On January 1, 2022, the “Act on the Regulation of the Sale of Things with Digital Content and Other Aspects of the Purchase Contract” came into force. The basis is a new EU directive on the purchase of goods (EU 2019/771), whereby, thanks to intensive efforts by the HDE Handelsverband Deutschland, among others, the German legislator has waived an extension of the warranty period – included as an option in the EU directive and already implemented in some EU countries would. This is a great success from which the entire German retail trade benefits!
Since the beginning of January 2022, some new provisions in warranty law have been in force, which textile, shoe and leather goods retailers should definitely take into account – e.g. in their own terms and conditions (GTC) or possibly for the online shop. The most important changes:
- Whether a product is defective is no longer primarily based on the agreed quality, but also on the objective quality.
- The statute of limitations remains unchanged at two years, but two so-called expiry obstacles are introduced. On the one hand, the warranty period ends at the earliest four months after the defect has become apparent within the two-year warranty period. On the other hand, after a repair, the warranty ends at the earliest two months after the consumer has received the exchanged or repaired goods.
- The period during which it is assumed that the defect already existed at the time of handover (reversal of the burden of proof) is doubled from six months to one year.
- The conditions for withdrawal from the contract by the buyer are relaxed.
- In the case of supplier recourse, there is no time limit of five years after delivery to the dealer.
- The formal requirements for reducing the warranty periods for used goods to one year are becoming stricter.
The expansion of the concept of material defects to “objective requirements” should be particularly significant. For this, the item must be suitable for normal use (paragraph 3 no. 1) and have a quality that is usual for items of the same type and can be expected by the buyer (paragraph 3 no. 2). Usuality and expectations of the buyer also depend on public statements made by the seller or the supplier, especially in advertising or on the label.
The change in the law, for example for the sale of B-goods, is also important. So far, a simple agreement on the different nature of the item was sufficient. Since January 1, 2022, the customer must be specifically informed of this, so a note on the goods is no longer sufficient.
Note: The HDE has created a 16-page leaflet with explanations of the new regulations, which members of the retail association can access via the website www.hde.de (login required) or via their retail association. Updated sample terms and conditions for online trading are also available there. In addition, the BTE will conduct the webinar on February 9th specifically for the textile and shoe trade “Complaints management with the end consumer – New consumer rights in 2022” through. Speaker is attorney Thomas Lange, managing director of GermanFashion.