Would it be ok to supply an item that deliberately stops working after the guarantee expires?

Question

I have TV that failed about a week after the 3 year guarantee expired.

Obviously this is annoying, and I'm back to using a 15 year old TV that I dug out from the attic.

Realistically, this failure so close to expiry of the guarantee is probably just a co-incidence, but it did get me thinking, the TV is a 'smart TV' with lots of electronics inside. It wouldn't be difficult to deliberately design it to stop working after exactly 3 years. If a manufacturer deliberately did this (and didn't mention it in their sales literature) would this be lawful?

This is slightly different from 'planned obsolescence' whereby spare parts aren't available, or an item can't be disassembled without destroying it, I'm talking about something very similar to buying a software license - where a fixed fee up-front allows you to use a product for exactly 12 months.

In practice, when I buy a physical item I regard the guarantee as the minimum period the item should work for with the expectation that with a bit of luck it should work for a lot longer. Could a manufacturer lawfully sell a TV/kettle/electric drill deliberately designed to fail after a fixed period?

Answer 1

australia

Deliberately rendering the TV non-operational through software would appear to be malicious damage.

Under the Australian Consumer Law, one of the statutory guarantees is that a product must be “durable”. Manufacturer’s can offer explicit warranties in addition but these in no way impact on the statutory guarantees.

What durable means depends on the product and the price paid for it. For a low end TV, 3 years might be durable enough although it’s arguable, but for a high end TV it wouldn’t be. For whitegoods, 10 years would be appropriate. A similar period would be appropriate for a car. However, for a Mars bar, maybe a week. And a restaurant meal, a half hour.

Answer 2

germany

If your machine actively destroys itself after the warranty is up, you commit the crime of damage to someone else's property under StGB § 303. You might also be liable for fraud, as this feature was not advertised - the "this machine will destroy itself after three years" is a crucial feature that people need to be informed about to form a proper contract.

If your machine just wears out after the warranty is up, then your machine is just suffering from a case of planned obsolescence. That is currently still allowed.

However the EU parliament is discussing making planned obsolescence itself illegal and items that suffer from it banned from the EU market.

Answer 3

In the UK for consumer products you can normally claim for a fault that was present or developing at the time of sale for up to six years after purchase (five in Scotland). However, after six months the onus is on the customer to prove that the faut was present of developing at the time of purchase (which in your case it may not have been and even if it was, you might need an expensive engineer's report to prove). Note that your rights are against the retailer not the manufacturer (unless they are the same entity).

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/claim-using-a-warranty-or-guarantee/

There is obviously some flexibility in this in that not every product could be reasonably expected to last that long. If some kind of deliberate failure mechanism was built in then it would obviously be present at the time of purchase though so you would be able to claim. It seems an unlikely strategy for a mass market product as you would get potentially thousands of products failing at the same time for the same reason which would cause suspicion and be a big PR hit.

It's probably worth speaking to the retailer anyway to see if they would honour the warranty or offer some sort of goodwill - a voucher or discount maybe.