REFLECTIONS ON THE SALE OF CONSUMER GOODS AND ASSOCIATED GUARANTEES

Abstract

In the European Union all members states have already transposed Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees into national law. In Romania, the state, through its legislative institutions, the Parliament and the Government, and through those who take care of market surveillance, in our case the National Authority for Consumer Protection, should ensure the consumers a high level of protection. The aims of our paper are to render in brief the legislative framework related to the consumer protection and to clarify a number of issues regarding: the distinction between products that benefit a 2 years legal warranty and those for which the legal warranty is limited to the average duration of use (household products); the legal warranty for second-hand products; the importance for the consumer of the presumption of the product’s noncompliance; the situations that involve repair, replacement, appropriate price reduction, contract resolution; the deadline for the product to be repaired; the issue of replacement parts when product repair is in warranty or post-warranty; hidden vices. The methodological approach was based on the literature review. Our paper contributes to a better understanding of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees and provides a platform on which to build further studies on the same subject.

Keywords

• commercial guarantee
• legal warranty
• goods
• consumer
• lack of conformity