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To buy or not to buy from overseas ? Time for consideration and claim (II) In Europe, the law also grants to you a time for consideration of 7 days for any purchase made online and 14 days for contracts concluded by door-to-door salesmen. If unfortunately during this time the product is defect, warn immediately the seller by phone or email. The request is admissible only at the condition that the product is new and has never be used (excepted the first time to discover the problem), and that the breakdown is not ascribable to a bad handling from the customer or a use proscribed and documented in the user manual. During this 7-day time the law obliges the seller to refund you the product without conditions. But if you bought a defective product, contact immediately the seller. It will be exchanged if it cannot be repaired. In this particular case as in the general case where you exceeded the consideration time, you fall in the usual after-sale procedure, the warranty drawing its effects immediately. What about orders passed in a foreign country, inside Europe or overseas, where the law of your country does not apply ? Your country can protect you against hidden defect, foresee a retract, etc, but their effects are limited to the national territory. The european right does not deal with this question but only the conformity warranty. In fact, thr rules governing inter-european relations will never oppose to the terms and sale conditions nor to the civil procedural code. The contract that you sign with a foreign company respects the rules edicted between buyer and seller as described in the terms and sale conditions, reason for which you must always peruse them, all the more "small characters" ! These texts inform you about transport conditions, charges, insurance, delay, claim, etc. Legally, if you and the seller are agree, nothing prevent you to submit any litigation to the law of a third country. At last, about litigations and what court will be in charge of this file, it is also written in the sale conditions. And what about Amazon, to take a famous reseller ? If you do a mistake (e.g. you ordered the wrong CD or book, etc) you have to respect their sale conditions. Even if the company is established in your country, it can edict sale conditions protecting better the customer than the legal conditions that are e.g. limited to a consideration time of 7 days. To Amazon there are two possibilities : - Either you purchased a new item. You can cancel the order if it is not sent yet. Otherwise you have 30 days from receipt to return the product in following Amazon policies. A small commission will be credited in the vicinity on your account. - Either you purchased a second-hand item. In this case, you work with a seller independent. Amazon is not concerned by the sale nor responsible of the seller. You have the opportunity to cancel the order by sending an email directly to the seller. At some occasions (e.g. during weekends) he will not answer you before 2 or 3 days. But usually your order will be cancelled at no charge if it was not processed yet. If the item is already shipped, you can get a refund. Note that Amazon grants you also a total or partial refund if the item is broken at the receipt. In case of major problem, Amazon permits you to submit a claim. In case of litigation with a seller, do keep all your documents (mail, order, invoice, account notice, etc). In case of double invoicing, the law (in Europe at least) give you 70 days to stop a cheque to your bank. In this case do inform immediately the seller by phone or email then by registered mail and demand explanations, and a correction for fear of legal proceeding.
Voilΰ in a few words the "small snags" to which you can facing. Now that the classic procedure of repair is understood, let's see how we can protect ourself against these "small snags", and what risk do we incur in ordering material abroad online, and specially in the United States or in countries out of the Euro zone for Europeans, and vice versa, where the described problems will be emphasized due to the fact that there is practically no contact between the customer and the seller. But do never forget that the problem already occurs with any border country... Questions of warranties
The legal warranty is mandatory and protect you against hidden defects of a product. In that circumstance the Law is the only judge. But you will be already face to problems of time and communication if you try to expertise your material with a correspondent living abroad. Your commercial warranty, if there is, is also time limited (1, 2, 3 years...) and does not cover all accessories and charges (shipment, etc). It is often provided with small electronic accessories and electrical appliances. This kind of contract becomes today a marketing factor for enterprises. Indeed most of them accept quite easily a refund for the defective part if for example the servicing last over 30 days or, for expensive parts, they accept a renting at no charge for the time of repair. If these rules work on paper, practically these exchanges are however hard to satisfy with customers living abroad. One year of warranty to this dealer, two years to this other one... The greatest surprise that we meet in relation with the warranty is its duration. But unfortunately we often discover it too late, when the device fails to work... sometimes only a few days after the warranty expired! Let's take a common case. You wish to buy an electronic device in an international fair, in France for example. You learn that the japanese constructor does not offer an international warranty. You say OK, I will content with the warranty offered by the local representative. During the exhibition, the French seller offers you a rebate on the street price with a one-year warranty. Fine ! you say, and you buy the device and go back home, close to the German border. By chance, you visit a german seller supporting the same brand and, oh surprise, he learns you that he might have offered you a 2-year warranty in the same conditions... Where is Europe you wonder ? It does not intervene at this level but rather in the event of litigation. I questioned the manufacturer about this difference of marketing policies. The manufacturer answered me: "Icom Europe GMBH (Germany) and Icom France SA are two distinct companies and ICOM Japan does not propose an international warranty, also unfortunately we cannot assume the warranty of your device purchased out of our network". This is well what we said previously. If this situation looks illogical for the buyer, this is a commercial act as any another one that binds a seller to a manufacturer, of course at the disadvantage of the customer crossing regularly the border. Extended and international warranty You can also subscribe to an extended or complementary warranty to cover all options not included in the commercial contract. But often these extensions are more profitable to the seller than to the customer. At last be careful with the international warranty, even for products purchased inside the European Union or in the last duty free shops. There are chance that your warranty does not apply in all countries (like this occurs with car insurances). In case of failure it will not be always easy to repair it in a store near or to exchange it without adding charges. So ask the seller for reading the manufacturer's warranty and the list of supported international importers *before* any major purchase.
In the case of a repair, ask always to your seller for a detailed note of repair and replaced parts. In Europe the bill must include the nature of the work, parts replaced or added and the duration of repair. In regards of these works and new parts, the seller assumes the same warranty as the manufacturer. Without these indications on the bill, the legal european texts stated "if the one who realized the work is not in state to repair the product it is of his responsibility to proof this is not due to its intervention". You can surely buy what you want from abroad and not only from the U.S.A. if you are nearly sure to never have to service it and send it back at your charge, including twice the local transportation and overseas shipment plus taxes if you didn't pay them the first time. This kind of transaction is valid for a book, a software or collectors items and I personally work this way quite regularly. But this is already no more valid for optics, electronic equipments or low cost electronic devices. In fact often there are local representatives or dealers of this brand that you can not bypass due to agreements signed between them and the foreign manufacturer.
So, you could never order a Meade telescope in the U.S.A. if you give a destination address in France as Meade is present in this country. On the contrary, as Tele Vue is not present in Luxembourg I can order all their catalog directly to the U.S.A. As told me a major US dealer : "Meade Instruments does not allow their USA dealers to ship outside of the USA. They have it in writing and we signed their contract and respect their wishes. The others have no written contract and we would be happy to supply any of their equipment." A useful trick : for some small purchases but that can sometimes be very expensive, ask the seller to write on the parcel that he will send you "Specimen. With no commercial value". Some do it automatically for all their cheap products. Otherwhise at customs you will have to pay an importation taxe (duty) of 19.6% for Europe, if not doubled if the product is classified as "luxury product"... In this matter, recall that any non-european product purchased in the U.K. or in Switzerland, two countries out of the Euro zone are, like any other european country, automatically crippled by an importation taxe of 19.6% plus about 4.5% for toll servicing. In other words, that you buy a device in Germany or in the U.K., there are much chances that both companies have the same prices, with a slight fluctuations due to the exchange rate. In both cases, you have simply to add the handling/shipping. And in no circumstance you could be payed back for the taxe paid abroad ! Charges for the transportation However, whatever the foreign country, this hidden cost of shipping is not to disregard : in average the far the country the higher the shipping. To DHL for example, but we could take UPS or FedEx, to send a package from Europe, the delay door-to-door is usually of 1 to 2 days to a bordering country and between 3 and 4 days (3 days for overseas shipping plus one day bonded) to the U.S.A. or Australia. The package remains at the arrival trucker office as long as it has not been delivered to the consignee or as long as the sender do not ask for its return. They transport anything but documents (papers). They also transport photographic documents (prints or transparencies) but do only insure the value of the support. The price depends on the weight - estimated to within about 0.5 kg or 1 pound - with a minimum of 250 gr, and on the distance. Like the Post, DHL, FedEx and UPS are represented world-wide, and have often an office very close to your home.
Potential troubles I will never suggest you to buy a large scope or an expensive electronic device from overseas for another reason.
What should be the administrative and financial troubles you will face to in case of malfunction ?... An international warranty *does not * mean at all that you can service your scope to your local dealer... That often means that you have to send it back where you bought it and pay all charges (registration, insurance, postage, etc). Usually your local dealer or representative accepts however to make you please as long as there is no agreement signed between him and the manufacturer but usually you will have to pay all charges - the warranty could be not applicable - as you haven't bought the scope in his shop or through his network. Think about that problem a few seconds. In my humble opinion this is not recommended for heavy and expensive items except of course if the only contact is abroad. But in that case subscribe to a temporary insurance for the period of shipment and servicing. And do not forget that your marvelous device will be away for... some months too ! Ask for information *before* purchasing to prevent bad financial surprises and to get an idea of the after-sale conditions. Know that usually devices are repaired to the importer but sometimes the work requires to return it back to the manufacturer. If you bought it abroad, that could cost you hundreds of euros in transport. By way of conclusion If you do a leap in an overseas country, and come back with the product by airplane, the problem remains the same. Travelling with package means that you have to pass "invisible" in front of customer agents and through the local taxes office. Your gain can be consequent (up to 50% of the local price) but in the contrary, if your purchase is not confiscated due to a political ban (as there is for example on image intensifiers), charges and duties will change your face from K to L... Once again buying abroad and mainly overseas is only valid for small items not bigger than a handy luggage, and even in this case the bet is at your own risks. An informed man is worth two of them. The other solution is to trust in the Internet and its secure ways of paiment. But have at mind that there is piracy and that malvolent people are on the look-out for any possible victim. Here is the conclusion of a French amateur who bought a Meade LX200 in Canada after have compared prices on Internet. Imported via AirFrance Cargo, he followed the classic importation procedure, with a statement of real value, and a personal clearing through customs. He has to settle for the importation rights and charges, about 24% to add to his purchase price. At the end, his profit was of only 10% compared to the price he would have paid in France and he had to adapt the 110V power supply of his CCD to 220V : "I was lucky, all work fine. But I do not recommend it. There are risks that one dare to take. I had to lose everything!!!" (speaking about the profit of the importation). Another european reader confirmed me that he purchased via Internet a Nikon F100 reflex camera (classic) directly to the U.S.A.: "No problem, delivered by FedEx, invoice with VAT sent 2 months later from another company. For the warranty, I chose a 7-year international warranty. I spared more than 300 on a purchase in France or Switzerland". His benefit was about 25%. That said, we have to know how finding the information on Internet because it is not always interesting to order outside his country. Currently it is possible to find astronomy shops offering a discount of 20% on scopes. While it is always important to well read sale conditions (as well as warranty and complaint conditions), in this case an import offers no interest, and offers even more inconveniences than advantages. Good luck ! Need your feedback If you successfully brought back some large item from abroad, send me an email explaining me how you optionaly bypassed the excise duty when importing, if you experienced trouble with the warranty, and how you will manage potential damage and maintenance. Your experience might interest other readers in the same situation. Further readings Internet Right Observatory (B) Consumer's rights in legal texts or magazines protecting consumers Manufacturer's and sellers' policy and commercial warranty Newsgroups about legal rights Translation Notes (E - F - G) The legal warranty - La garantie lιgale - Die gesetzliche Garantie The commercial warranty - La garantie contractuelle ou commerciale - Die vertragliche oder Werksgarantie The extended, complementary warranty - La garantie complιmentaire ou extension de la garantie - Die Zusatzgarantie The international warranty - La garantie internationale - Die internationale Garantie Refund - Remboursement - Rόckzahlung See also BabelFish and other on-line translators. For more information Information Society (European Community) BEUC (The European Consumers' Organisation) |
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