Warranty and Guarantee.

The necessity of a guarantee emerged as a means of protection to safeguard the right of the consumer. With the strength of the guarantee, a seller is liable to make the complete replacement of the purchased item, in case it was found to be below the prescribed standard. This is given by the seller or the manufacturer of a product to the customer and remains valid for a fixed period. The guarantee is a legal instrument irrespective of whether the customer paid for the article or not. Likewise, the warranty is also an instrument to safeguard the rights of a consumer. It requires payment on the part of the customer to make it legally viable as in the case of an insurance policy. With the strength of the warranty, the seller or the manufacturer is liable to face the judicial courts if the seller or the manufacturer fails to comply with the provisions of the warranty on their part. Warranty is only relevant to the repairing of articles.

A guarantee is generally given by manufacturers whereas the warranty is provided by most of the retail sellers or distributors. In a case of motorcycle purchase, there is the guarantee from the manufacturer and the seller has to provide the warranty on the vehicle from his part.

The main difference between guarantee and warranty lies in the dissimilarity of expectations in both the cases. Generally, it is believed that one can get his money back with the strength of a guarantee, if the product is defective or does not provide the assured standard. Warranty, on the other hand implies the provision of getting the article repaired if the product is defective. The most common in the recent period is the use of a limited warranty, which places conditions on the parts of an article, the quality of damage incurred and the time period of validity of the document. Naturally, the expectation in a warranty is reduced by the expression they use in the warranty document and hence the expectations are minimal. Therefore there is a vast difference in the essence and spirit of guarantee and warranty which the consumer must understand before expecting the benefit of such a document on the purchase he makes.

1. A guarantee is always free. A warranty attracts charges as the insurance policy.

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 a legal contract without any payment. A warranty received on payment is also a legal instrument with which the seller can be brought to books.

4. A guarantee is an addition to the legal consumer rights. A warranty does not affect the rights under the consumer act.

5. 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.