Cooling-off period for ‘customised’ products
If you make a purchase at a trade fair, you are usually entitled to a cooling-off period of 14 days. This cooling-off period does not apply to customised products. But can you cancel the purchase if the vendor has not started production yet? A German judge recently posed this question to the European Court of Justice.
Lawsuit concerning ‘cooling-off period for purchase of fitted kitchen’
A consumer bought a fitted kitchen from German vendor Möbel Kraft at a trade fair. The consumer changed their mind and wanted to cancel the purchase. The German vendor had not yet started production of the kitchen at that point, but informed the consumer that the cooling-off period did not apply because it concerned a customised order. The consumer disagreed and refused to take delivery. Möbel Kraft then lodged a claim for damages.
German judge requests assistance from European Court of Justice
The German judge requested the assistance of the European Court of Justice and asked for clarification of the rules. The judge specifically questioned whether the exception to the cooling-off period still applied if the vendor had not yet started customising the purchased product. In that case, the vendor could sell the product to someone else.
What finding did the European Court of Justice make?
The Court asserted that the cooling-off period does not apply when a consumer purchases a product that needs to be tailor-made for them. The consumer cannot cancel the purchase. Even if the vendor has not started production yet.
The Court indicated that in most cases consumers are not kept updated on the production process. It is therefore the product and not the process that needs to be considered to determine whether a consumer is entitled to a cooling-off period.
Court of Justice case law
Read the full judgement (case C 529/19) on the InfoCuria website.