RonanCodes/warranty-check

Warranty Check

A retailer's repair desk says "not covered, pay EUR X". This skill answers the only question that matters: what is the cheapest sane path, with citations. It is decision-support, not legal advice — every legal claim gets a source link, and the output must say so once.

Seed case: Coolblue quoted EUR 239.11 to replace a EUR 14 snap-out washable filter on a EUR 269 Samsung Jet 75E Multi. The brief's answer (pay the EUR 65 return fee, wash the filter, fit a EUR 14 spare if needed) saved ~EUR 160.

Usage

/ro:warranty-check <paste the rejection email or quote>
/ro:warranty-check screenshot.png
/ro:warranty-check "Coolblue wants EUR 239 to fix my Samsung Jet 75E, filter not covered"
/ro:warranty-check <...> --country NL      # default NL; any EU country works
/ro:warranty-check <...> --no-wiki         # skip the vault-capture offer at the end

Steps

1. Extract the case facts

From the pasted text/screenshot pull: product (brand + exact model), retailer, stated fault + rejection reason, quoted repair price, any exit fees (research/onderzoekskosten, return shipping), purchase date if present, and any deadline. If the product model or quoted price is missing, ask — everything downstream depends on those two.

2. Run the four lookups (parallel web research)

Do these as parallel searches, not sequentially:

1. Serviceability — is the failing part user-replaceable? Search the manufacturer's support pages, the product manual, and iFixit (<model> <part> replace/clean/remove). Record: tools needed, difficulty, and whether the part is officially "washable"/"user-serviceable" (that wording matters in step 3).
2. Part price — live search for the replacement part (OEM part number if findable, e.g. from the manual or teardown). Check the local market first (NL: bol.com, onderdelen.nl, fiyo.nl; else Amazon). Record OEM vs compatible price.
3. New-unit price — current street price of the same or successor model (price comparison sites; NL: tweakers pricewatch, knibble).
4. Retailer policy — the retailer's published repair/warranty policy page (fees, "consumable" exclusions, dispute route). For NL retailers also check whether they are geschillencommissie-affiliated.

3. Legal read (cited, calibrated)

Assess the rejection against consumer law for --country (default NL):

• NL wettelijke garantie: no fixed term — the product must last its reasonable expected lifespan (conformiteit, BW 7:17). First 12 months: burden of proof is on the seller.
• Consumables carve-out: exclusions for wear parts (filters, batteries) are defensible when the part genuinely wore out on schedule, and challengeable when the part failed prematurely relative to expected life, or when the "consumable" verdict masks an underlying defect.
• Exit fees (onderzoekskosten): legal when the claim is genuinely outside warranty; NOT chargeable when the defect is covered. If the legal read says "covered", say the fee is disputable.
• Reference points: consumentenbond.nl juridisch-advies, ConsuWijzer (ACM), ECC Netherlands for cross-border, europa.eu/youreurope for EU floor (2-year minimum in most member states).

Verdict is one of: rejection looks sound / rejection is challengeable (say on what ground, with the source) / can't tell — here's the missing fact. Never overstate; mark inferences as inferences.

4. Economics table

Build the options table with the real numbers found in step 2:

| Option | Cost | Outcome | |---|---|---| | Accept repair | quoted price | fixed, but compare vs new | | Exit fee + DIY | fee + part price | fixed if diagnosis right; note sunk-fee risk | | Exit fee + do nothing | fee | product back, maybe cleaning alone fixes it | | Waive product | 0 | no product | | Buy new | street price | fresh warranty | | Dispute first | 0 + time | fee/quote waived if challenge lands; fall back to next-best |

Bold the recommendation and give the one-sentence reason.

5. Before-you-send-it checklist

Whichever path: list what to do before shipping anything or paying anyone — the free fixes the repair desk gets paid to skip (wash the filter, reset, reseat battery, firmware), photograph condition + serial, back up data, keep the rejection email, note the deadline. Surface any deadline loudly at the top of the brief, not buried.

6. Output the brief

One markdown brief, in this order: deadline banner (if any) → verdict + recommendation (2 sentences) → economics table → legal read with linked citations → serviceability findings (with how-to link) → checklist → sources. End with the fixed line: "Decision-support with sources, not legal advice — for a binding read use ConsuWijzer (free) or Consumentenbond juridisch advies."

7. Offer vault capture (skip with --no-wiki)

If the llm-wiki repo is available, offer once: capture the case as a page (personal-life for the decision, and append the case to project-warranty-checker in side-projects as dogfood evidence). Don't push; a "no" ends the skill.

Anti-patterns

• No pre-built product RAG. Live search per case. Only law texts and top-retailer policies are stable enough to cite from memory — verify anything load-bearing.
• No legal verdicts. "Challengeable on ground X (source)" — never "they are breaking the law". The DoNotPay FTC order (deceptive "robot lawyer" claims) is the cautionary tale.
• No economics without live prices. A stale part price flips the recommendation.

See also

• /ro:diagnose — for when the product is software and the bug is yours.
• llm-wiki project-warranty-checker (side-projects vault) — the idea page this skill dogfoods; append each real case there.