Express Warranty
A guarantee given by the seller that their product will meet a specific level of quality and durability.
What Is an Express Warranty?
An express warranty is a guarantee given by the seller that their product will meet a specific level of quality and durability. If the product fails, the manufacturer must fix it without charging extra.
Warranties are like promises, in which the manufacturer promises their product will have a certain life span with no issues. Warranties could promote the business by showcasing the product life span.
There are essentially two forms of an express warranty: verbal and written. When a customer buys a product, the packaging or documentation states that the product will work for a certain number of years without breaking or being damaged.
A verbal warranty is when the same thing is done verbally. When a store owner or seller of a good or service informs a customer that the product has a limited lifespan and should not be broken in such ways,
The issue is that it is very hard to prove without verbal evidence while demonstrating a faulty product with a written warranty is much more straightforward.
NOTE
Even if the packaging or paperwork does not explicitly say "warranty" or "guarantee," it still counts as an express warranty because it is a promise from the seller to their customer that the product should work.
All in all, this warranty reinforces any claims about quality the company has made. A business can make such claims:
- Condition and performance of a product
- What a specific product can do and how long the product's life is.
- Good service in the business (if a product breaks, then the business will fix it for free).
How do Express Warranties work?
Every seller or business has its express warranty. No matter what is written or how it is said, at the end of the day, it is still a promise that the seller has to keep with the customer.
Many advertisements have some warranty in them; any advertisements that promote the product and say anything along the lines of “we can guarantee that this product will work for more than a year without any flaws” have some sort of warranty that they promise.
They do not always have to be written on a document or any paperwork or said in person; descriptions are sometimes included in advertisements made by the business or on a sign inside the store.
An advertisement's description of a good or service may serve as the foundation for an express warranty. In addition, advertisements that make promises regarding a product's performance, lifetime, and effectiveness may be considered warranties.
The consumer may be provided with complimentary repair services or a complete replacement if the product falls short of the criteria outlined in the advertisement or breaks down within a predetermined time frame.
NOTE
Not every statement a seller makes is protected by warranty law. Exaggerated claims that often appear in advertising are not always considered promises. A great example is the Red Bull energy drink advertisement; it does not give the customer wings…
Example of Express Warranties
This warranty is a representation of fact or a promise given by the seller to the customer regarding the items that serve as the basis for a transaction.
It indicates that the buyer believed that the products or services that they were going to be buying were produced as described, and therefore the reason they bought a product was based on the information given to them by the seller.
The seller's warranty must be both objective and detailed. A statement or affirmation about the items, a description of the products, or any sample is all acceptable.
E-commerce is a great example of where the warranty is being used. When customers cannot or are not physically able to see the product they want to buy, the seller gives them a guarantee that the descriptions and pictures of the product online are exactly what the customer is buying.
In a certain situation, when a customer receives their order, and it is not what they had in mind, the warranty can ensure that they will get a return if it is not up to standard.
Another very common example is automobiles. Many car dealerships and car brands often advertise their warranties on the car, such as free repairs for the first year if anything goes wrong because it should not go wrong in the first place.
In addition, it is common for a customer to hear, “This engine will easily last 100,000 kilometers without needing any service." which is a great way to advertise the car and create a higher demand for it.
1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act
This is a federal law for consumer product warranties. This law requires suppliers and businesses to provide their customers with detailed information about the warranty so that they can clearly understand what they are buying and what will happen to the product.
Congress passed this act in 1975. The reason for this act was to protect consumers by ensuring that businesses provide enough information about the product.
It is important to note that this law does not make it mandatory for sellers to have a written warranty for their products at all. This law is only directed at sellers with written warranties, requiring them to make them detailed.
In addition, this act only applies to warranties on customer products, seller to the customer, and it does not apply in case the customer resells the products.
First, it is required that the seller of a product include the words "full" or "limited" warranty in their written contract so the customers know. Secondly, warrantors must have detailed information about the warranty they provide.
The last requirement of the act is that the sellers must make sure that the warranty is available on the packaging or when the customer is buying the product so that they can read it and help them make a decision.
Express vs. Implied Warranty
Almost every purchase a consumer makes has an implied warranty, which is expected to work. An implied warranty states that the product or service will function as expected. This warranty is either written or orally agreed to.
An implied warranty of fitness is when a product is made for a specific purpose. If the product cannot do what it was bought for at any point, then the customer can return it, provided that it is still in good condition and not broken.
The implied warranty of merchantability is the name of the law. Merchantability means that the goods or services are promised to work as they are intended to.
NOTE
Some products have an express and implied warranty. The critical difference is that the express warranty is what the business promises to the consumer, and the implied warranty is how any product should work.
Any product that a customer buys usually has an implied warranty. For example, any food someone buys from supermarkets or restaurants should be edible, and a new vacuum cleaner should work perfectly without any issues.
Implications of Breach of Warranty
It would be beneficial if the sellers provided warranties in writing. Therefore, the business must know the implications if a consumer invokes the express warranty.
A lot of the time, even if there is no written contract, a business has some guarantee written in an advertisement or on their website that promises that their product will work in such a way. As a result, the warranty serves as a legally binding clause in your customer relationship.
The most common cases of contract breaches are;
- Defective products: The product does not perform to the standard it was advertised to work as. In addition, after a short amount of time, the product stops working completely.
- The product is delayed: When the product works after a certain amount of time after it has been bought or after a few tries to get it to work.
- The product is completely broken: When the customer receives a product that does not work or when the product is broken.
In case there has been a breach of the warranty, and the consumer tries to prove the express warranty, the first step is to show proof of security. This is why it's better to have a written warranty than something said in a conversation, which is hard to prove.
If the buyer is correct, the seller must either; fix the damage on the product, exchange the broken product for a new one that works, or return the money that the buyer paid for their product.
Conclusion
All in all, the next time you spend money on a product, make sure there is a written warranty or something you can rely on in case it breaks. An express warranty could be either written or verbally discussed.
Implied warranties are those provided by the law upon purchasing a product. It should be known that any opinions and exaggerations made in advertisements are not applied to contracts.
The seller should make sure that their warranty is both objective and detailed. A statement that provides information about the items, a description of the product and how it works, or any sample is all acceptable.
Suppose the seller breaches a contract and does not want to provide the customer with a refund or replace the product; the customer can sue the business. It is important to note that the customer must provide specific evidence of the express warranty.
Express warranties are also excellent for businesses to promote their product; it show the customers that they are confident that the product will perform and have excellent quality. Thus, it is a remarkable document for businesses, but they must ensure they use it wisely.
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