What is a Guarantee?
- A guarantee is usually free and is a promise about an item by the manufacturer or company
- It’s a promise to sort out any problems with a product or service within a specific, fixed period of time
- Whether you paid for a guarantee or not, it is legally binding
- The guarantee must explain how you would make a claim in a way that is easy to understand
- It adds to your rights under consumer law
- It will take effect whether or not you have a warranty
Guarantee is an assurance of specific conditions and outcomes. This is normally in the form of writing, which promises to deliver services and results.
As per the dictionary meaning, A Guarantee is nothing but a formal promise or assurance (typically in writing) that certain conditions will be fulfilled, esp. that a product will be repaired or replaced if not of a specified quality and durability.
In simple terms Guarantee is a promise made by a manufacturer or a service provider to the end customer stating that the product / services sold/offered to the customers is of best quality and when the buyer is not satisfied, then the seller agrees to replace, repair the product or in the case of product not repairable or replaced then offer refund to the buyer.
A guarantee also provides extra protection to the customers over and above their existing legal rights. It is not a chargeable fee or service cost and should be always offered free, it islegally binding on the guarantor and the copy of guarantee should be always provided by the Manufacturer/Service providers.
What is a Warranty?
- A warranty acts like an insurance policy for which you must pay a premium – Sometimes a warranty is called an ‘extended guarantee’
- May last longer than a guarantee and cover a wider range of problems
- A warranty is a legal contract
- The terms of the contract should be clear and fair
- Does not reduce your rights under consumer law
- A warranty can be in place with a guarantee
Again as per the Dictionary meaning, A Warranty is nothing but a guarantee given to the purchaser by a company stating that a product is reliable and free from known defects and that the seller will, without charge, repair or replace defective parts within a given time limit and under certain conditions
In simple terms, Warranty is a guarantee of repair or replacement of a part / item / product if the product is defective, does not meet buyer’s expectations in terms of the way it’s supposed to perform during the period of the warranty.
A warranty is a legal contract between the buyer and seller and is always binding on the seller, which means that the seller can face a lawsuit if they are not able to comply with repairing and replacing of articles or any of its parts. A warranty is normally and mostly limited by the terms of the contract. Such a limited warranty put conditions on the parts of an article, the nature of damage incurred and the time period of validity of the document. (This is the Warranty Certificate that you receive from the Manufacturer on purchase of any new product).
There are implied warranties and express warranties. Implied warranties cover merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The former is a promise that goods sold will perform as expected. Your cell phone should offer clear communication. If it doesn’t, then it is not fit for sale.
Express warranty is explicit. It is a voluntary commitment to remedy defects and malfunctions if they arise. Express warranties can take a variety of forms, oral or in writing, ranging from advertising claims to formal certificates.
Difference between Guarantee and Warranty?
A guarantee is basically a commitment on the part of the guarantor in this case the product manufacturer to correct any defects that can arise in a product during a fixed period while a warranty refers to repairing an product or replacing a defective part of an product within the validity period.
One key difference between a guarantee and a warranty is that unlike a guarantee which is free, you will need to pay for a warranty to avail the benefit and the other difference is that normally a guarantee is provided by manufacturer while the warranty is provided by the end retailers who sell the products to the customers.
1. A guarantee is applicable irrespective of the provision of the warranty. A warranty is free to go together with a guarantee issued on the same article.
2. The guarantee is a commitment to make good defects of a product or a service in a fixed period. A warranty looks after the repairing of a new article within the validity period.
3. A guarantee is always free. A warranty attracts charges like the insurance policy.
4. A guarantee is a legal contract without any payment. A warranty received on payment is also a legal instrument with which the seller can be booked.
5. A guarantee is an addition to the legal consumer rights. A warranty does not affect the rights under the consumer act.
Therefore, there is a difference in the essence and spirit of guarantee and warranty which the customer must understand before expecting the benefit of such a document on the purchase he makes.
Using guarantees and warranties
- it covers your problem
- that the fault has been caused by something covered by the guarantee or warranty
- the timeframe has not expired
- it offers a reasonable solution
- you understand and are happy to pay any extra costs involved