Right of withdrawal

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The cancellation policy is an instruction on the right of cancellation of consumers with certain consumer contracts . Its formal requirements were standardized across the EU with the EU Consumer Rights Directive on June 13, 2014. The legal uncertainty in connection with the model revocation instructions issued by the Federal Government for the BGB-InfoV has been a thing of the past.

meaning

In the case of contracts concluded outside of business premises and in the case of distance sales contracts ( online trading ), consumers have a right of withdrawal according to §§ 312g and 355 BGB, about which entrepreneurs must inform their private customers or consumers ( Art. 246a § 1 Paragraph 2 EGBGB ).

The information obligation extends in particular to

  • the conditions, the deadlines and the procedure for exercising the right of withdrawal as well as
  • the costs that consumers have to bear in the event of withdrawal for the return of the goods.

Entrepreneurs can fulfill these obligations by correctly filling out the template provided in Annex 1 to Art. 246a EGBGB and sending it to consumers in text form and making it available in a clear and understandable manner before the contract is concluded.

Legal consequences

The revocation period is 14 days and usually begins with the receipt of the goods, but not before instruction on the right of revocation ( § 356 Paragraphs 2 and 3 BGB). In this case, only the receipt of proper cancellation policy (e.g. by e-mail, fax or post) sets the cancellation period in motion. As a result, consumers can revoke concluded contracts in any case, as long as the obligation to revoke instruction has not yet been fulfilled or not completely fulfilled.

However, the right of withdrawal expires (except in the case of contracts for financial services) after 12 months and 14 days at the latest (Section 356 (3) sentence 2 BGB). The revocation period according to § 355 in the version valid before June 13, 2014 has been abolished.

A revocation takes place by means of a simple declaration to the entrepreneur, which clearly shows the decision to revoke the contract. No justification is required. It is sufficient to return the goods without a declaration ( Section 355 (1) BGB).

According to Section 357 (6) of the German Civil Code (BGB), consumers generally only bear the costs of returning the goods by post if they have been informed accordingly in advance. The value of the goods is irrelevant, but the size of the goods is considerable. If this cannot be returned by post, the seller must also collect the goods from the buyer at his own expense, in accordance with Section 357 (6) BGB.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Sören Siebert: The sample revocation instruction: warnings and no end. Accessed on March 6, 2017.
  2. ↑ Appendix 1 to Art. 246a § 1 Paragraph 2 Clause 2 EGBGB Model for the cancellation policy for contracts concluded outside of business premises and for distance sales contracts with the exception of contracts on financial services, Federal Law Gazette I 2013, pp. 3663–3664.
  3. ↑ OLG Frankfurt a. M., judgment of November 28, 2001 - Az. 9 U 148/01
  4. ↑ § 355 BGB old version
  5. ↑ cf. LG Koblenz, judgment of December 20, 2006, Az. 12 S 128/06 ( Memento of the original of March 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Kaiser in: Staudinger , Commentary on the BGB, Art. 245 EGBGB, marginal no. 3 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / cms.justiz.rlp.de
  6. ↑ Yvonne Gasch: FAQ on the right of withdrawal in online retail Händlerbund.de, status: October 9, 2015, p. 2