# Guarantees & Warrantees

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guarantees-warrantees/268476>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 10, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guarantees-warrantees/268476 "2004-10-10T16:33:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guarantees-warrantees/268476/1 "2004-10-10T16:33:42Z")

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Are there any differences between guarantees and warranties?

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**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guarantees-warrantees/268476/2 "2004-10-10T16:39:55Z")

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A guarantee may be used for performance as in the idea that an engineer can guarantee that his designs will meet the specifications he has been given. I’ve never seen a warranty applied to anything except hard goods.

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guarantees-warrantees/268476/3 "2004-10-10T22:01:10Z")

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[http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=guarantee](http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=guarantee)

> [@](#):
>
> A guarantee is an engagement that a certain act will be done or not done in future. A warranty is an engagement as to the qualities or title of a thing at the time of the engagement.