In November 2010, a Slovene consumer ordered a treadmill from the German online trader Treckwerk GmbH (http://www.tretwerk.net). When she received it on 15 December, she realized the treadmill was not working, which she immediately informed the trader about.
She was then sent some additional instructions, however this was to no avail as the treadmill was still not working. She then contacted the European Consumer Centre Slovenia.
We explained to the consumer that when it comes to online shopping, she has the right to withdraw from the purchase within a specific period of time without having to state a reason for doing so. The German civil code gives the possibility of withdrawing from the contract within 14 days (the European minimum is 7 days). Within six months after noticing the product is defective, consumers can also claim the trader to repair it or, if this is not possible, to replace it with a new one. Since this happened within the 14-day period, we advised the consumer to withdraw from the purchase, as this would have been an easier thing to do than asserting rights on account of a defective product. We advised her to notify the trader that she was withdrawing from the contract, return the product and ask for a reimbursement of the shipping costs.
In the trader's general terms and conditions it was namely stated that when returning goods priced over 40 EUR, the costs of sending them back would be covered by the trader. At first the trader was unwilling to cover these costs claiming the said rule only applied if the consumer was from Germany and not if he/she was form another EU member state. We explained to the consumer that such a response was in violation of the general terms and conditions where no such limitations had been stated.
A standpoint of this kind is likewise in violation with the German law applied in this case, as the law stipulates that the costs of returning goods included in a purchase over 40 EUR are to be covered by the trader. After the consumer informed the trader about her rights (explained to her by the ECC Slovenia) and insisted on them, the trader refunded both the total purchase price and the costs of returning the goods.
