Service

In most cases these goods meet the legal requirement of minimum safety and carry a CE mark. But that does not tell you anything about the quality of the product and its use and stableness in practical use. Yet both the seller and the buyer are equally interested in having faultless products. A dripping steam iron or an electric drill overloaded after being properly used for a short time only will make the customer and the seller unhappy, because this leads to complaints with anger and time wasted for both sides in spite of the warranty claim. In the worst case the customer will no longer trust the goods of the supermarket concerned and will in future buy from the competitor.

Inspection of the practical value

It is for this reason that some supermarket chains have started submitting appliances to TÜV Austria for an inspection of their practical value before listing them. During the practical value inspection by TÜV Austria not only the complete operating instructions and the basic safety and health requirements but also the functions of the appliances are checked and the durability of the appliances ascertained in a long-time loading test. Depending on the quality demands of the trader the appliances are offered for sale according to the test result or rejected. Appliances which are assessed with at least "good practical value" may be marked and advertised by the trader with the "TÜV Austria - practical value checked" - sign. In this way goods with a construction or production fault in principle will be prevented from reaching the customer. The customer on the other hand can be quite sure that the appliance bought will serve the purpose for which it was made. These inspections also reduce considerably the risk of a recall action, which in most cases means considerable expenses and loss of image. Look out for the sign "TÜV Austria - practical value checked" when you go shopping next time.

Autoren:
Dipl.-Ing. Friedrich Bittermann
and
Ing. Johann Lipp