[nickff]

From what I can find, the guarantee period seems to be two years, after which the burden seems to 'flip'. Given that this microwave is at least five years old, I am not sure what standard one might cite to demonstrate 'non-conformity'. Do you know of a standard which says that a consumer microwave oven must work for more than five years?

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/gua...

[close04]

The warranty/guarantee is different from the average lifetime of the device, which is defined in the law as the average period a device must maintain its working parameters stated by the manufacturer.

In some countries a fridge is expected to have a lifetime of 10 years but a warranty of 2 years. So in theory if you could prove that the fridge cannot meet the expected average lifetime, the cooling ability decreases below the stated parameters much earlier, then it becomes the manufacturer’s responsibility.

[Macha]

> then it becomes the manufacturer’s responsibility.

Note that it becomes the _sellers_ responsibility - this might be the manufacturer if you bought it direct, but otherwise it’s the retailer

[close04]

You are correct, I wanted to say the manufacturer is ultimately responsible. The consumer deals directly with the seller but the manufacturer still takes over when the seller doesn't exist anymore.

[Fnoord]

Yes, the warranty period for consumers in whole EU is the minimal amount: two years.

But some countries have a more lax law (Germany, for example, not).

For example, here in The Netherlands you can have more than two years warranty. If you buy a premium smartphone (say: the latest iPhone or Google Pixel), and it stops functioning after twenty-five months (two years and one month), then your warranty isn't exhausted because a premium / flagship device like that (costing that much) is to be expected to work longer than twenty-five months. So, your warranty is still active. Now, if you bought a budget smartphone, you're probably out of luck. This is also why, yes, sometimes Google Pixel devices are cheaper in Germany. But you'll have less warranty if you buy it from there.

Then there's non-conformity. A device like a microwave isn't supposed to stop working because of a LED display suddenly turning on due to a hardware failure. Especially not if a blue LED display has this issue far more often than a green one. You can argue non-conformity with the seller (so the company who sold you the product; not the manufacturer), and they have to figure out how to handle it with the manufacturer; such isn't your issue as consumer. Only issue is you need a lawyer to write the letter for you (but there are nice examples available online which you can copy/paste, and there are also some very nice lawyers who do this either for free or low fee).

For businesses, different laws apply…