The Oldenburg Regional Court's answer to this is unambiguous: if permissible, clear and unambiguous.
The 14-day right of withdrawal, along with the extensive information obligations, is the core of consumer protection law in online trade. Commercial traders must sufficiently, clearly and unambiguously inform consumers in online trade about the existence or non-existence of a right of withdrawal and the conditions, deadlines, procedures for exercising it and about the model withdrawal form.
However, for some goods there is no right of withdrawal from the outset and in other cases there is a right of withdrawal initially but it expires under certain conditions. In cases where a consumer does not have a right of withdrawal or where it subsequently expires, the consumer must be clearly informed of these circumstances with sufficient transparency. He must be informed that he cannot revoke his declaration of intent or under which conditions he loses an initially existing right of withdrawal.
So much for the theory.
However, many online shop operators wonder where to place this information.
In any case, the Regional Court of Oldenburg has ruled that it is not sufficient if the information on a restriction of the right of withdrawal is placed separately from the actual information on the right of withdrawal in the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) (Regional Court of Oldenburg, judgement of 13.03.2015, file number 12 O 2150/14).
Online shop operators should therefore also provide information on possible exclusions and restrictions of the right of withdrawal in direct connection with the information on the right of withdrawal. If the information on the right of withdrawal is also included in the general terms and conditions, information on existing restrictions or exclusions can also be provided here together with the information on the right of withdrawal.
Only separately from the information on the right of withdrawal and without a corresponding clear reference, the Oldenburg Regional Court is of the opinion that the general terms and conditions cannot effectively inform about restrictions of the right of withdrawal. In the opinion of the Oldenburg Regional Court, without a clear reference in the information on the right of withdrawal, a consumer assumes that the information on the right of withdrawal conclusively informs about all regulations regarding the right of withdrawal.
Goldberg Attorneys at Law 2015
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law
E-mail: info@goldberg.de
