

Full warranty

After purchase and within a fixed period of time the sellers either replace or repair a faulty part, for free.

Limited warranties

Here in limited warranty customers have to pay for the replaced parts or a percentage of the total repair bill or labor charges.

Implied warranties

By law, customers have the right to expect products to be free of defects, and as described which are to be fit for their intended purpose. Customers can get implied warranty on every product they buy on retail sales. Regardless of oral or written agreements, here, implied warranty guarantees the product’s quality up to a certain degree.

If the company or manufacturers fail to fulfill pre-described standards then the customers can contact the consumer’s bureau or can take the case to the court.

Implied warranties arise from the nature of the transaction and these are unwritten promises which include a warranty of merchantability, a warranty of fitness and a warranty of title.

Lifetime warranty

Only a few products come with the lifetime warranty, here manufacturers replace and/or repair the products for a lifetime. The word lifetime in the case warranties means the length of time the product or item remains in production or it may last a limited period longer. In lifetime warranty, the warranty remains valid for few more years after the goods or products are no longer manufactured.

Guarantees

Guarantees are meant for safeguard the customer rights and it is a legal term, it is a promise made by the seller or manufacturer to the customer or buyer. If the product is found below the pre-described standards then the sellers have to replace or refund the money or the product should be repaired within the given period of time. A guarantee is a commitment and it may or may not be a condition of sales. Here the products are repaired and replaced free of cost but the terms and conditions vary from item to item. If the product is found default or it does not meet the standards then in such cases money should be refunded.

Difference between guarantees and warranties

• In the case of guarantee, the product will be replaced or repaired or the deposited money will be refunded, but if the product has warranty then it may be repaired or defective parts will be replaced.
• A guarantee is the manufacture’s commitment towards the purchase of goods, whereas warranty is an assurance given to the buyer.
• Products, services, persons and consumer satisfaction are covered under guarantee, whereas products are only covered under warranty
• The guarantees are completely free of cost; in the case of warranties in order to safeguard the interests, customers should have to pay for the repair or replace the defective parts.
• Usually, guarantee varies from item to item, warranties are applicable for the majority of the products and for its parts and it is for a long time.
• Refund of money is possible in guarantees, whereas money refund is not possible in the case of warranties.