Appliance broken? Check your protection before buying a replacement
4 November 2026 · 5 min read
Pierre Leonet, founder of Garanti, responsible publisher
A broken appliance does not necessarily need replacing. Before paying for a repair or buying again, find your proof of purchase, check the delivery date and review the applicable warranties. Surveys help explain the issue, but they cannot predict what will happen to your own machine.
The breakdown happens. Then the search begins.
The washing machine will not start. The phone refuses to charge. The dishwasher stops halfway through its programme. Frustration soon comes with questions: when did I buy it? Where is the invoice? Who should I contact? And the thought that can make you give up too soon: ‘It must be out of warranty.’
Your first step need not be a new shopping basket. Reopen the appliance’s file instead. Not because a free repair is always available, but because you do not want to abandon protection that might still apply.
A third of respondents used their warranty
In a survey published on 22 May 2026, Test-Achats reports that 34% of respondents had invoked the legal guarantee during the preceding two years. The organisation summarises this as ‘one Belgian in three’. The precise scope matters: respondents to that survey, not a count of all Belgian households. [1]
The findings are not solely discouraging. Test-Achats reports average satisfaction of 8 out of 10 with the solution received. Making a claim is not necessarily futile. However, in 15% of cases, consumers still paid part of the costs, such as shipping or diagnosis. This describes reported experiences, not 15% of all Belgians receiving an unlawful bill. [1]
If you are asked to pay, ask what for and on what basis. A repair or replacement covered by the legal guarantee must be free of charge, subject to the legal conditions. Request a written explanation before accepting an unclear expense. [4][5]
‘Seven in ten’: check who reported the problem
Test-Achats’ ‘Trop vite usé’ platform had received nearly 15,000 reports of appliances failing sooner than expected. In 69% of reported cases, the failure occurred within three years of purchase; in 42%, within two years. [1]
This does not mean seven out of ten appliances sold fail within three years. People use the platform precisely because something went wrong. It makes genuine disappointments visible, but it is not a sample of all appliances in use and does not establish a national failure rate.
Knowing about warranties is not the same as knowing your rights
A European Commission study published in December 2015, covering the then EU-28, reports that 67% of surveyed consumers said they knew about the legal guarantee. Only 35% said they knew its duration in their country. These figures are old: they illustrate an information gap, not Belgians’ level of knowledge in 2026. [2]
The legal guarantee comes from the law. A commercial warranty depends on the manufacturer’s or seller’s commitments. Card insurance follows a contract, with eligibility and payment requirements, limits, exclusions and reporting deadlines. A card does not automatically extend the warranty on everything you buy.
In Belgium, for a new consumer good sold by a professional to a consumer for private use, the seller is responsible for conformity defects appearing within two years of delivery. Free repair or replacement is the first route, subject to the legal conditions. This is not insurance against every accident or a promise of an immediate refund. The seller is your contact for the legal guarantee. [4][5]
An early breakdown does not prove planned obsolescence
Research commissioned by Germany’s environment agency, UBA, and presented in February 2016 reports that the proportion of large household appliances replaced because of a defect before five years rose from 3.5% in 2004 to 8.3% in 2013. This concerns the replacements studied in Germany, not all appliances bought in Belgium today. [3]
The same release says the study found no evidence of manufacturers deliberately shortening product lifetimes. Early failures, shorter periods of use and intentional failure are different claims. We can ask for more durable products without accusing a brand on the basis of one broken appliance. [3]
Repair rather than discard: the hidden waste matters too
Replacing an appliance means more than another expense. It was manufactured and transported, and must eventually be handled at the end of its life. Those stages involve resources and environmental impacts. For the categories studied, UBA highlights the greater environmental burden of short-lived products. [3]
That does not prove every repair is always preferable, regardless of cost, safety or energy consumption. But it makes one question worth asking: could this appliance still be useful? Checking protection, requesting a diagnosis and comparing repair options gives a useful object a chance.
Sometimes the greener step starts not with buying a new ‘green’ product, but with finding an invoice and sending a repair request to the right person.
Five checks before you buy again
1. Find the evidence. A receipt, invoice, order confirmation and payment record can help establish the purchase. Keep the model and, if available, the serial number. Do not alter the originals.
2. Reconstruct the dates. Distinguish purchase, delivery and the first time you noticed the problem. An approximate memory is not enough to conclude a warranty has expired.
3. Identify the right protection. Start with the legal guarantee when its conditions are met. Then examine commercial warranties and any insurance on the card used. Check the contract applicable to your purchase, not just today’s offer.
4. Describe the problem in writing. Include the appliance, useful references, known dates, symptoms and requested solution. Attach relevant evidence and keep a copy. For the legal guarantee, contact the seller. For insurance, follow the contractual procedure and deadlines.
5. Compare before replacing. If coverage is not established, ask about diagnostic charges and request a quote. Consider safety, costs, spare parts and expected use. Repair deserves consideration, not an advance promise.
Give your appliance another chance
Garanti helps bring your purchase documents together and track your purchases’ protection. It does not prevent every breakdown or guarantee that a claim will be accepted. Its aim is practical: finding the information that matters when you need it, so you can decide and act without starting from scratch.
Before concluding ‘I need a new one’, ask: have I really checked what still protects me? Your appliance may deserve a second chance. Your budget and the resources needed for a replacement deserve that check too.
The Garanti practical guide · Compare bank card protection
The Garanti habit: Keep your proof of purchase and repair invoices in Garanti: if something breaks or the seller refuses, your claim file is ready in seconds. Try it free
Also read: Right to repair: what Europe changes for your appliances
Sources and methodology
Written on 4 November 2026. Figures are attributed to their surveys and periods. They are not Garanti statistics or a current measure of all breakdowns in Belgium. Rights and contracts must be assessed against your circumstances. This article provides general information, not a decision on an individual case.
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