Quote from: NikoB on April 15, 2023, 15:05:58You yourself have confirmed that the guarantee in Germany is not complete. Because the full implies, as the right to repair (elimination of all defects, according to the definition of a defect in the law), the right to a replacement and the right to a refund of the full amount paid for the goods. The Germans are deprived of the last option of restoring the right within 1 year, if they themselves do not prove this right, which greatly reduces the ability of an individual (in most cases, obviously the weaker side of the dispute), compared to a legal entity in litigation. It is the difference in opportunities that requires the presumption of guilt of the manufacturer / seller in relation to the retail consumer-individual in order to equalize opportunities in a litigation.
You can refer to a section of German law that guarantees German citizens at least for a year the opportunity to choose any of the 4 options for restoring their violated right to own a quality product. And the quality of the goods, as it should be clear to everyone from the outset, is always determined by the buyer, with his legally significant declaration, to the seller or manufacturer, at the time of purchase and nothing else, because the buyer pays money to the buyer and decides alone which goods are of high quality and which are not, not taking into account, of course, some minimum quality standards introduced at the federal level.
Namely:
1. The right to self-repair the goods and the right to demand commensurate compensation for losses due to this from counterparties under the contract for the sale of goods.
2. The right to repair the goods at the expense of the counterparty.
3. The right to replace the goods at the expense of the counterparty
4. Right to a full refund. Especially in the case of significant shortcomings, i.e. those that reappear after an attempt to eliminate them or that cannot be corrected without significant (inadequate) costs relative to the total retail price of the goods.
An interesting legal theory, perhaps de lege ferenda, but not de lege lata. I am suprised at your interest in german civil law :) Lord knows there are perhaps more interesting subjects...^^
To what constitutes a defect I'd refer you to § 434 III BGB. In most cases (buy something on the internet, or in a store, especially a Laptop) you will not negotiate the quality of the product. You will chose a product with certain specifications and buy it. The specifications (like advertised, if not given by seller) will becone part of the promised product. Any (not complety insignficant) diversion from them constitutes a material defect.
If it can't be used for what a buyer would expect, that also constitutes a defect (There is of course more...).
If manufacturer says: battery of laptop holds for 20h, that battery life becomes part of the contract (which is why NO manufacturer says that. They say "up to 20h", or "20h under certain conditions", though that will lead to the expectation that battery life [e.g. doc editing, no wifi, min.brightnes] is longer then 50 minutes)
However, the buyer entering a store, buying a product and assuming certain qualities, their absence does not constitute a defect, unless of cause, buyer was led to that belief by statements (either by seller or even by manufacturer).
Now, if product has a defect, buyer has to give seller a secound chance (§ 439 BGB). He can't simply demand a full refund. Seller must be given a chance to either repair or replace the product. However, it should not come at a significant inconvinience for the buyer.
If seller fails to do that, buyer can demand a full refund.
However, by european law, buyer can also demand a full refund for certain products within 2 weeks if bought on the internet, without the need of a defect. Why is that? pacta sunt servanda.
If buyer dosen't give seller that oppurtinity, and repairs product himself, he can't demand the expanses from seller. (A lot of people think that he should be able to do that, but thats what the courts say... roma locuta causa finitia est).
A right to repair does not exist (to the best of my limited knowledge). There were some heated discussions, but in the end, only a very watered down version made it into law.
I agree with you, that this is (generally speaking) unfortunate. Though, perhaps, depending on the product, some exceptions would be neccessary (although such exceptions would be a dangerous loophole)
To be clear: the assumption of product's defect upon time of purchase extends for 1 Year. After that, your situation regarding burden of proof is similar to US.
The quality of product is not determined soly by the buyer, but by both parties. If only one agrees, you dont have a contract.
Oh, and btw: I totaly aggree with your criticism of the laptop.
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