Warranties in the EU

[NKing]

Hi,

I manufacture high value goods (unmanned aircraft) that are always at high risk of damage by consumers. It is possible to destroy £10,000 goods in one minute or less. We therefore make it very clear that consumers must follow manufacturers instructions, manuals and training and accept liability once the goods have been delivered. Most consumers do, but we have one consumer in Spain who has behaved completely irresponsibly, virtually destroyed the goods and is trying every tactic to get a full replacement. It's been a nightmare for us that has consumed literally hundreds of hours in preparing a mass of in-controversial evidence that they were at fault in up to six different ways, but they still continue to deny any responsibility in any way. We have offered partial refund, shared rebuild costs etc but they want a whole new aircraft at no cost to themselves.

I'm not particularly looking for help through this one, but more trying to find a source of manufacturer oriented guidance on eu warranties and protecting ourselves as a manufacturer so that in the future we will be better prepared when situations like this come up again. I can find a fair amount of consumer oriented information, but I feel sure that there must be something out there for the manufacturer too. Also of importance its trying to phrase our documentation in that our goods are to a degree consumable (airframe) and non consumable (electronics) and prevent claims being made on consumable items.

many thanks

 

[The Resolver]

Firstly, I am assuming tour terms of sale impose English law. There are implied warranties (equally if Spanish law applies) that apply if your customer bought the item other than for the purposes of a business, trade or profession, i.e. is a 'consumer' . If you were the seller direct to the Spanish customer, then the fact that you were also the manufacturer of the device makes no difference. The warranties are the same.

If the seller was another company and you supplied it to them and not direct to the Spanish consumer, so your sale was B2B, then there are no warranties implied by statute law since that is not a consumer contract. It is only those buying other than for business purposes who the legislators feel need protection! Of course there will be terms implied by the contract, and which will depend on the description you gave of the device and any conditions of use, warnings etc. I imagine your terms severely restrict liability for damage.

If this dispute has been taking up 100s of hours to resolve over 12 months , then you might welcome my help as a business mediator to stop any further drain. I should add given the international element , that I am the leading mediator in the country who practices online mediation. I also have close colleagues in the subject in Spain.

BTW, to comply with company law, your website needs to display the registration number of your limited company, identify its registered office and contain a statement that it is registered in England.

 

[arcon5]

If this guy is at fault and you can prove thia, why not simply refuse to communicate further....

send a letter/email offering him any options and the price (make sure it keeps you in profit) and finish it of stating if he accepts any of these offers to respond in writing and you wil get in touch..... then refuse to respond to emails or discuss on the telephone unless he is taking the offer..

basically force him to either pt up or shut up...

 

[NKing]

Hi Graham,

Thanks for your reply,

Yes my terms impose English Law. The client bought for business purposes (they are a large Renewable Energy Company wanting to do surveying work in Chile) so is this B2B rather than consumer? I’m happy that my descriptions of the device are clear, though I’m sure they can be improved. I’ve included a couple of extracts from our T&C’s below that might give a picture. (we extend the 12 months to 24 months for EU)

Big thanks also for the info on missing information on my website. I’ll get our designer to update that tomorrow.

If its ok with you I would like to call you. We are still in the dark though trying to find a laymans guide to read to help with the issue of supplying correctly written legally binding warranties (and disclaimers) for our products.

Here goes with the couple of paras from our T & C’s.

Many thanks

Nigel



Safety Measures
1. The term autonomous does not mean that the QuestUAV aircraft flies completely automatically. 
As with any conventional model aircraft or full size aircraft, great care and practices are required to ensure safe operations both in the air and on the ground. No auto-pilot is capable of eliminating the dangers of operational errors and it is particularly important that novice fliers are not tempted to become careless, relying on the ease of control of QuestUAV systems and end up in situations where they cannot regain control if an operational or technical fault occurs. Technical instruments are liable to failure. So in the interests of safety, pilots should be suitably competent to operate a QuestUAV, having received QuestUAV Manufacturers training, local RC training, and simulator training. No pilot should ever rely exclusively on the autopilot or autonomy of the system for success. Pilots should satisfy all required safety measures at all times.
Warranty
2. We guarantee the pod, wings, autopilot and gimbals against functional defects, material faults or production faults for 12 months subject to the following exclusions: the system must have used the unit in accordance with the Operating Checklists and any current reference data (including Manuals and Manufacturers Bulletins). There must be no damage present caused by:
a. moisture
b. heat
c. abrasion
d. excessive vibration
e. unauthorised intervention
f. unauthorised modification
g. unnecessary force
h. excess voltage
i. overload
j. impact or mechanical stress
k. excessive turbulence
l. heavy landing
Any airframe repairs that are claimed as a liability against QuestUAV Ltd, as a result of crash, impact, heavy landing or loss must be accompanied with the SD card containing the log of, at least, the last flight and, if possible, previous flights.

 

[The Resolver]

Nigel

Yes its B2B. So none of the consumer laws apply. I imagine your only B2C sales would be if someone just wanted it as a toy/hobby - e.g. to take high level photography as an artistic endeavour.... or even to just to play around with a rather costly model aircraft You ought to protect against that since the returns policy for a B2C customer (ie even when nothing wrong with the device) would be quite expensive for you.

By all means call me on 07885 728801 for a chat.

Can I just say to arcon5, the 'shut out' policy you suggest could result in much damage to Nigel's business if the customer were to post his complaints online as an adverse customer review. This is particularly risky given the small size of this specialist market. Don't say the defamation word because that would just be to trade, at worst, defending a contract dispute for a far more costly defamation case that Nigel would have to instigate and then, even if successful, go chasing chasing his customer half way across the world for the compensation monies to repair the lost business.