Rechtspraak

  • Bijzonderheden van de zaak
    • Nationaal ID: Court of Appeal, Arnhem-Leeuwarden, Judgement 200.280.343/01
    • Lidstaat: Nederland
    • Gangbare benaming:N/A
    • Soort beslissing: Rechterlijke beslissing in beroep
    • Datum beslissing: 22/02/2022
    • Gerecht: Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden, locatie Arnhem
    • Onderwerp:
    • Eiser:
    • Verweerder:
    • Trefwoorden: consumer sales, goods to be manufactured, lack of conformity, impossibility, termination, damages
  • Richtlijnartikelen
    Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 2 Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 3
  • Koptekst

    ECLI:NL:GHARL:2022:1331


    If the seller unequivocally informs a consumer that a kitchen worktop cannot be delivered in the originally agreed colour and as a consequence also the colour scheme of the kitchen cabinets would need to be adjusted, the lack of conformity is not minor and may justify termination of the consumer sales contract.

  • Feiten

    The consumers bought a newly built house in mid-December 2017 (‘the main contract’). The purchase price for the house included a standard kitchen from a third party (‘the seller’), on the basis of a separate consumer sales contract. The main contract included, among other things, the option to order a kitchen according to one’s own design from the seller, for which a settlement item of €12,500 (including VAT) was available. The consumers selected a kitchen according to their own design from the seller for a purchase price of € 24,600 (including VAT) against additional payment. The consumer sales contract included a specific ceramic worktop 12 mm in the colour Bianco Satin. The total price included the assembly of the kitchen, excluding piping, cutting and breaking, but including connecting the appliances. This consumer sales contract was concluded on 27 January 2018.

    In May 2018 ASWA found out that the worktop in the colour Bianco Satin as ordered by the consumer was no longer available. By email dated 16 May 2018, an employee of the seller wrote on behalf of the seller to the consumers: ‘Please agree to change worktop ceramic Bianco Satin to Extreme White. Reason is that Bianco satin is no longer available and Extreme White is the replacement for this worktop’. The consumer replied to the employee by e-mail of the same day that she understood on the telephone that the colours mentioned were identical, but that she would like to see the colours again. The parties subsequently made an appointment to view the worktop alternative at the seller’s showroom and entered into discussions thereafter. On 5 June 2018, another employee of the seller sent an e-mail message to the consumers containing a ‘new order confirmation’ in which the colour of the cabinets and the colour of the worktop were adjusted. The seller asked the consumers whether they agreed to this in writing. By e-mail message dated 11 June 2018, the consumers informed the seller that they are not unsympathetic to the new colours, but that they find the course of events of how this has been handled to date annoying. They informed the seller that they are willing to agree to the change subject to, inter alia, a financial contribution or a discount of € 5,000 (excluding VAT), that the delay in delivery and installation is limited to a maximum of 6 weeks, and that no further (extra work) costs are attached to the proposed changes. By e-mail message dated 15 June 2018, a third employee of the seller informed the consumers that, as discussed earlier that day in a telephone conversation, if they were to agree to the changes suggested earlier on that day, delivery and installation would take place before the summer holiday break, under the conditions as originally agreed. On 17 June 2018, the consumers informed the seller by e-mail that they did not agree to the offer made by the seller, that they considered the pressure exercised on them to be extremely unprofessional, and that for these reasons they did not want to do business with the seller anymore. By e-mail message of 19 June 2018, the consumers informed the seller that they were cancelling the purchase contract. By e-mail message dated 20 June 2018, the seller replied to the consumers that cancellation would incur costs, which in accordance with the terms of delivery amounted to 30% of the purchase price. The reply also stated that the colour combination of the kitchen originally desired by the consumers could be delivered after all. This was repeated in a letter dated 25 June 2018.

    The Court of First Instance awarded the seller’s claim for cancellation costs in the amount of € 9,198.34. In this respect, the court held that the failure in itself, consisting of not being able to deliver the worktop in the agreed colour scheme, did not justify the termination of the contract under the present circumstances as the consumers did not terminate because of the changed colour scheme, but because the seller refused to agree to the additional conditions they had set. Subsequently, the Court of First Instance held that the seller was entitled to a cancellation fee by virtue of its applicable standard contract terms, since the clause in question was not deemed to be unfair.

  • Juridische kwestie

    Were the consumers entitled to terminate the consumer sales contract because of the fact that the worktop could not be delivered in the colours originally agreed between the parties?

  • Uitspraak

    The Court of Appeal established that the consumers invoked the termination of the contract before the seller’s obligation to deliver and install the kitchen became due and payable. It should therefore first be assessed whether one of the cases described in art. 6:80 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) applies here. It is not disputed that the seller informed the consumers on 16 May 2018 that the worktop in the agreed colour was no longer available. The seller reversed this by e-mail of 20 June 2018 and informed the consumers that it could still supply the worktop in question, but by that time the consumers had already terminated the contract. The seller did not sufficiently explain how it was possible that the worktop was suddenly available in the originally chosen colour combination after all. Upon the consumer´s enquiry with the seller’s supplier, it appeared that at that time (20 June 2018) there was no stock of the worktop in question. The seller stated that, according to the manufacturer, another supplier, in Italy, still had a slab of the agreed colour scheme available, which could be reserved until 4 July 2018. However, in view of the earlier firm statement that the worktop in the agreed colour is no longer available, the seller should have been expected to substantiate this statement by submitting documents that confirm its position. It did not do so. Nor did it make any offer of proof in this regard. In view of the above, it must be held that correct performance was objectively impossible within the meaning of art. 6:80 under a BW, or that the consumers had the right to assume on the basis of the notice of the seller of 16 May 2018 that (correct) performance would not be possible, as meant in art. 6:80 under b BW.

    As to the question whether the consumers were entitled to terminate the contract, the Court of Appeal put first and foremost that this was a consumer sales contract, so that the criterion for termination is not art. 6:265 BW, but art. 7:22 BW. Pursuant to this provision, the consumer is authorised to terminate the contract, unless the deviation from what has been agreed does not justify this termination and its consequences, given its minor importance. In this respect, the Court of Appeal holds that it is an established fact that the parties agreed to look in the showroom at a worktop in a different colour than originally agreed. It is also undisputed between the parties that the seller knew that the colour scheme was not only important for the worktop, but also for the cabinet doors. Contrary to the apparent opinion of the seller, the seller’s standard contract terms cannot reasonably be interpreted in such a way that the consumers had to accept an alternative that would lead to a different colour scheme for the entire kitchen. Furthermore, it is important that the seller’s standard contract terms also imply that the aim is to reach a solution acceptable to the parties. The proposed solution was clearly not acceptable to the consumers and, in fairness, did not need to be. When it appeared that the seller was not open to the solution offered by the ¬consumers, they were entitled to fall back on the now unconditional opinion that the deviating colouring was not acceptable and that it also justified a termination of the contract. For this reason, the seller’s claim based on cancellation is dismissed. In addition, the consumers’ claim for damages replacing the right to performance, and for consequential damages is awarded.

    URL: https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:GHARL:2022:1331

    Integrale tekst: Integrale tekst

  • Verwante zaken

    Geen resultaten

  • Rechtsleer

    Geen resultaten

  • Resultaat

    The Court of First Instance’s judgement is quashed, the seller’s claim for payment of the cancellation fee is dismissed and the consumers’ claim for damages replacing the right to performance, and for consequential damages is awarded.