A buying guide that is useful in France can be checked on the spot: a price in euros including all taxes, a retailer you recognise, a realistic delivery time, reachable after-sales service, and French consumer law behind every promise. This guide details what global rankings do not see, then gives you five questions to ask before paying, whether of a seller or an AI assistant, especially between Black Friday on Friday 27 November 2026 and the Christmas shopping.
Why does a global ranking get the market wrong?
A global ranking compares products not necessarily sold in France, at prices in dollars, by retailers that will not deliver to you. It ignores the two-year legal guarantee, the 14-day withdrawal period and the durability index displayed next to the price. The product may be excellent; the advice remains unusable.
Availability comes first. A model sold in the United States under one name may exist in France under another, with a different technical sheet, or not exist at all. Before comparing, look up the exact reference on the product page of a French retailer.
Price comes next. Only the price displayed in euros including VAT on the retailer's page counts, delivery included, on the date you buy. A conversion from a dollar price guarantees neither that French VAT is included nor that delivery to your address is.
After-sales service comes third. A seller established in France responds to your legal guarantee claims in French, within the deadlines of the Consumer Code. For an online or telephone purchase, economie.gouv.fr reminds you that you have at least 14 days to change your mind from the date you receive the item, a legal minimum the seller may choose to extend.
What does the legal guarantee of conformity cover?
The legal guarantee of conformity obliges the professional seller to answer for defects present at delivery for two years, for new as well as second-hand goods. It is free, mandatory, and exercised against the seller, never the manufacturer. You may request repair or replacement, and in some cases a refund.
According to the "Everything you need to know about the legal guarantee of conformity" sheet on economie.gouv.fr, dated 9 September 2026, a new good benefits for two years from the presumption that the defect existed at delivery: you do not have to prove it existed at the time of sale, and this presumption lasts 12 months for a second-hand good. Repair or replacement must take place within 30 days at most of your request, at no cost other than postage, which is refunded within 14 days. The seller is solely responsible and cannot send you back to the manufacturer.
Two points matter in an appliance purchase. If you obtain a repair under the legal guarantee, the guarantee on the repaired item rises from 24 to 36 months. If the seller imposes a replacement rather than a repair, a new two-year period runs from the replacement.
Legal guarantee or commercial guarantee: what is the difference?
The commercial guarantee, also called the manufacturer's guarantee or guarantee extension, is optional and is added to the legal guarantees without ever replacing them. According to the "What you need to know about the commercial guarantee" sheet on economie.gouv.fr, the professional freely defines its content, duration and scope, and cannot impose it on you. The sheet on the legal guarantee of conformity adds another difference: the problem covered by a commercial guarantee may arise before or after the purchase, unlike the legal guarantee. The commercial guarantee sheet also advises checking that it provides something the law does not already give: coverage beyond two years, or risks such as breakage or loss.
| Comparison point | Legal guarantee of conformity | Commercial guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Mandatory, provided by law | Optional, defined by the seller or manufacturer |
| Cost | Free | Free or paid (guarantee extension) |
| Duration | Two years, extended to 36 months on a repaired item according to economie.gouv.fr | Set freely in the contract |
| Point of contact | The seller, who cannot send you back to the manufacturer | The guarantor named in the contract |
| Problem covered | Defect present at delivery, presumed for two years on a new good | According to the contract, arising before or after purchase |
How do you read the durability index?
The durability index is a score from 0 to 10, displayed next to the price, that combines an appliance's repairability and its reliability. It has replaced the repairability index on televisions since 8 January 2025 and on washing machines since 8 April 2025, in stores as well as online, with the detail of the score accessible at the point of purchase.
The page of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, updated 30 June 2025, describes the two families of criteria. Repairability takes into account access to technical documentation, ease of disassembly, and the availability and price of spare parts. Reliability takes into account resistance to stress and wear, ease of maintenance, and the existence of a commercial guarantee and a quality process.
Online, the pictogram must appear on every page that allows the product to be bought, in a character size equivalent to that of the price, and the detailed scoring table must be accessible from the same page, in one click at most. A shop selling a new television or washing machine without displaying it does not comply with the obligation.
Which appliances carry which index?
Not all appliances carry the same label, and two scores out of 10 do not measure the same thing. The ministry's page devoted to the repairability index, updated 8 July 2025, lists the categories still rated on repairability alone and notes the order of 26 June 2025 that removed the index for mobile phones. The scope changes by order, so check the ministry's page at the time of purchase.
| Category (ministry label) | Index displayed | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Televisions | Durability index | 8 January 2025 |
| Washing machines (front and top loading) | Durability index | 8 April 2025 |
| Laptops, electric lawn mowers | Repairability index | 1 January 2021 |
| Dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, high-pressure cleaners | Repairability index | 4 November 2022 |
| Multifunction mobile phones | Repairability index removed (status as of 8 July 2025, check the product sheet) | Order of 26 June 2025 |
The limits of a good score
A high score does not promise the absence of breakdowns. The index measures conditions favourable to a long life: spare parts available at a known price, possible disassembly, resistance assessed against a grid, not the number of breakdowns recorded. The calculation is made by the manufacturer, who must keep supporting documents for inspections. The scoring detail shows you where the points come from: for example, two appliances scored 8 out of 10 may get there through different criteria, one through documentation and the existence of a commercial guarantee, the other through the price of spare parts.
Does the right to repair already apply in France?
The sources do not say the same thing. The European directive 2024/1799 requires manufacturers to repair certain products, even outside the guarantee, free of charge or at a reasonable price. The economie.gouv.fr sheet presents this right as introduced in France since 31 July 2026. The association HOP and a specialist guide wrote in August and September 2026 that France had not transposed the directive.
The text of the directive on EUR-Lex provides, in its Article 5, that the manufacturer repairs goods subject to European repairability requirements, free of charge or for a reasonable price and within a reasonable time, and is not required to repair when repair is impossible. A separate provision amends the legal guarantee: where repair is the remedy used to bring a good into conformity, the seller's liability period is extended once by twelve months, and this change applies only to sales contracts concluded after 31 July 2026. The text also sets 31 July 2026 as the date by which each Member State communicates its national contact point for the European online repair platform.
The economie.gouv.fr sheet on the legal guarantee, dated 9 September 2026, states that a right to repair has been introduced since 31 July 2026 for certain products such as vacuum cleaners, smartphones, televisions and washing machines, that it applies after the legal guarantee of conformity has expired, and that it aims at repair at a reasonable price by contacting the manufacturer. Conversely, HOP wrote on 18 August 2026 that France still had not transposed the directive by the 31 July deadline, and that only four Member States had done so as of 28 July. The guide Réparer à proximité, updated 11 September 2026, added that the national implementing texts had not been published in the Journal officiel by that date. As of 23 October 2026, we could not confirm publication in the Journal officiel, and this status may have changed since.
In practice, rely on what the economie.gouv.fr sheet describes as established in French law: the two-year legal guarantee against the seller and its extension to 36 months after a repair obtained under that guarantee. For a repair outside the guarantee, ask the seller or manufacturer which text they rely on, and refer to the official text of the directive rather than a press article. A buying guide that promises you a ten-year guaranteed repair without citing its source gives you nothing verifiable.
How do you verify a Black Friday promotion?
Since 28 May 2022, any announced price reduction in France must indicate the lowest price charged by that professional over the previous 30 days, online as well as in store. A comparison with a recommended price or a competitor's price is not a reduction. The crossed-out price is checked against the seller's own history, not against the manufacturer's catalogue.
The DGCCRF sheet on price reduction announcements, updated 25 August 2026, specifies that the professional remains free to display the reduction as an absolute value, a percentage or a crossed-out price, that a breach is a misleading commercial practice punishable by two years' imprisonment and a €300,000 fine, and that the DGCCRF particularly monitors national operations such as Black Friday.
Take an example with invented figures: a promotion starts on Monday 23 November 2026, the start of Black Week, and displays a washing machine at €549, crossed-out price €699. The 30-day window covers 24 October to 22 November. If €579, displayed by this seller on 5 November, is the lowest price it charged over these 30 days, then the legal reference is €579 and the real reduction is €30, not €150. Noting the price now gives you the reference that the crossed-out price does not replace.
Which five questions should you ask before buying?
A buying guide designed for France, whether it comes from a seller, a comparison, a relative or an AI assistant, should withstand five questions. Each refers to a verifiable right or obligation on an official page or on the retailer's page. If one answer is missing, the advice is not ready.
- •Is the product sold in France, under this exact reference, by a retailer that delivers to your address? A model that cannot be found or is renamed in France invalidates the comparison.
- •Is the price displayed in euros including VAT, delivery included, and does the crossed-out price comply with the 30-day rule? A dollar price or a crossed-out price without history is not a French price.
- •Does the seller assume the two-year legal guarantee of conformity, and does the proposed extension add anything to what the law already gives? According to economie.gouv.fr, an extension is justified by coverage beyond two years or by risks such as breakage or loss.
- •Is the durability or repairability index displayed next to the price, and have you opened the scoring detail? Read where the points come from before comparing two scores.
- •Does the advice cite its sources, and do those sources still say the same thing today? The right to repair is the current example: honest advice points out the uncertainty instead of smoothing it over.
What if an AI assistant is advising you?
Give it the five questions as they are, specifying that you are buying in France, in euros, from a retailer that delivers to you. For each answer, ask for the retailer's page and the official page that supports it, then open those two pages yourself. An assistant that answers in dollars, relies on an American ranking or gives no source has not answered for France. Also ask it who its advice is serving, you or a seller.
A US ranking or a crossed-out price without history falls at the second question. What holds up to the fifth deserves your attention before 27 November.
Frequently asked questions
Whom should you contact if the seller refuses to apply the legal guarantee?
The seller first, in writing, since it is solely responsible for the legal guarantee and cannot send you back to the manufacturer. In case of refusal, the economie.gouv.fr sheet on the legal guarantee points to the SignalConso platform and to an article on steps to take in a dispute. The sheet on the commercial guarantee details what follows: a consumer mediator, a justice conciliator or a consumer association, and as a last resort the judicial court.
What happens if a repair under the legal guarantee takes longer than 30 days?
You can then return the item and obtain a refund, or keep it and obtain a partial reduction of the price, according to the economie.gouv.fr sheet. The same remedies open if the seller refuses to bring the item into conformity, if the seriousness of the defect justifies it, or if no conformity repair is possible.
Can a washing machine bought online during Black Friday be returned without giving a reason?
Yes, except for purchases that the economie.gouv.fr sheet lists as excluded from the right of withdrawal. For a distance purchase, you have at least 14 days from receipt of the item to withdraw without giving a reason. This right is distinct from the legal guarantee, which presupposes a defect, and the sheet specifies that 14 days is the legal minimum, which the professional may extend.
Must a new smartphone display a durability index?
No, to our knowledge, according to the ministry of Ecological Transition page updated 8 July 2025: the durability index only concerns televisions and washing machines, and the order of 26 June 2025 removed the repairability index for multifunction mobile phones. This does not mean no information exists: check the ministry's current page, then on the product page the labelling displayed, the guarantee and the availability of spare parts.