Consumer rights, guarantees relating to the purchase of goods and services and dispute resolution

Warranties related to the purchase of goods

Legal conformity warranty

The legal warranty applies to almost all goods, including any tangible movable object, goods with digital elements (e.g., mobile phones), as well as water, gas, or electricity, when sold in a specific volume or quantity.

The legal warranty period is 2 years, regardless of whether you purchase products online, in a store, or by mail order.

For goods with digital elements (smartwatches, smartphones, and smart appliances) the legal warranty may be five years if the goods have an average usage period of more than five years, and the contract provides for the continuous supply of digital content or digital services (for example, periodic system updates or software included in the sales contract). If the continuous supply of digital content or digital services is provided for a period longer than five years, then the warranty will be valid for that period.

For second-hand products, you can agree with the seller on a warranty period of less than 2 years. However, the warranty cannot be less than 1 year.

Commercial warranty

The commercial warranty represents a commitment assumed by the seller or manufacturer, in addition to the legal warranty, by which they undertake to refund the paid price or to replace, repair or maintain the goods in any way, if they do not correspond to the specifications or any other requirement that is not related to conformity.

If the manufacturer offers you a commercial durability warranty for certain goods for a given period of time, they are directly liable to you, for the entire period covered by the durability warranty, for repairing or replacing the goods. The manufacturer may offer you more favorable conditions in the commercial durability warranty certificate.

The commercial warranty must be offered to you in writing or on any durable medium. This can be done in the form of the warranty certificate.

For durable goods, the warranty certificate is mandatory, even if no commercial warranty is offered.

The commercial warranty certificate is worded in a simple and intelligible language and contains the following elements:

• a clear statement indicating that the consumer is entitled to corrective measures from the seller, at no cost, in case of non-conformity of the goods and that these corrective measures are not affected by the commercial warranty;
• the name and address of the guarantor;
• the procedure that the consumer must follow to make use of the commercial warranty;
• indication of the goods to which the commercial warranty applies;
• the conditions of the commercial warranty.

Presumption of non-conformity

Until proven otherwise, any problem (non-conformity) of the product arising within 1 year from the time of delivery is considered to have existed when the product was delivered to you.

Seller's liability

The seller is liable to you for any lack of conformity existing at the time the goods were delivered.

In the case of lack of conformity, you have the right to ask the seller to bring the product into conformity by free repair or replacement, price reduction, or contract termination. For any of these corrective measures you may opt even when the non-conformity of the goods is found shortly after delivery, without exceeding 30 calendar days.

Right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal from a contract is valid only for contracts concluded at a distance or outside commercial spaces and can be exercised within a period of 14 calendar days, without the need to justify your decision.

In case of exercising the right of withdrawal the trader must reimburse the amounts paid to you without undue delay, but not later than 14 days from the date you informed them of your decision to withdraw from the contract.

There are a few specific exceptions to the right of withdrawal, for example perishable goods, goods that have not been sealed and which cannot be returned for reasons of heating or hygiene, and service contracts after the service has been fully performed, where you have given your prior consent to start the provision immediately and acknowledged that you have lost your right of withdrawal when the service has been fully performed.

Procedures for resolving consumer disputes and granting compensation

If you have a problem with a trader and it cannot be resolved directly with the trader, you have the following options:

• filing a complaint with the competent authority;
• initiating an alternative dispute resolution procedure.

General procedure for resolving consumer petitions

If you reside in Romania and have a problem with a trader from Romania, you can address the Regional Consumer Protection Commissariats, structures subordinated to the National Authority for Consumer Protection.

The forms by which you can address the National Authority for Consumer Protection structures are:

• notification: form made in writing regarding the lack of conformity of the purchased products/services, without a request for material claims, by which a possible violation of consumer rights and interests is brought to attention.
• complaint: form made in writing regarding the lack of conformity of the purchased products/services or other violations of consumer rights and interests and by which material or other claims are requested.

Cross-border dispute resolution procedure

If you have a problem with a trader from another EU country, from Norway, Iceland, or the United Kingdom, you can contact the European Consumer Centre in your country of residence.

The European Consumer Centres can offer you, free of charge, the following services:

• information about your rights under European and national legislation;
• information about possible ways to resolve your complaint;
• facilitation of amicable settlement with the foreign trader from whom you purchased products or services, directly or online;
• referral any competent body, if an amicable settlement of the dispute could not be reached.