Consumer rights

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Taken from 'The Canary Islander':
Consumer Rights in Spain - 'Letters from the Atlantic'

One of the advantages of buying products in Spain and the Canary Islands is that all goods that are sold come with a two-year manufacturers` guarantee, regardless of where the product is purchased. In addition, shops are obliged to accept the return of an unused item if you change your mind, within a fifteen-day cooling off period. This is one of the reasons why I, as an expat, much prefer to buy expensive items in Spain rather than from the UK, which offers a measly one-year guarantee. However, there are some annoying exceptions, for instance, some high value and high tech products, although sold with the obligatory two year guarantee, are exempted from product returns within the 15 day period if the seal on the box has been opened, unless the item is faulty.

In addition, manufacturers selling goods in Spain have to ensure that spare parts are available for at least six years following the date of sale. Although little known by the general public, this law is designed to discourage manufacturers from suddenly discontinuing the supply of replacement parts for major products at short notice, leaving purchasers with no option, but to purchase a more modern item. This form of planned obsolescence is, in theory, not allowed in Spain.

I have friends who were recently faced with this issue when an expensive coffee maker failed and required a replacement part. The replacement part was no longer available and, when challenged, the suppliers were forced to supply an equivalent replacement product free of charge, even though the coffee maker was over four years old. Many consumers are unaware of their rights in this matter.

This becomes more complicated with extended warranties, which provide cover for major appliances, such as washing machines and freezers, when the manufacturer`s guarantee expires. There are insurance policies available for all major appliances from the better department stores, whilst some chains of electrical stores, as well as supermarkets selling electrical goods, offer purchasers the option to pay an additional fee to extend breakdown cover for a further 2 to 3 years. These add on deals often appear to be good value, or offered free, but as in most things in life, you get what you pay for, and some are hardly worth the paper that they are printed on.

In my own recent case, our three-year-old washing machine suffered a major breakdown. It was an expensive machine, bought from Worten, a well known electrical chain that I have used many times before on the basis that it would last longer than some of the cheaper models, and that I would have a reliable company behind the product. The manufacturer`s two-year guarantee had expired and I therefore had to rely upon the additional warranty that I had purchased with the machine. I assumed that a telephone call to Worten would bring a service engineer for the specific brand of washing machine to my home within a day or two. In reality, I had to wait for about a week before an engineer eventually appeared. The engineer was appointed by Worten to repair and install a whole range of products, and was not a specialist engineer. The engineer took a quick look, shook his head, and told me that the machine was a “right off” and if repaired the part would be very expensive. Permission would have to be obtained from the insurance company before the repair could take place and he would have to write a report, sending a full quotation of costs to the store.

Four weeks later, there was no sign of either the machine being repaired or a replacement machine being delivered. Many phone calls to an expensive phone number and emails led to unhelpful customer service staff telling me to wait yet “another ten days” and eventually resulted in the same engineer returning to take away the machine for repair. It has now been four months since the washing machine broke down, and as yet there is no sign of a resolution or return of the washing machine, and in despair I have now bought a new one from another company.  In addition, both the completion of the ‘libro de reclamaciones` (complaints form), as well as reporting the issue to OMIC (the department responsible for consumer affairs at the Town Hall) has brought no resolution to the problem, so be very wary of the protection that these two so-called resolutions provide; I suspect that both approaches are little more than worthless bureaucracy. 

Looking back, it would have been wiser to cover certain key appliances, such as washing machines, dishwashers and freezers, with a separate insurance policy through a named insurance company rather than through the add on deal offered at the till. This would have given me the option to request service and repair from the authorised dealer rather than a local generic agent who dabbles in the repair and installation of a whole range of products. The experience has failed to give me confidence in purchasing large items from this particular store again.

Generally, consumer protection in Spain is very good, but as in most things, we have to be careful, do our homework and accept that we usually get what we pay for.