A product’s warranty expiry, the date it arrived and the date a fault appeared can lead to three different conversations. Treating them as one deadline can send a shopper to the wrong person or make a valid complaint harder to explain.

For recent purchases from businesses, the useful first step is a short timeline. This guide compares the CCPC’s remedy and evidence guidance and turns it into a record that can travel with a complaint. It does not decide whether a particular fault qualifies.

Clock one: the first 30 days

The CCPC’s repairs and replacements guidance explains the short-term right to end a purchase and obtain a refund when faulty goods are rejected within 30 days. Repair or replacement can be chosen instead. After that period, repair or replacement is generally the first remedy, subject to what is possible and proportionate; serious faults can justify a refund.

The seller is the starting point for a statutory remedy. A manufacturer’s warranty is a separate promise. Keep its paperwork, but do not let its expiry replace the purchase timeline.

Clock two: the evidence changes

The CCPC’s faulty-goods FAQs distinguish the first year from later claims. During the first year, a fault is presumed to have existed at delivery unless the business shows otherwise. Later, the consumer must establish that the goods were faulty at the relevant starting point. Accidental damage, misuse and ordinary wear are different matters.

The practical consequence is to preserve what happened while it is still easy to describe. A dated photograph of a broken hinge, a short account of an intermittent fault and the earlier repair correspondence answer different questions. Keep the original files rather than relying on a disappearing chat history.

Clock three: longer rights are conditional

Ireland’s remedy period can extend to six years where a product could reasonably be expected to last that long. This is not a universal six-year guarantee that every failure must be refunded. The product, cause of failure and evidence still matter.

A useful comparison is therefore: the first clock concerns an early rejection option; the second concerns who must establish the fault; the third concerns the longer period in which a remedy may be pursued. None is a promised repair turnaround.

A record to send with the complaint

Make one page with five entries: seller and order number; purchase and delivery dates; date the problem first appeared; a factual description of the failure; and the remedy requested. Add a separate list of attachments, such as proof of purchase, photographs and previous job sheets.

Record the dates on which the item was collected, repaired and returned. If the problem repeats, the chronology should show that clearly without describing every contact as a new purchase. Keep copies of what you send and a note of any agreed next step.

The CCPC’s complaint guidance recommends contacting the business and then making a written complaint if needed. Reporting a business to the regulator is different from obtaining a remedy in an individual dispute. A clear record helps the next organisation understand the problem; it does not guarantee the outcome.