The later plaintiff bought a used notebook from the later defendant via eBay at a price of 1214 euros. When it was delivered to her on 06.06.2007 by cash on delivery, the buyer noticed that the device had a scratch and a crack. She cancelled the purchase contract, returned the notebook and demanded the purchase price from the seller.
In addition, she posted a negative review about the seller on eBay.
The seller refused to pay back the money. Due to the - from her point of view - incorrect valuations, she had suffered a considerable loss of profit. The buyer had to revoke them.
The buyer then turned to the Munich District Court and was proven right:
The withdrawal from the purchase contract was justified because of the existing crack and the scratches. A right of retention due to the alleged incorrect valuation on eBay did not exist because the required "connection" of the claims was lacking. For this to be the case, the claims on both sides would have to be so closely connected in a natural and economic sense that a unilateral pursuit of the claim would appear to be in bad faith. This was not the case in the present case because it was not apparent why the plaintiff should be expected to wait any longer for the repayment of her purchase price, which she had been induced to pay by the seller's incorrect statements that the goods were free of defects. Offsetting against the repayment claim was out of the question, as the alleged loss of profit had neither been sufficiently substantiated nor proven. It was not even certain that the blocking of the defendant's member account was due to these reviews.
The judgement is final.
Judgement of the AG Munich of 04.02.2009, Ref.: 262 C 34119/07
Source: Press release of the Munich Local Court No. 08/09
Goldberg Attorneys at Law
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)
E-mail: info@goldberg.de
