The Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose

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I talked about one kind of Implied Warranty in the previous post. This is the other kind.

Rather than affirming the basic notion that “Box cutters will cut boxes,” this implied warranty exists when a seller says that a particular product will meet a very particular need. Let’s say you need to cut through 1/8” thick plastic sheets. Not all blades are fit to cut plastic, but some are. If a sales person suggests a particular box cutter to you, knowing that this is what you need it for, and then your box cutter blades all break on contact with the plastic sheets, the Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose comes to your defense. This is not as often specific to the product, but to the transaction, to what the merchant has said about it.

The seller is expected to know which products are best for each particular use, and to give correct advice to the buyer. Not all flooring is waterproof, but if you need waterproof flooring, and we suggest a kind of floor to you, it had better be waterproof! The buyer doesn’t necessarily even have to state the need. The law says that this warranty is in effect if the seller or manufacturer could reasonably be expected to know the intended purposes. It is in effect when the buyer is relying on the seller’s product knowledge as she picks her products to buy.

About Both Of Our Implied Warranties

"What is it, a giraffe?"

No written warranty may be used to invalidate implied warranties. If a written warranty for a refrigerator directly states, “Not guaranteed to refrigerate,” it still has to refrigerate under the implied warranty of merchantability. Even if you do see these written into the language of a warranty, they may not hold up in court.

The seller may only limit the duration of the implied warranty to match that of a written warranty. If she only guarantees the box cutter for 1 year on her written warranty, she may also limit the implied warranties to that time, despite the assumption of four years used when there is no written piece. While a certain amount of durability is expected of any product, implied warranties do not ensure that a product will last for any specific duration. Like express warranties, they are guarantees about the condition the product will be in at the time when it is sold. They also do not cover abuse or misuse of a product, failure to use the product according to its directions or to maintain it properly, or ordinary wear.

Next: Full Warranties & Extended Warranties

The full series:

pt.1: What is a Warranty? 

pt.2: Which Law Governs Warranties? 

pt.3: The Express Warranty

pt.4: Implied Warranty #1

pt.5: Implied Warranty #2

pt.6: Full and Extended Warranties

pt.7: The Limited Warranty

pt.8: The Caveats (the “bewares”) 

pt.9: Used and “ As Is” Sales 

pt.10: Who is Responsible?

pt.11: How Warranties Work: Who is Responsible? The Installer? The Shipper?

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David is has written and made videos about flooring products and installation since 2011 at Floors To Your Home (.com), where he is also the PPC Manager, a Researcher, a Website & Marketing Strategy Team member, Videographer, Social Strategist, Photographer and all around Resource Jito. In my spare time I shoot and edit video, put together a podcast, explore film history, and mix music (as in ‘play with Beatles multi-tracks’). Connect with  W. David Lichty

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