Italiano
Introduction
The right of withdrawal or "reconsideration" is the consumer's right to unilaterally dissolve the contract for the purchase of a good or service, concluded remotely, or outside the premises of the commercial establishment. This right may be exercised, without any penalty and without indicating a specific specification, within 14 working days.
Below is a summary of the relevant legislation to give the buyer all the information he needs to be able to make use of this right.
Reference legislation
The right of withdrawal is governed by article 52 et seq. of the Legislative Decree 206 of 2005 "Consumer Code", pursuant to which:
1. Without prejudice to the exceptions referred to in Article 59, the consumer has a period of fourteen days to withdraw from a distance or off-premises contract without having to provide any reason and without having to incur costs other than those provided for in Article 56, paragraph 2, and Article 57.
2. Without prejudice to Article 53, the withdrawal period referred to in paragraph 1 ends fourteen days after:
a) in the case of service contracts, from the day of conclusion of the contract;
b) in the case of sales contracts, from the day on which the consumer or a third party, other than the carrier and designated by the consumer, acquires physical possession of the goods;
c) in the case of contracts for the supply of water, gas or electricity, when they are not offered for sale in a limited volume or in a specific quantity, of district heating or of digital content not supplied on a tangible medium, from the day of the conclusion of the contract .
3. The parties to the contract may fulfill their contractual obligations during the withdrawal period. However, in the case of contracts negotiated away from commercial premises, the professional cannot accept, as compensation, bills of exchange that have a maturity of less than fifteen days from the conclusion of the contract for service contracts or from the acquisition of physical possession of the goods for sales contracts and cannot present them at a discount before this deadline.”
Right of withdrawal: is it possible to exercise it in the case of in-store purchases?
The right of withdrawal can only be exercised for contracts concluded remotely or negotiated away from commercial premises (art. 52 Consumer Code), therefore it cannot be exercised in the case of purchases made in-store. However, even the consumer who purchases in a "physical" shop will be able to return the purchased product, in the event of defective or damaged products. The defect must be reported to the seller within two months from when the consumer notices the defect and in any case no later than two years. If this purchase was concluded by a professional and not by a consumer, the defect must be reported within eight days. The buyer may request, at his choice, either the repair or replacement of the product. The right of withdrawal is governed by Legislative Decree no. 206 of 6 September 2005 and subsequent amendments.
How to exercise the right of withdrawal
To exercise the right of withdrawal from the contract, the consumer must communicate this intention to the seller, who, upon receipt of such communication, must refund the price, which will take place using the same payment method used for the purchase. In some cases, the seller will offer the possibility of replacing the goods with other products of the same amount.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, the consumer must adopt one of the methods provided for in article 54 of the consumer code, i.e. he can fill out and send an online form in the case of purchases via e-commerce, or he can communicate with any other explicit declaration , your decision to withdraw from the contract. In both cases, this communication must be sent before the withdrawal period expires.
Alternatively, the seller can offer the consumer the option to electronically fill in and send the standard withdrawal form or any other explicit declaration on the seller's website, and then communicate the confirmation of receipt on a durable medium. The burden is on the consumer to demonstrate that he has correctly exercised the right of withdrawal.
Costs to be borne by the buyer
If the buyer exercises the right of withdrawal, the seller will have to reimburse the consumer for the payments received at the time of the sale, without any penalty. As regards shipping costs, in the event that the right of withdrawal is exercised after the product has been shipped, the consumer will still have to bear the costs of returning the goods to the seller.
Return of products
Having communicated the wish to withdraw, the consumer must return the product received within 14 days, a deadline which is considered respected (art. 56 of the Consumer Code), if he sends back the goods before the expiry of the deadline itself (the proof of delivery to the post office or courier within the established deadlines).
The cost of returning the goods is usually borne by the consumer. In this regard, the art. 67 co.3 of the Consumer Code specifies the costs payable by the consumer for exercising the right of withdrawal, identifying them in the "direct costs of returning the goods to the sender", where the return is expressly provided for in the contract. In some cases, however, the seller bears the costs of redelivery in the event of withdrawal, and this must be expressly indicated in the general conditions of sale, published on the online site and signed by the consumer at the time of the order. The seller, after receiving the returned product, will be able to evaluate and possibly appraise the object, and if he ascertains the existence of damage to the product, as a result of which its value will be reduced, the consumer, as responsible, will have to respond.
Right of withdrawal: exclusions
The right of withdrawal is excluded in the cases indicated in the art. 59 of Legislative Decree 205/2006 and in particular for:
1. contracts for services already fully performed, with the express agreement of the consumer, and begun before the 14-day withdrawal period has expired. In this case, only express acceptance by the consumer leads to the loss of the right;
2. supply of goods or services whose price is linked to fluctuations in the financial market that the professional is not able to control and which may occur during the withdrawal period;
3. supply of goods made to measure or clearly personalized;
4. supply of goods that are likely to deteriorate or expire rapidly;
5. supply of sealed goods that are not suitable for return for hygienic or health protection reasons and have been opened after delivery;
6. supply of goods which, after delivery, are, by their nature, inseparably mixed with other goods;
7. supply of alcoholic beverages, the price of which has been agreed upon at the time of the conclusion of the sales contract, the delivery of which can only take place after thirty days and the actual value of which depends on fluctuations on the market which cannot be controlled by the professional;
8. contracts in which the consumer has specifically requested a visit by the professional for the purpose of carrying out urgent repair or maintenance work. If, on the occasion of such a visit, the professional provides services in addition to those specifically requested by the consumer or goods other than spare parts necessary to carry out maintenance or repairs, the right of withdrawal applies to such additional services or goods;
9. supply of sealed audio or video recordings or sealed computer software that has been opened after delivery;
10. supply of newspapers, periodicals and magazines with the exception of subscription contracts for the supply of such publications;
11. contracts concluded at a public auction;
12. provision of accommodation for non-residential purposes, the transport of goods, car rental services, catering services or services relating to leisure activities where the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance;
13. supply of digital content using a non-material medium if the execution began with the express agreement of the consumer and with his acceptance of the fact that in this case he would lose the right of withdrawal.