If you read the rest of the posts in this thread you may get to understand how it works. All it means is that the customer returns the faulty goods back to the retailer, who in turn arranges for the manufacturer (or importer) to fix or replace the product. It works exactly the same in the UK and many other countries adopt similar consumer protection laws.
Walmart, Costco and a few other retailers will arrange for warranty service for you and really thats the way it should be, they should be handling all of the shipping, talking with the manufacturers, etc.
Retailers are still expected to act as the liaison between the consumer and the manufacturer in some other countries, which is what it used to be like here in the US also, if a retailer sold something to you, you would go to that retailer if something went wrong with it, in fact, there didn't used to be a way to contact the manufacturer directly, so you had to go to the retailer you bought it from, they were the only ones that dealt directly with the manufacturers.
I recall this being the norm in the US when I was younger, not sure what laws got changed, but, I recall a TV show called "Fight Back" or something like that where they stood up for the consumer and truth in advertising and such, it was probably that period of time where things began to change (1980s?).
I just remember taking something in to be serviced where I bought it from, as being normal here in the US, (like what Costco does).
Maybe it was the 1990s where I began to be told that the manufacturer was responsible for handling the warranty, and now, for some time, you get the card in the product that states NOT to go where you bought the item from if something is missing or gone wrong, but, to go directly to the manufacturer with contact information on there. This is how the transition went to where now, here in the US, we buy a "brand" from various stores or online and expect that we'll have to deal with that "brand" if there are any issues, and not be able to go back to the store (after a 7-90 day return policy on that store/place you bought it from (usually 14-30 days max.)), and the store will only take it back or exchange it for same item, they rarely give you the single part that might be missing, and then they also added the possibility of a "restocking fee", which I don't recall in the '80s either. Of course, buying online this might make more sense, and now you can buy directly from the manufacturer, so, that's something that didn't exist in the '80s, so, that's also part of it.
Consumerism in the US has become all about the "brand", not the product, and certainly not the consumer, and large retailers fought to not be made responsible in any way whatsoever, (now they only have a very limited return policy), this is not necessarily so in other countries.
