Difference Between Warranty and Guarantee: Whenever you buy a product, you have certain expectations of the product. If the expectations are not met, then you as a customer will be very disappointed. To cater to your expectations, many companies provide a Warranty or Guarantee with the product. However, consumers get confused with respect to the difference between warranty and guarantee. We will explain it in detail in this article.
What is warranty?
To understand the difference between warranty and guarantee, let us understand Warranty first. To state it simply, Warranty means a commitment from a manufacturer to its customers that if the product breaks or if there is any problem in the product, the manufacturer will provide free repair for the product. But the manufacturer does not commit replacement. He commits only repair.
OR Warranty can be defined as an assurance given by the manufacturer or seller to the buyer that the specified facts about the product are true. It is a collateral condition to the main objective of the contract. It specifies that the particular product is up to the standard, i.e. quality, fitness and performance. It applies to tangible objects like machines, electronic equipment etc.
This basically means that the customer is protected against sudden breakage or sudden problems in the product. If you bought a costly Refrigerator today, and it stops working one month down the line, why would you pay for the repairs? There should be a minimum time frame when the company is responsible for the product to work.
In case the product does not satisfy the set standards, then the manufacturer will repair it or replace its defective part. There are two types of warranty i.e. express or implied.
Companies, therefore, provide warranties with their product as a sign of assurance that the company is invested in the well being of the product. In another sense, if a company does not provide warranty for the product, then the company is not confident about the quality of the product or the liability lies with the consumer.
Example of Products covered under warranty – Your smartphone suddenly starts behaving weird. Some icons are not clicking even though you are pointing at them. As the phone is covered under 6 months warranty and it has been only a month since the purchase, you take the phone to the service centre and they repair it for free. No charges were applicable.
Example of product not covered by warranty – Continuing the above example, after 2 months, the phone slips from your hand one day and you break the screen. Now, this is not covered under warranty so you will have to pay for the screen to be replaced. It is the owner who is liable in such cases.
What is Guarrantee?
Guarantee is defined as the promise for the after-sales performance of the product or service. It expresses that the manufacturer has given promise regarding the content, quality or performance of the product and in case, the obligation is not fulfilled then the manufacturer will replace or repair the product or the money paid as consideration will be refunded. Although, it is valid up to a fixed time only. Guarantee adds to the rights of the consumer. OR guarantee is a step ahead of warranty wherein the company is so confident of their product, that they offer repair or replacement of the product. In short, if there is any problem in the product, the company will first try to repair the product and then if not repaired, it will offer free replacement.
For example, when Amazon Kindle was launched, it was a completely new concept in the market and there was a 1-year guarantee on the product. Kindle was known to have a soft screen and its screen breaking was a problem. However, Kindle knew what percentage of their customers will suffer from this problem. Due to the guarantee in place, many customers got direct replacement of their Amazon Kindle, therefore, motivating more people to adopt the Kindle faster.
Difference between warranty and guarantee
| WARRANTY | GUARANTEE |
|---|---|
| Warranty means repair but no commitment on replacement of the product | Guarantee means to repair or if repair is not possible then replacement |
| Warranty is generally given for products that are known to be either fragile or breakable and are mechanical in nature – For example, washing machines | Guarantees are given for products that are sturdy and robust and are unlikely to break down easily. Although guarantees are also given for mechanical products, the mechanical product should be high value or highly engineered. Example of products – Premium Pens, Heavy engineering products. |
| Refunds are not given in Warranty. | Refunds can be given in guarantee or a replacement is made |
| Warranty is covered for certain parts but there may be parts out of warranty for which payments need to be made. | Guarantee is completely free of cost. Guarantee may cover only certain parts. Other parts of a product might be under warranty. |
| After warranty, the warranty can be extended with additional payment. | After guarantee period, additional guarantee cover is very rare. An additional warranty might be given. |
| It is written and warranty cards are used to confirm the date of purchase. | A guarantee is a written document and generally Guarantee cards are used for the contract. Guarantee is valid from the date of purchase to the last date of the guarantee |
| Example – Air conditioners might be under 1-year warranty and hence repair of air conditioners will be done free of cost. | Example – Cross pens are covered by guarantee and if there is ever a problem with the pen, it is either repaired or completely replaced. |
After the deep discussion above, we can say that to some extent guarantee and warranty resemble each other, as they both talk about the performance of the product, but they are not the same thing.