Jurisprudenţă

  • Detalii privind cazul
    • ID național: Tulcea County Court, Section for civil, administrative and fiscal law, Judgement no 413/2020
    • Statul membru: România
    • Denumire comună:N/A
    • Tipul de decizie: Decizie a Curții care face obiectul unui recurs
    • Data deciziei: 24/09/2020
    • Instanţa: Tribunalul Tulcea Secţia Civilă, de contencios administrativ şi fiscal
    • Obiect:
    • Reclamantul:
    • Pârâtul:
    • Cuvinte-cheie: Consumers rights, Distance contract, Right of withdrawal, refund, damage, liability, passing of risk
  • Articole din directivă
    Consumer Rights Directive, Chapter 3, Article 9 Consumer Rights Directive, Chapter 3, Article 14 Consumer Rights Directive, Chapter 4, Article 20 Consumer Rights Directive, Chapter 4, Article 20
  • Notă preliminară

    When a trader delivers a defective product, he bears the risk of a supplementary deterioration of that product during the return process (after the termination of the contract), and cannot, therefore, request damages from the consumer.

  • Fapte

    Following the conclusion of a distance sales contract, a dispute arose between the parties (a trader and a consumer). After verifying the product, the consumer notified the trader about a pre-existent default of conformity and requested reimbursement. The product was returned, but suffered supplementary damage during the transportation. The trader refused to reimburse the consumer, alleging that the consumer should bear the risk of damage. The consumer brought court proceedings and obtained a favourable judgement; the trader appealed the judgement.

  • Chestiune juridică

    Which of the parties (the consumer or the trader) bears the risk when a defective product returned by the consumer to the trader was damaged during the transportation?

  • Hotărârea

    Since the opening and unsealing of the package containing the TV were done on the day of the delivery and in front of witnesses who testified that the product was not perfectly packaged and that a Netflix account was already installed on it (even though the TV was acquired as a new one), it cannot be considered that the consumer lost the right to invoke the default of conformity of the good merely because he signed the documents attesting the delivery.

    It is unreasonable to oblige the consumer to verify the (internal) settings of the TV when he takes delivery of it, at the carrier’s premises. The allegation of the trader (defendant) that the non-verification of the good by the consumer would have had an exonerating effect, is operative at most as regards the (defective) aspects that could have been visually observed, but not as regards the internal aspects (such as the installation of a Netflix account).

    The request of the consumer for the reimbursement of the price was justified in relation with articles 9, 10, 11, 13 of the Law 449/2003, since the contractual remedies provided for his benefit are not established in a certain order.

    The requirements for the exercise of the withdrawal right, stipulated by art. 9 GEO34/2014, should be considered as met as long as the 14-day delay was observed and the good does not belong to the excepted categories (art. 16); the way in which the consumer expresses his/her will to withdraw from the contract is irrelevant as long as it is clear and leaves no room for doubt (as it results from the correspondence with the seller); also, there is no need for the consumer to justify the exercise of its withdrawal right.

    As regards the subsequent damages of the goods during the return process :

    Art. 14(3) of the GEO is not applicable since it concerns the diminution of the value of the goods following their utilisation by the consumer, and not the damages occurred during the transportation.

    Article 20 of the GEO 34/2014 is also inapplicable, since this text has as premise the delivery of the goods from the seller to the consumer, delivery which entrains a damage (and not the reverse case).

    If the trader discovers damage to the product once they have already accepted the return from the consumer and thus accepted the withdrawal from the contract, the trader cannot demand the consumer pay damages and is under obligation to reimburse the consumer.

    Furthermore, according to article 14(7), the exercise of the withdrawal right does not incur the consumer’s liability, except for two limitative situations and neither of them is relevant in the given case.

    Text integral: Text integral

  • Cazuri conexe

    Nu există rezultate disponibile

  • Doctrină

    Nu există rezultate disponibile

  • Rezultat

    Since the trader was not entitled to demand damages from the consumer, the decision of the Court of First Instance was legal and the appeal was rejected. The judgement may be attacked with an appeal on points of law.