General terms of trade
§ 1
Scope of application
Orders, deliveries and other services performed by VML – Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH – in the following called the Publisher, based in D–32369 Rahden/Westphalia, Germany, shall be carried out solely on the basis of the following Terms and Conditions, which the Customer accepts.
The Publisher will not accept provisions in derogation of theses terms unless they have been confirmed by the Publisher in writing.
§ 2
Conclusion of the contract and right of revocation
The Publisher shall accept the order of the Customer on the basis of the terms and conditions published on the VML-website.
The contract of sale shall be concluded when the Customer receives a confirmation of receipt of the order from the Publisher or when the Customer accepts the consignment of the ordered goods.
According to § 355 BGB [German Civil Code] in combination with § 3 312d BGB, the Customer – as far as he/she is end-consumer at the same time – has the right to revoke the contract in written form without stating reasons within a fortnight after the completion of the contract. The returning of the goods is equal to revoking the contract.
The Customer shall bear the costs of the return consignment unless the order amount exceeds Euro 40,-. However, this shall not apply if the goods delivered were not the ones that were ordered. The Customer shall also bear the costs of the return consignment if the order amount exceeds Euro 40,-, but the Customer has not reciprocated or rendered an instalment as provided in the contract at the time of the revocation of the contract. Otherwise the Publisher will bear the costs of the return consignment. The Customer is bound to fulfil the Publisher's claim for refund within 30 days after the posting of the revocation of the order. In case of a depreciation in the value of the goods resulting from use by the Customer, he or she shall reimburse the Publisher.
In the event of the occurrence of any writing, calculating or printing errors on the website which have been the basis for the conclusion of the contract, the Publisher has the right to revoke from the contract.
The Customer shall be notified in written form if the Publisher – notwithstanding his contractual obligation – is not able to deliver the ordered goods within 14 days after the receipt of the order.
The Customer has the right to withdraw from the contract if the Publisher is not able to deliver the ordered goods within at latest 3 months after the receipt of the order.
§ 3
Pricing and delivery
All prices are indicated in Euro (€), including current statutory turnover tax (at present 7% respectively 19%).
According to paragraph 8, 2 of the National Law on the “Regulations for the price-fixing scheme for books” dating to the 01/10/2002, 18 months after publishing, a book is not subjected anymore to the price-fixing scheme for books. Those titles bear the abbreviation “fPr” according to the standards of the German bookselling trade.
The national price-fixing scheme for books is not relevant for foreign Customers.
Unless otherwise agreed upon, the issuing of the invoice and the delivery from the Publisher’s warehouse will be made to the shipping address given by the Customer.
Definite delivery dates are only binding if an explicit commitment has been given by the Publisher.
The products of the Publisher will be delivered at the Customers risk and cost unless otherwise agreed upon in written form. The Publisher is not liable for any damage of the goods in transit.
Books of a maximum weight up to 900 g will be sent as “Büchersendung” respectively “Sendung zu ermäßigtem Entgelt” within Germany. Single deliveries of a maximum weight up to 2.500 g will be sent as “Büchersendung” within the EU only to Western, Southern and Northern Europe [including Switzerland].
§ 4
Payment date, payment and default in payment
The Publisher reserves the right to require advance payment from new customers before delivery.
Payment is due at latest 14 days after the receipt of the invoice without any deductions or cash discount.
Payment is requested to be made routinely by cash-remittance or by cheque, unless the debit advice procedure or another mode of payment have been agreed upon.
The purchase price shall be paid in Euro (€) into one of the Publisher’s business-accounts. All bank-charges and other charges are to be paid by the Customer.
§ 5
Offset and retentions
The Customer shall only be entitled to offset the purchase price if his or her counter-claims have been finally and conclusively established or if the Publisher has acknowledged said claims. The Customer shall only be entitled to withhold payment if the claims arise from the same contractual relationship.
§ 6
Reservation of title
Pursuant to paragraph 455 BGB [German Civil Code], the delivered goods shall remain the property of the Publisher until all existing subsidiary claims from past and future deliveries have been settled.
This shall also apply in the event of resale to a third party.
In this event, the Customer is obliged to notify the third party about the reservation of title and to pass this on to him/her.
§ 7
Warranty and liability
The Customer is required to examine the consignment upon delivery and to notify the Publisher in writing of any defects without delay.
In the event that the goods delivered to the Customer have any defects for which the Publisher can be made responsible, the Customer can – within 7 days after the receipt of the order – at his or her option either demand that the defects be rectified or a replacement be provided.
In the event that the Publisher is not able to rectify the defect or provide a replacement or if this replacement would impose unreasonable costs, then the Customer shall be entitled at his or her own option to terminate the contract or demand a reduction of the purchase price or claim compensation for damages.
The Publisher shall accept no further liability, whatever the legal grounds might be.
The Publisher therefore does not accept liability for damages caused not to the ordered goods themselves.
The Publisher particularly does not accept liability for any loss of profit or other financial losses of the Customer. As far as the Publisher’s liability has been restricted or excluded, this also applies to the Publisher’s employees, representatives and vicarious agents.
The aforementioned limitations of liability shall not apply to wilful damages or damages caused to body, life or health.
The limitation of liability shall also not apply if the Customer asserts claims based on paragraph 1, 4 of the German Product Liability Act [Produkthaftungsgesetz] referring to the absence of a guaranteed quality or claims for damages arising from non-fulfilment.
In the case of ordinary negligence causing the violation of essential duties arising from the contract, the Publisher shall be liable up to a maximum of the amount foreseeable for this kind of contract.
The limitation period for guarantee claims relating to the consignment shall be three months from the day of delivery, unless legal provisions allow for a longer period of time.
This period is a cut-off-period/limitation period and also applies to claims for compensation of consequential harms caused by a defect.
§ 8
Data protection
The personal data provided by the Customer will be treated confidentially and will not be passed on to other companies for purposes of enquiry and advertising or sold to third parties.
§ 9
Severability clause, partial invalidity
Should one or more individual parts of this contract be or become null and void, invalid or contestable entirely or partly, the validity of the remaining contract shall remain unaffected. The provisions thus rendered null or invalid shall in that case be interpreted or replaced by legal provisions under German law in a manner which ensures that the legal and economic purposes intended with the invalid provisions are achieved to the greatest extend possible.
Analogously, the same shall apply to loopholes in need of supplementation, if any.
§ 10
Applicable law and place of jurisdiction
German law exclusively governs the application of these general terms and conditions and UN-sales law is expressively excluded. The place of fulfilment and – as far as admissible – the place of jurisdiction shall be D-32369 Rahden/Westphalia.
Rahden, 31st of January 2005