Faulty goods and seller remedies

If goods are defective, your statutory claim is normally against the seller. Check that route before buying a replacement, paying a repair shop or relying only on a manufacturer’s guarantee.

Which right are you using?

• Gewährleistung is the seller’s statutory liability for defects, including relevant non-conformity already present at delivery. Normal wear and damage you cause are not automatically covered.
• Garantie is an additional promise under section 443, with its own coverage and conditions. It does not remove your statutory seller rights.
• Consumer withdrawal concerns undoing a covered distance or off-premises contract, often within 14 days, even without a defect. A shop-counter purchase has no general change-of-mind return right; a shop’s voluntary policy is separate.

This guide covers ordinary consumer purchases of goods from businesses. Private sellers may exclude liability within legal limits; digital content, goods with digital elements and other special cases can have additional rules.

Report the defect to the seller

Keep proof of purchase, order number, delivery date, photos or video showing the problem, and the seller’s replies. Describe when the defect appeared and request repair or replacement in writing. Normally you choose between those remedies, but the seller may refuse your chosen method where legally justified, such as disproportionate costs. For a contract made on or after 31 July 2026, section 475(4) requires the seller, before carrying out the cure, to tell you expressly that you can choose between repair and replacement, and that a repair extends the original limitation period once by twelve months. Make the goods available and agree how they will be collected or returned.

The seller pays the necessary transport, labour and material costs of this statutory remedy. Do not arrange and pay for your own repair first and assume you will be reimbursed. Ask for a reasonable completion date and keep proof of each handover and attempted repair or replacement. If the seller refuses, delays unreasonably or the remedy fails, seek advice about a price reduction, withdrawal from the sale or other claims. A refund is not automatic after every complaint, and different conditions apply to each remedy.

Check the purchase date and time limits

For new goods, the ordinary limitation period is two years from delivery. A business selling used goods can shorten it to one year only under the consumer-law conditions, including specific advance information and an express separate agreement. A defect appearing in the first year is generally presumed to have existed at delivery unless that is incompatible with the goods or defect. For a live animal, section 477(1) sentence 2 shortens that presumption to six months. Special rules also apply to digital elements. This does not mean every later failure is excluded, but evidence becomes important.

For a consumer purchase concluded on or after 31 July 2026, repairability is an objective characteristic of the goods under section 434(3) sentence 2. Article 229 section 72 applies the earlier text to contracts made before that date, and it applies this repairability rule to contracts between businesses only when they are concluded after 31 December 2027. For purchases made from 31 July 2026, section 475e(5) extends the original limitation period once by twelve months when statutory cure is carried out by repair. The repair date alone does not decide which rule applies. Other rules can also affect the final deadline; report a problem promptly rather than calculating an extra year yourself.

When statutory seller remedies do not cover the repair

The manufacturer repair route introduced in July 2026 is separate. Section 479a limits it to goods in the product groups listed in Annex II of Directive (EU) 2024/1799, bought by a consumer, and only where the seller remedies in section 437 are not available. Section 479b says that repair is either free or for a reasonable charge. It is not free repair for every device or a new universal guarantee. Check the linked current repair guidance for the product, obtain a quote, and compare an existing guarantee or seller claim before agreeing to pay.