What is the difference between guaranty and warranty?
Warranty means that he seller is responsible for selling only such products that are in a faultless condition and free of all defects of title. The seller is held responsible for all defects that have existed at the time of the purchase and those that have become visible at a later time (so called hidden defect). The condition of the item at the time of delivery is decisive. Since 1/1/2002 the legal time period in which a warranty has to be granted (ยง 437 German BGB) is 24 month; with second hand items it can be reduced to 12 months. In all cases, the customer is required to contact the seller should there be any defect. A guaranty is a voluntary, additional service offered by a seller or a manufacturer. Note that a seller is not obliged to hand a manufacturer’s guaranty on to a customer. The guaranty always refers to the functionality of certain parts of the item (or the whole item) for a certain period of time. The condition of the item at the time of delivery is not decisive, becaus
