If you are thinking of moving to Italy and you are looking for properties in Italy for sale, you need to be well prepared with important information to make your stay comfortable and hassle-free. After you have bought that Italian dream home you will naturally have to furnish it and buy a host of other necessary items that completes a home to make it livable. It is therefore imperative to understand the Italian legislation that regulates the legal guarantee in the event that the product proves to be defective.

It is first important to understand that for all movable consumer items such as household appliances, vehicles, furniture, clothing, computers, air conditioners, food, telephones, and so on, the Act provides that the consumer is entitled to a legal guarantee of a period of two years in which the item can be returned to the seller in cases where the said item is found to be defective, not working, or differs from what you ordered or as described in its advertisement.

The legal guarantee provides the following remedies:

1. Replacement or repair of the defective product. These are called primary remedies characterized by:
• As an alternative choice for the consumer unless the choice is simply impossible to provide or is excessively burdensome or costlier than the purchased item.
• Provided at no additional cost to the customer.
• Provided within a reasonable time frame and without any inconvenience to the consumer.

2. Reduction of price or cancellation of the initial contract. These are called secondary remedies which are:
• Provided as an alternative choice to the customer.
• Provided in case of repair or replacement unless impossible or prohibitively expensive. In each case the provision is compared to the appropriate deadline initially provided, or the inconvenience caused to the consumer.

This therefore implies that when the repair or replacement does not provide the expected outcome, the consumer may request to terminate the contract. The goods must be returned with a full refund of the price paid, or have the price reduced so the consumer retains the good part of the “bad” product with a repayment of a certain portion of the price. In case of price reduction, the repaid amount is proportionate to the extent which the product has been used. This is considered on a case to case basis.

Warranty deadlines are claimed under the following conditions:
• Two years after delivery of a new item but for used goods the parties can limit the warranty to one year.
• The consumer has two months from discovery of defect to notify the seller. The complaint is not required if the seller had acknowledged the existence of the defect, or if the defect was concealed.

The consumer has 26 months from delivery to enforce the warranty, i.e 24 months and 2 months to denounce the warranty. It is therefore important to keep your receipts or invoices safe as you may need them to prove date of purchase and delivery. Ideally you may also photocopy the receipts to avoid deterioration of the paper over time.
If a defect occurs within 6 months after purchase, it is considered an original defect not caused by the consumer and will be borne by the seller.