As reported by the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato-AGCM), the AGCM accepted the commitments of Whirlpool, Candy and Electrolux, closing three inquiries initiated for how the technical assistance was provided at consumer’s home through the technical assistance centers in the case of intervention under legal warranty for the major domestic appliances sold by third parties. The object of the inquiries was the request of a payment of 30 euros for each intervention under legal warranty, after the first 6 months from the product delivery; the exclusion of parts of the products from the assistance under warranty; the use of an extra charge telephone number for the intervention request. Besides, only for the Whirlpool Group, there were restrictions on how to exercise the right of withdrawal for the sale of accessories with its shop on the Internet and, according to AGCM, deceptive ways to promote the sale of additional assistance services up to 5 years. Whirlpool, Candy and Electrolux are committed to this:
a) don’t require the payment of the call-out charge for the interventions under warranty, even after the first 6 months from the product delivery;
b) don’t exclude parts of the products from the legal warranty of conformity, even when they are parts subject to wear and tear;
c) don’t use extra charge telephone numbers for the intervention requests from the consumers.
These are commitments aimed at securing the consumers’ rights. Each company is also committed to adopt specific informative ways about the recognition of such rights and to realize specific compensatory measures for the consumers to whom they have requested the payment of the call-out charge.
