Re: de-stickering your wheels can void the warranty
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:56 pm
stephen@fibre-lyte wrote:madmole wrote:They would be breaking UK law to claim that invalidated the warranty. They would have to prove that you removing the labels fundamantaly affected the thing you were claiming for to get away with that. Trading Standards would come down on them like a ton of bricks
I'd be curious to know if that were true. As they have stated that removing the stickers would invalidate the warranty, if the rider removes the stickers, then surely, in the event of a failure, it would be up to the rider to show that the failure had nothing to do with the stickers. I find it difficult to believe that the rider would lose such a claim, but the manufacturer/supplier might rely on the fact that the rider might not have the time nor inclination to pursue it through the small claims court.
UK The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 states the first 6 months any fault is deemed to have been present at purchase. After that the Seller must act responsibly in assessing the cause. Nothing that a seller puts in their contracts or documentation can alter the customers rights under UK or EU law law
There is a lot of case law on warrantees in the UK. People cant just get out of them over something as trivial as destickering a product. Your car is still warranteed even if you remove its badges (a common modification). You may fit 3rd party brake pads in your car but the brakes are still warrantied. Changing the tyres to another make doesnt let them get off replacing a faulty window winder!
Plus the Directive 1999/44/EC means ALL goods sold in the EU have a two year warranty anyway. The important bit is this: 'A two-year guarantee applies for the sale of all consumer goods everywhere in the EU. In some countries, this may be more, and some manufacturers also choose to offer a longer warranty period.'
As with UK law, a seller is not bound by the guarantee 'if the (fault) has its origin in materials supplied by the consumer'. But the EU rule does not require the buyer to show the fault is inherent in the product and not down to their actions.
The EU rule also says buyers need to report a problem within two months of discovering it if they want to be covered under the rule.
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/guarantees/index_en.htm