🧾 Can a seller limit the legal guarantee to six months?

Quick answer

No. The seller is legally liable for any lack of conformity that appears within 2 years of delivery. That liability does not evaporate because the shop's slip says “6-month guarantee”. A commercial guarantee is a voluntary promise from the seller; the legal guarantee comes from the statute and cannot be cut down by contract. Within the first 6 months the defect is presumed to have existed at delivery — the burden of proof sits with the trader, not with you. Complaints must be decided within 3 working days, and a repair cannot drag on beyond 30 calendar days. The myth that destroys the most rights in Albania: “the 6 months are up, I have nowhere to go”. You have 18 more.

📋 The rules

The seller is legally liable for a lack of conformity appearing within 2 years of delivery of the goods.
Where the defect appears within 6 months, it is presumed to have existed at delivery — unless that is incompatible with the nature of the goods or of the defect.
The trader must accept the complaint immediately and decide on it no later than 3 working days.
Repair or replacement must be free of charge and carried out within the agreed period, but no more than 30 calendar days.
The time the goods spend in repair is added to the guarantee period — it is not deducted from it.

🔓 Exceptions

Damage from misuse, impact or unauthorised tampering is not necessarily a lack of conformity present at delivery; but the seller must substantiate the refusal, not merely assert it.
If repair or replacement is impossible, disproportionate, or not carried out in time, the consumer may seek a price reduction or termination of the contract.
Termination is not available for a trivial lack of conformity; a commercial guarantee may give more than the law, but never less.

⚠️ Penalties & fines

Breaches of the sales and guarantee provisions can be fined by the inspector at 200,000 lek. Mind the figure: in everyday Albanian speech you will hear this same fine quoted as “2 million lek” — that is old lek, the identical amount. For the consumer, fining the trader puts nothing back in your pocket: the remedy is a documented complaint, with proof of purchase, a description of the defect and the service paperwork. The cost nobody sees coming is silence — leave a device at a repair shop with no written trace and you lose the delivery date from which the 2 years run.

📎 Official sources

Last verified: 2026-07-12

❓ Frequently asked

The guarantee card says 6 months. Do my rights end there?

No. The shop's commercial guarantee is a voluntary promise and does not touch the seller's 2-year legal liability for lack of conformity. It can give you more than the statute provides, but never less.

What changes if the defect appears within 6 months?

Within the first 6 months the defect is presumed to have existed at delivery, unless that is incompatible with the nature of the goods. That means the trader has to prove otherwise, rather than you proving your case.

How long does the shop have to answer my complaint?

The complaint must be accepted immediately and decided no later than 3 working days. Repair or replacement must be free of charge and cannot exceed 30 calendar days from the agreed start.

The repair shop kept my device for a month. Do I lose that month?

No — the opposite happens, and few buyers know it. Time spent in repair is added to the guarantee period, so the deadline extends by exactly as many days as the device spent at the service centre.

Is the guarantee shorter for second-hand goods?

No separate one-year minimum for second-hand goods was found in the consolidated Albanian text. That claim circulates widely online but is not supported by the verified statute, so treat it with caution.

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