An Amsterdam drugstore must refund a customer the purchase price (more than 476 euros) of two bottles of perfume that he bought via the drugstore’s website. The fact that he opened the perfumes to test is, according to the subdistrict court judge, no reason that he was not allowed to return the bottles.
The customer purchased the two bottles on May 24, 2022. Two days later, he applied to return them and get his money back. He sent the bottles. They arrived at the drugstore on June 1. He announced a week later that they were not accepted because they had already been opened and used. This would have made the bottles unsaleable.
One or two puffs
The customer then sent a reminder. When the drugstore still did not pay, he took the company to court. The customer states that he was entitled to open the bottles of perfume and test one or two puffs to find out what they smell like.
The general terms and conditions clearly stated that the perfume bottles were not allowed to be opened. Nevertheless, the subdistrict court finds that consumers are ‘in principle’ allowed to do so. An exception can only be made for hygienic reasons for products such as underwear, lipstick or toothbrushes. The subdistrict court does not think that perfume falls under this.
The consumer is also not liable for depreciation if the product has been used to determine its nature and characteristics. the verdict. “In the given circumstances, this may be spraying the perfume once or several times, as the plaintiff also did. No further use has been alleged or shown.”
According to the subdistrict court, the drugstore could have prevented the bottles from being opened by, for example, sending testers. That can be ‘advisable, especially with more expensive perfumes’.
