How many times can a refrigerator be repaired under warranty?

In what days is the repair period “under warranty” calculated – working days or calendar days?

Article 190 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Determination of the period” states: “The period established by law, other legal acts, transaction or appointed by the court is determined by a calendar date or the expiration of a period of time, which is calculated in years, months, weeks, days or hours.” Also, the stipulated period may be established by indicating an inevitable event.

Based on this explanation, the duration of the warranty repair period is measured in calendar days.

if the warranty period is not established or has expired

If a warranty period has not been established for the refrigerator by either the seller or the manufacturer, then claims related to defects in the product may be submitted by the buyer to the seller or the organization performing the functions of the seller, provided that the defects were discovered within a reasonable time, but within 6 months from the date of transfer of the goods to the buyer (in relation to real estate - no later than two years from the date of its transfer to the consumer).

When determining the reasonableness of the terms, it is recommended to proceed from the warranty periods established by state standards, and if they are not established, from the indicators of product durability established by regulatory documents on standardization.

You can almost always return an item!
The main thing is to know the procedure and use the law correctly. Get information for free from lawyers via chat (bottom right ↘️) or via this link. return the goods

Warranty period from a legal point of view

Article 471 of the second part of the “Civil Code of the Russian Federation” dated January 26, 1996 No. 14-FZ establishes the beginning of the warranty period, which coincides with the moment the goods are transferred to the client. Alternatively, the onset of the warranty period is regulated by the concluded sales contract.

If the moment of transfer is not determined by the documents, the “guarantee” starts on the day of manufacture. In the case when the purchase is delivered by mail, the required time period begins from the day the goods are transferred to the final consumer.

It is separately stipulated that the warranty period is interrupted for as long as the buyer is unable to use the purchased product for reasons arising through the fault of the seller. Moreover, in order for the “guarantee” to extend, the client is obliged to notify the contractor or seller of the defects of the product in the manner prescribed by law. A special case of this “impossibility of use” is the need for special assembly or connection, which is handled by the supplier.

As for seasonal goods (for example, clothing or shoes), the warranty period begins from the first day of the relevant season , as determined by law depending on the climate zone.

If the breakdown does not occur with the main unit or basic unit of the product, but with a component part, then the warranty period for the individual element begins simultaneously with the warranty for the basic item or in accordance with the terms of the sales contract.

Sometimes the seller provides the client with an adequate replacement for the damaged product during the warranty repair period. In this situation, the warranty period for the replacement product is determined in the same way - in accordance with the provisions of the law or the terms of the agreement signed between the seller and the buyer.

Features of standards, or Which refrigerators are the most reliable

The warranty period for a refrigerator is a telling figure. Once on the forum it was mentioned that now the maximum maintenance period for household appliances is a calendar year. Everything is the other way around, including the situation with refrigerators! One year is the minimum warranty period permitted by law.

If you are given 1 year, such a refrigerator should be the last thing you look at: the manufacturer is sure that after a short period of time the equipment will break down so often that it is pointless to maintain it. Look for the answer to the problem of which refrigerators are more reliable in the area of warranty service periods.

Refrigerator motor warranties

Recently, while reviewing Mitsubishi air conditioners, they noted that inverter control helps save money and makes operation quieter; the same applies to refrigerators. As a result of the transition to a new type of engine, equipment becomes more durable. If we take refrigerators, the Samsung company has already put this aspect into practice, providing a 10-year warranty on the power unit of branded equipment.

Let’s compare other brands (especially domestic ones) with the announced indicator, the picture will become clear.

We are looking for the size of the refrigerator warranty period:

When purchasing in a store, the seller tries to impose post-warranty service.
Let's look at the inside of the proposal. The store, on its own initiative, enters into an agreement with a repair center (sometimes located in the basement of a neighboring house) to repair refrigerators. For any year of warranty, dealers try to extract additional money from the buyer. Remember, such a guarantee is not related to the reliability of the refrigerator. The seller does not care how often a particular type of household appliance breaks down. The refrigerator contract specifies a lot of exceptions for frequently failing parts. There are two types of guarantee. And you don’t need to pay attention to the store when deciding on the reliability of the refrigerator. However, if local service centers are closer, and the work is performed no worse than branded ones, it is worth considering the issue from the point of view of the speed of repair. Refrigerator in the kitchen
The brand guarantee directly indicates how confident the manufacturer is in its own refrigerators. The long service life of inverter motors is indirectly confirmed by the 10 years for which Samsung forked out. By purchasing this refrigerator, the buyer is confident in the long-term operation of the device. Unfortunately, the inverter motor is not capable of operating from a 220 V network; the refrigerator has a built-in electronic control unit and a supply voltage driver for the compressor motor. This is an additional factor in reducing reliability. According to science, the probabilities of failure of individual modules add up. Before purchasing, it is logical to look on the forums to see what they write about refrigerators of a particular brand.

Certificates of compliance of the refrigerator with standards

The availability of certificates plays a significant role in establishing reliability. Some are considered mandatory, the other are considered voluntary. What's the mystery here?

Small built-in refrigerator

Certificates from independent laboratories confirm that refrigerators comply with standards. Moreover, it is better that research sites are guaranteed to be located away from the nepotism system. For example, Korean manufacturers prefer to obtain certificates in Germany. This immediately shows the world that the fact of corruption is excluded, it is the Germans who are ahead of Europe in this regard (if you don’t believe me, look at the map of the corruption perception index).

If we take refrigerators into consideration, the following certificates are known:

Old style refrigerator

Devices must comply with standards. For refrigerators, GOST R IEC 60335-2-24 is recognized. International standard, today the 2012 version is in use. The document is posted online. Within the scope of the document, it is proposed to investigate the following phenomena: leakage current, moisture resistance, abnormal operation, mechanical strength. Questions excite millions of users. We recommend checking which laboratory issued the certificate of conformity. Of course, I want to see something German.
Many technical regulations have been introduced.
In the territory of the Customs Union, not a single TR applies to refrigerators. It’s easy to verify at https://base.garant.ru/5425755/, where a complete list of documents is given. We remind you that the link points to the well-known Customs Union, which is only Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. For European and other foreign products, divergent certificates written in English (as the common language) are acceptable. If the document is available, the refrigerator is an additional plus; the paper indicates the manufacturer’s concern for the product. European refrigerator
The certificate of compliance with the regulations of the Customs Union to some extent relates to the previous paragraph. This is necessary when a product has several technical regulations (and other regulatory documents). The paper confirms that the product complies with the standards of the mentioned organization.
The certificate of origin of a product shows where the product was made; a lot depends on the location of the assembly. They say that the Turkish Bosch assembly is lame, it is noted that the production was registered by a plant from St. Petersburg when the mounting foam was sticking out on the back wall. This is a respected concern, what can we say about the domestic assembly of cheap brands. The certificate of origin varies in form. In particular, ST-1 operates in 10 countries located on the territory of the former USSR. An interesting form is A, common in the European Union. Please read more about the certificate of origin of goods on Wikipedia https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%84%D0%B8% D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0% B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F.
Refrigerators are subject to mandatory fire safety certification. Check here https://base.garant.ru/185093/, where the text of the EMERCOM order of 2002 is given. The document has recently lost force, but any manufacturer has the right to undergo certification on a voluntary basis. Of course, this is an additional plus for refrigerators.

What is “warranty repair”

Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” describes the rights of the consumer in the event of detection of defects in the purchased item. Among other things, the customer has the right to “demand immediate, free of charge elimination of defects in the goods or reimbursement of the costs of their correction by the consumer or a third party.” We are talking about “warranty repairs”.

How long can repairs “under warranty” last?

The duration of warranty repairs is determined by agreement between the buyer and the seller, but cannot exceed 45 days specified by law. How is the term determined in cases where the terms of the contract do not stipulate this? The law uses the wording “reasonable time”. What this means is sometimes determined in court. Sometimes we are talking about seven days from the date of presentation of demands to eliminate deficiencies (clause 2 of Article 314 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Warranty repairs are carried out during the warranty period determined by the purchase and sale agreement. The period may vary, but consumers should be aware that they can contact the seller with claims regarding defects in the purchase within two years from the date of purchase of the product, even if the warranty period under the contract lasts less than or more than 2 years.

True, in this situation, the buyer will need to prove that the defects arose before the transfer of the goods to the client or as a result of a manufacturing defect, as well as other reasons for which the seller is responsible.

The buyer has no right to make claims regarding the quality of the product or contact the seller to eliminate defects if any are discovered after the expiration date.

TV repair time under warranty

The breakdown of a purchased TV for the buyer, as expected, results in inconvenience associated with a long wait for the troubleshooting to be completed, while the seller recommends waiting a little longer to answer all questions. So how and for what period is warranty repair of a TV carried out according to the law?

Important! If you yourself are sorting out your case related to TV repair under warranty, then you should remember that:
All cases involving consumer fraud are unique and individual.
Understanding the basics of the law is useful, but does not guarantee results.
The possibility of a positive outcome depends on many factors.

The Russian Federation Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” obliges the seller to accept a faulty TV from the consumer when the latter declares that there is a fault in it. If the TV is under warranty service at such a moment, then the buyer’s actions are as follows:

Raise a claim;
Transfer the defective TV to a repair shop or directly to the seller;
Wait for the goods to be returned.

The law requires the seller to carry out repairs immediately. This means that the legislation did not provide for a specific period, but obliged the seller to act in good faith and return the repaired product back to the buyer as soon as possible.

At the same time, Article 22 of the PZPP established a pretrial period for eliminating deficiencies - 45 days, which is reflected in the written agreement.

The maximum warranty period of 45 days is established only with the consent of the consumer.

However, sellers are smart and, at the same time as accepting the TV for troubleshooting, they offer the consumer to sign a delivery certificate for the goods with a pre-included condition agreeing to a period of 45 days for troubleshooting. With this scheme, the consumer is deprived of the opportunity to refuse this period.

It is not recommended to sign templates offered by the seller with a pre-specified maximum period.

As practice shows, sellers, in an effort to increase the period for troubleshooting, refer to the lack of spare parts and materials in the warehouse, the need to use additional equipment, and transport goods to the workshop and back. None of these circumstances serves as a basis for increasing the period for repairing breakdowns.