The lawsuit revolves around the right of withdrawal. You must be able to return purchases made online within two weeks without giving a reason. There are exceptions to that.
Consumers are not entitled to terminate the purchase contract for products that cannot be returned for hygiene or health reasons. This concerns, for example, used underwear, used toothbrushes and used lipstick.
No exception to the law
According to the store, this rule also applied to perfume. The general terms and conditions state that opened perfume cannot be taken back. But the district judge believes that perfume does not fall under the exception in the law.
The man could have opened the packaging if comparable products were also displayed without packaging in the store. It does not matter that the store says it can no longer sell the returned perfume.
Send testers
The consumer is also not liable for depreciation if the product has been used, in this case to smell the fragrance. The drugstore could also have sent testers to prevent this. That advice is given specifically in even expensive perfumes a European directive on consumer law.
If the drugstore had done that and the man had opened the packaging and smelled the perfume, the store would have been right, the judge said. So the drugstore has to pay back the money and the customer is right.
According to the court, it does not matter that the store in turn returned the perfume to the customer. The man has to return the bottles again, but then gets his money back. The store also has to pay an additional 345 euros for part of the costs of the lawsuit.
