14 Days to Change Your Mind - Right of Withdrawal

When you shop online, order something via phone or sign a contract off-premises, you can cancel it in most cases. The EU-wide 14-day right of withdrawal makes it possible.

This means that you can return the purchased goods without having to give any reason and get a refund.

Note that there are also exceptions to this: Travel, event tickets, digital content or custom-made products are excluded from the right of withdrawal.

The right of withdrawal is a window of time in which you can back out of an online purchase.

You can cancel your purchase even if you already paid for it.

A vendor must tell you about your right of withdrawal, or the lack thereof, and its limits before finalizing your contract.

Due to European directive 2011/83, a consumer has at least 14 days to exercise the right of withdrawal after online or at-distance purchases. This pertains to purchases done:

• Through the internet,

• by mail,

• with a door-to-door salesperson,

• through teleshopping,

• outside of vendor’s establishment (door-to-door, organized events, the workplace, community centres, etc.),

• in shop, following an invitation from the retailer to visit you.

• All purchases made in a store in Europe are generally final and unchanging (except Lithuania, where the right of withdrawal within 14 days applies to in-store purchases, too).
  That is to say, you will likely have to pay a fee to cancel such a purchase. Many retailers offer their own policies that allow exchanges and/or refunds within a given period. Ask the shop owner about such policies before making your purchase.

• If you have made a purchase at a fair or exhibition in Germany, you will not be able to return it free of charge. Within the context of European Union law, these are considered “business premises” of the vendor. Therefore, it is the same as buying goods or services in a shop.

No. Generally, you only have a right to withdraw when you make a purchase at distance and outside the shop.

Even with purchases made at distance, the right of withdrawal is not always applicable.

Such cases include:

• Renting seasonal and non-residential lodging, the transportation of goods, car rentals, catering services or leisure activities that must be provided on a certain date or within a predetermined period (examples: holidays, concerts, plane tickets, etc.);

• Emergency repairs or maintenance of a vehicle;

A trader can also ask you to forfeit your right of withdrawal to provide services to you before the 14-day period ends, given your approval. For example:

• Downloadable software purchased online;

• Dating website subscriptions purchased for immediate access to the services.

Depending on the goods you purchase as well, you might not have the right of withdrawal:

• Custom-made items (examples: engraved jewellery, photo albums);

• Perishable items that may expire quickly;

• Goods that you have already opened and may not be returned for health and safety reasons;

• Sealedsoftware packages or audio and/or videorecordings which you have unsealed since delivery.

Financial services at distance

Depending on the type of financial services that you have purchased, your right of withdrawal or reflection may last 10 to 30 days, according to the European directive 2002/65/CE of September 2003 on distance marketing of financial services.

The following are examples of such financial services:

• Online banking,

• Consumer credit,

• Investments,

• Some types of insurance.

You have the right to withdraw from on sale, second-hand, and out of stock items as long as you made the purchase at distance or outside the shop. More information concerning sales.

In all EU countries, no matter where your vendor located, you generally have a minimum of 14 days to return your purchase. Your vendor can propose a longer withdrawal period but not a shorter one (this would be an abusive term).

If your vendor has not informed you of your right of withdrawal, this period is elongated by 1 year from the original expiration date of the first 14 days.

If the vendor informs you of your right within that year, the withdrawal period will end 14 days after they have informed you.

The period begins the day after:

• Your goods are delivered;

• The finalization of a contract concerning the furnishing of the supply of water, gas, electricity or digital content.

The vendor should provide you information on the existence, conditions, period of, and ways to exercise your right of withdrawal, as well as a form for withdrawal.

You do not have to justify yourself to the vendor, but you must inform them of your decision to withdraw.  

• Reach out to the vendor in writing and save a copy of this. Use the withdrawal form given to you, or compose a clear message concerning your wish to withdraw. Letters and e-mails are the best option because in case of a dispute, you will have to be able to prove that you withdrew in due time.

• Send your order back within 14 days maximum if your vendor does not offer to pick it up him or herself. You must be sure that you are returning the good to the correct address.
  In certain cases, the return address and the address from where the packages are sent are not the same. If you are not certain, verify the cancellation Information or ask the vendor. Verify if the vendor provides you with a return shipping label. In any case, the items must be packaged securely. You may use the original packaging if it is still solid and in good state, but this is not mandatory. It is a good idea to take photos of the good and the package before sealing and sending it

You as the consumer may have to pay for return shipping, in case of withdrawal.

If the vendordid not inform you of the costs of return shipping and your responsibility to pay for them, they are responsible for paying them.

If theitem cannot be sent back by normal post, the vendor must tell you before the conclusion of your contract how much it will cost to ship.

Regarding off-premises contracts where the goods have been delivered to the consumer’s home at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the trader shall at his own expense collect the goods if, by their nature, those goods cannot normally be returned by post.

The vendor is held responsible to reimburse you in full for the amount you have paid, including the original delivery costs (unless you chose a more costly mode of delivery, for example express delivery).

If you do not return all parts of your order, you should be reimbursed for the items you sent back plus a proportional delivery cost, considering however many items were returned.

The vendor has 14 days after they received your decision to withdraw to reimburse you.

If the vendor recovers the items him or herself, they may withhold the reimbursement until they recover the items, or until they receive adequate proof that you have returned the items, whichever is earliest.

For services that have commenced with your consent, before the withdrawal expiration date, if you choose to withdraw, you will have to pay the vendor a proportional amount for the services provided until your withdrawal.

This cost will be proportional to the total cost of all the services.

If the total price is unreasonable, the amount due should be calculated based on the current market value of the services provided.

Regarding purchased goods, you benefit from the right to examine said goods under comparable conditions to those of a store.

Therefore, you are not entitled to wear a dress for an evening only to return it the next day, for example.

You also are not entitled to watch the World Cup on a new projector just to return it the next day.

However, a vendor cannot impose depreciation on the item if you only used it to see if it was the correct size, in working condition, etc.