The year zero of “CON2U220”

From 1962 to 2022, this year has indeed come with multiple regulatory developments, the labor reform, the law on the legal regime of animals, but more interesting for us now is that, from January 1, 2022, it comes into force the real "Decree-law 7/2021, of April 27, transposition of European Union directives on competition matters, prevention of money laundering, credit institutions, telecommunications, tax measures, prevention and repair of environmental damage, displacement of workers in the provision of transnational services and consumer defense”.

What happens in 1962?

When you start reading this short post you may have asked yourself, what is the year 1962? Well, on MARCH 15, 1962, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a well-known American politician and diplomat who was the thirty-fifth president of the United States, In his speech before the United States Congress he said: “We are all consumers. "The State has the special obligation to be alert regarding the needs of consumers and to advance their interests.". It was in 1962 from the USA, from where the universality of the concept of consumer. “Consumers, by definition, we are all. They are the majority group in the economy, affecting and being affected by practically all public and private economic decisions. Two-thirds of total spending in the economy comes from consumers. But they are the only major group in the economy that is not effectively organized, whose opinion is often ignored.”.

And from 1962 at an international level, passing through the fateful and unpleasant event that saw the birth of consumer law in Spain (We will talk about it another time, or I invite you to do a little research) we go to:

NEWS at CON2U220 in 2022

• 1st The extension of the warranty period in the sale, the warranty period for the sale of goods is extended to 3 years, being 2 years in the case of purchases of goods. digital goods or services. It is important to be clear that digital goods and services are services at the request of the consumer, for example, "glovo", digital subscriptions (video games in the cloud, news plan...), digital media, software and mobile applications, without place There is no doubt that we have been moving for a long time in the infinite digital world and that is why it was important to provide the consumer with broader and easier to identify rights.

The feared in misunderstood second hand goods, the guarantee can be set by the employer, but let us not forget that it is never less than one year from the date of delivery.

Let's not forget an important note for the purchases of goods with three year warranty, the consumer does not have to prove the lack of conformity during the first 2 years, (different from the right of withdrawal, which is still 14 calendar days as a general rule from the delivery date) Now yes, once the first two years have elapsed, and until the third year, the manufacturer or trader may require expert evidence for the verification and assessment of this lack of conformity with the product or service, so, in my opinion, This extension is good but somewhat poisonous for the consumer.

• 2nd Prescription of the lack of conformity of the product, a period of 5 years of prescription for the claim that has to do with the lack of conformity of the product and the obligations, let us not confuse lack of conformity with withdrawal, or with the warranty period. It is a procedural deadline, translated, it is the time we have to claim damages and losses caused to us by this lack of conformity. During this period, the consumer only has to demonstrate that the good, content or digital service purchased does not conform to what was agreed between the parties, and it is unnecessary to demonstrate its lack of conformity at the time of delivery. To oppose the consumer or user's claim, the businessman has to demonstrate that the lack of conformity did not exist at that time. It is important to know that, to prevent consumers from being misled, The commercial guarantees included in the associated advertising will prevail over those in the legal guarantee declaration if they are more beneficial for the consumer..

• 3rd Extension of the post-sale period with the obligation to maintain spare parts (in accordance with legislative trends on planned obsolescence or not hehehe), said term minimum to have spare parts and technical service is 10 years, starting from when the good had stopped being manufactured.

• 4th In the Digital Services the rights of consumers and users are reinforced, for those of successive tract (Streaming platforms, such as Netflix, HBO, Disney Plus…) Like the ones of single and unitary benefit. For these situations, the consumer has the right to modify the conditions of the provision to the employer as long as the following requirements are met, (These are rare situations, but, in short, there are some.):

a) The contract allows such modification and provides a valid reason for making it.

b) The modification is made without additional costs for the consumer or user.

c) The consumer or user is informed in a clear and understandable manner about the modification.

d) The consumer can terminate the contract.

• 5th Refering to rsolution, it is the obligation to repay the proportional amount between the period enjoyed and the contracted period, taking the reference date as the express declaration made by the consumer, which may be carried out by any means as long as it is reliable (email, digital or postal certified letter, burofax, etc..) Thus, currently with the permanence commitments who are under the condition of paying a penalty established in almost all service contracts in any sector, are left without coverage, something that was already being declared as a abusive clause by the Courts of Spain and which now reaches the status of law.

• 6th Consumer rights are reinforced when, by lack of conformity with the product, the businessman is not responsible to the consumer. In this case, you may complain directly to the producer in order to ensure that the good or digital content or service is brought into compliance. The terms available to the consumer with respect to the producer will be the same as with respect to businessmen. Let us remember that in this case it is different from the responsibility of the Manufacturer.

At a business and professional level, facing consumers and users, it is essential that companies exercise caution when drafting the terms and conditions of the contract, as well as when reviewing the advertising associated with the products since this prevails over the legal guarantee when it is most beneficial for the consumer.

Antonio Agustín Plaza Laborde

Lawyer-Mediator specializing in MASC and Consumer Law

Image Source: https://pymesworld.com/consumo-2022