Court of Justice of the European Union
Published July 6, 2011
Wittmer v Gebr. Weber GmbH (C-65/09)
Putz v Medianess Electronics GmbH (C-87/09)
A seller replacing defective consumer goods that had been installed in good faith by the consumer was obliged under article 3(2) and (3) of Parliament and Council Directive 1999/44/EC of May 25, 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (OJ 1999 L171/12) to remove and reinstall the goods or else bear the costs of removal and reinstallation.
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The First Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Judges A. Tizzano, President, J.-J. Kasel, A. Borg Barthet, M. Ilešic and E. Levits) so held, on June 16, 2011, upon a reference for a preliminary ruling under article 234EC from the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Constitutional Court) (C-65/09) and the Amtsgericht Schorndorf (Local Court Schorndorf) (C-87/09).
In the first case, the claimant, Jürgen Wittmer, sought to recover removal and reinstallation costs of defective tiles from the defendant seller, Gebr. Weber GmbH.
In the second, the claimant, Ingrid Putz, sought to recover the costs of removal and reinstallation in respect of a defective washing machine purchased from the defendant, Medianess Electronics GmbH.
THE COURT ruled that the seller was obliged to either remove and reinstall the goods or pay for that to be carried out. That obligation arose whether or not the seller was obliged to install the goods under the contract of sale.
Furthermore, the seller could not refuse to replace the defective goods on the ground that the costs were disproportionate; it could, however, limit the cost to a proportionate amount.