Let me share with you a fresh Court ruling that could be useful to you, this time dealing with consumer law following an online purchase.

In an online purchase the consumer normally has a right to revoke the contract (so called "Widerrufsrecht" ). Note, that the law lists exceptions, for example, software, audio or video products that have been unsealed or items that have been produced and sold on special specifications by the consumer. Let us take an ordinary b2c transaction. The consumer, for example, buys a laptop in an online shop from a company. The company ships the laptop to him. The consumer is not satisfied with the item and timely revokes the contract. He sends the item back at the expense of the company (if the price of the item is more than 40, 00 €, the company has to bear the cost involved in sending it back if the consumer has already paid for the item; if the price is less than 40, 00 € or the consumer has not already paid for the item, the terms of contract can burden the consumer with those costs).

But what about the costs of sending the item (here the laptop) to the consumer in the first place?

Normally the laptop will be priced xy € plus xy € freight charges. Here in a recent ruling the BGH (Federal German Civil Court) has ruled in favour of the consumer: The consumer – after lawfully revoking the contract- can claim back those fright charges that the company spent to ship the item to the consumer in the first place. The ruling follows the ECJ (European Court of Justice) ruling pointing out that the consumer shall feel unrestricted in exercising his right of revocation. The spectre of not getting the freight charges reimbursed could influence the consumer’s decision to revoke. The ruling once again shows to which extent national law is being influenced by European Consumer law and that ECJ means business in strengthening the consumer’s right.

(BGH, Urt. v. 7. 7. 2010 – VIII ZR 268/07)


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