[newhere420]

Most large appliances in Europe, even the cheap ones, will have some claim on the packaging like 5-15 year guarantee. However for the cheaper ones, once you try to actually use them beyond the EU 2 year minimum[1], you'll find there's all kinds of hidden terms and fees. 50$ callout, doesn't include labour, etc.

So in practice, consumers have been conditioned to just assume that nothing is really guaranteed to last, therefore just buy the cheapest one. With the exception of certain brands such as Miele who are very popular among people with enough money to drop on the high up front price.

You're right in that this could potentially be addressed other ways, for example with packaging regulations. If it says "15 year warranty", then it shouldn't have any hidden terms or charges.

[1] Although with the EU guarantee after 6 months it's technically your responsibility to show fault, with large non-moving appliances the usual assumption is it's probably the device's fault.