What is stated in the general terms and conditions of warranty?
As stated above, you may not include any core agreements in your general terms and conditions of warranty. What you may include is, for example, for how long a warranty is granted on a certain product or service, how this warranty will lapse and what the customer can do to make the information valid.
How do you put the general warranty conditions into effect?
As an entrepreneur, you must ensure that you inform the consumer in a timely manner that you are using general terms and conditions of warranty. You must then ensure that the consumer can actually consult the general terms and conditions of warranty. This can be done in various ways:
- You give the general terms and conditions of warranty to the consumer before or at the time of the purchase/service. For example, by attaching them to the agreement or including them in the offer.
- If it is not actually possible to make the general terms and conditions of warranty available, you can submit them to the Chamber of Commerce or the Court for inspection. You must then let the consumer know where he or she can consult the terms and conditions.
- If you sell via the Internet, you must make the general terms and conditions of warranty available online and make it possible for the consumer to save the terms and conditions of warranty. If this is not possible, you must send the terms and conditions of warranty to the consumer by post or e-mail.
You must therefore make the warranty terms and conditions available to the consumer. Whether the consumer ultimately reads the general terms and conditions of warranty is his or her own responsibility.
Unreasonable general terms and conditions of warranty
If you have not provided your general terms and conditions of warranty correctly or if the terms and conditions of warranty can be deemed unreasonable, they may be invalidated. This is also referred to as 'nullifying the general terms and conditions of warranty'. You can then no longer derive any rights from them. The law contains examples of unreasonable general terms and conditions of warranty. When designing general terms and conditions, a lawyer will always take this into account.
For which customers do you use the general terms and conditions of warranty?
It is wise to draw up separate general warranty terms and conditions for consumers and business customers. Consumers are subject to different rules than business customers, this is due to consumer protection. It may happen that small entrepreneurs and self-employed persons enjoy the same protection as consumers against unreasonable general terms and conditions of warranty. This is also called 'reflex effect'.
In short, using general terms and conditions of warranty can save you a lot of valuable time if you do it properly. When drawing up the general terms and conditions of warranty, make sure that you use reasonable conditions and then offer the terms and conditions of warranty to your customers in the right way.
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Legal Q's lawyers are different from traditional attorneys and lawyers, and come up with practical solutions and have a feeling for commercial relationships. If you would like support in drawing up your general terms and conditions of warranty, please feel free to contact us.