Warranty and indication of liability for defects

As I often write, the establishment of an online service or an online shop is currently riddled with so many traps and warning risks that it is difficult to see even as a lawyer. I have already reported on the fact that consumers must be informed about their statutory warranty rights. It is also important to be careful with products with manufacturer’s warranty conditions, but advertising with self-evident terms can also be warned.

Unfortunately, the respective traps are also well entangled with each other. For example, if you inform about warranty conditions or if an eBay dealer optimizes its withdrawal conditions with regard to the deadline and the target group to comply with the eBay guarantee, you are by no means on the safe side. Because if you offer a guarantee of any kind yourself, or if you sell a product that is “blessed” with a guarantee from the manufacturer, the statutory warranty of defects is of course not excluded. After all, a guarantee is always a voluntary service, which may be subject to different conditions, for example with regard to the date or place of purchase. However, it is precisely this circumstance that must be made aware of the consumer in order not to be warned again by associations such as the IDO.

Even if this circumstance is justified, because often warranty is confused with the warranty, this poses a further risk for online retailers or service providers and should be observed when setting up an online presence.

In summary, the statutory rights of the consumer according to §§ 437 ff. BGB and that the guarantee does not restrict these rights. It is necessary to provide information on the name and address of the guarantor and on the duration of the guarantee, the territorial scope and the content and conditions of the guarantee, and any essential information necessary to enforce the guarantee. . This can quickly become a big passage and overwhelm legally unneeded providers.

In principle, however, it is true that a serious entrepreneur has to reckon with warnings and legal costs. Without it, it’s hard to 😉

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.