Price & deposit

What are your rights when you buy a product in an (online) store, on the phone or on the street?
And what about the legal consideration time when purchasing? Read what you can do.

• Price increase, is that allowed?
  Prices are protected in principle . If a store suddenly raises its prices, you as a consumer cannot do anything about it. If the price increase is implemented after you have concluded an agreement, then that is different.

• Be careful with down payments.
  Companies regularly ask for a down payment. Then you have to pay part of the bill in advance. Beware of this. If the company goes bankrupt, you will lose your money in most cases.

• Regret your purchase or order.
  If you have bought something in a store, it is legally the case: a buy is a buy. Talk to the retailer and see if you can work it out together if you regret a purchase. If you have made your purchase online, by telephone or at the door, a statutory cooling-off period of 14 days applies.

Know your rights

If a product breaks down during the warranty period, you are entitled to free repair or replacement.

Within 6 months
If you buy something, you are entitled to a good product. If the product breaks down within 6 months of purchase, the law assumes that it was not in order when you bought it. You are then entitled to free repair or replacement, unless the seller can prove that you have used the product incorrectly.

Within the supplementary valid guarantee
Does the product break within the additional valid warranty (such as factory warranty or purchased store warranty)? Then you can apply for that. Please note: that guarantee is a kind of “extra” and may never affect your statutory right to guarantee. From a legal point of view, you are already entitled to free repair or replacement by the seller if the product breaks down earlier than you may expect.

An advantage of this extra guarantee is that you usually do not have to prove that you have used the product correctly. However, the seller can investigate whether you have not broken the product yourself. If he can prove that, your warranty right will expire (even your legal right to warranty).

Sometimes the manufacturer has a good supplementary guarantee and you can rely on it. Know that the seller always remains responsible for a correct solution. You have a purchase agreement with the seller, not with the manufacturer. The manufacturer may therefore also offer less than the law and attach conditions to this extra guarantee, such as the calculation of research costs.

Additional tips:
The replacement or repair must be done within a reasonable period and without too much inconvenience. For example, if the repair takes longer than 3 weeks, you can request loan equipment. If the seller fails to repair or replace within a reasonable time, you can cancel the purchase and reclaim your money. If you want to keep the product, you can also rely on a price reduction. The seller must then return part of the purchase amount.

If a product is repaired or replaced during the warranty period, the warranty will not resume. So if you buy a camera with a 2-year warranty and the device is replaced after 1 year because it is broken, you still have a 1-year warranty on your new one.
If the product changes owners, the legal guarantee and the extra guarantee from the seller (for the remaining duration) will in principle be transferred to the new owner. This may be different for a manufacturer’s warranty: consult the manufacturer’s warranty conditions.
Do you have a problem with a product or a company? Follow the following steps for a solution.

Collect information

If the product breaks down within the warranty, first check which warranty is given and which warranty conditions apply. If you are still entitled to a warranty, look up the proof of purchase. Lost your receipt?
This does not have to be a problem as long as you can prove that you have purchased the product from the relevant seller.
This is possible, for example, with a copy of a debit card payment.
Sometimes your purchase can also be searched back in the store’s cash register system, or the seller can still remember your visit.

Complain with the seller

There are various ways in which you can report your complaint to the seller.
Some companies have the option to submit a complaint through their website.
You can submit your complaint via the links below.

Telbo telecommunications company
Water and Energy Company Bonaire (W.E.B.)

You can submit a complaint via the Unkobon consumer counter. Your complaint will then be brought to the attention of the relevant company. And we give the company the opportunity to respond to your complaint in an easy way.

Are you active on Facebook or Twitter and does the seller also have an account there? Then it can help to post your complaint on social media. Some companies respond very quickly and often handle your complaint in a private message (so not visible to others).
Note: Never post privacy-sensitive data publicly on social media.

What are your rights?

• If there is no issue date or expiration date on the voucher or card or there is no indication on where you can find the validity date (for example on a site), the voucher has unlimited validity.
• If an issue date is stated but no expiry date, then you have at least 5 years to redeem it. It is not the case that the voucher is no longer valid afterwards, but it can possibly lead to discussion.

Gift vouchers can be valid for less than 5 years, but this must be stated on the voucher.
Validity for less than 1 year is not allowed. Unless the seller can prove that this is reasonable, for example when it comes to consumption vouchers at a concert or festival.

Validity

If there is no issue date on the gift card or there is no where to find it, it is difficult to know if the card is still valid. Certainly if you have received it as a gift and you do not know what the purchase date was. Until what date you can still use the card, you can usually check through the website of the gift card or at the cash register in the store.
Our advice is to issue a gift voucher as quickly as possible or to keep a close eye on how long the voucher is still valid. If you wait a long time before redeeming, you run a greater risk of handing-in problems in the event of bankruptcy. This certainly applies to vouchers that you can only hand in at one store.

Gift voucher expired?

Do you have an expired gift voucher? Then call the publisher and explain the situation. Sometimes you can extend a voucher against payment or you get a part of the value in the form of a new card as a courtesy.

Sample letters

Write a company or (government) organization a letter or e-mail with your complaint and then give the recipient a reasonable time within which the problem must be solved, 3 weeks is often reasonable. You can use our example letters for this.
Download one of the example letters:

Purchase rights

Objection too high bill
Cancel subscription newspaper or magazine

Warranty and repair

Verzoek tot reparatie of vervanging slecht product binnen 6 maanden na aankoop
Verzoek tot reparatie of vervanging slecht product gekocht met aanvullende garantie
Verzoek reparatie of vervanging slecht product na de wettelijke garantieperiode
Laatste kans tot reparatie of vervanging slecht product
Koop ongedaan maken bij slecht product

Complaints

Klacht aan dienstverlener over verrichte werkzaamheden
Klacht aan dienstverlener: overeenkomst ongedaan maken en schadevergoeding
Klacht kinderopvang
Klacht aan een zorginstelling of zorgverlener
Klacht dienstverlening bank

Internet, calling and television & Unsolicited SMS advertising

Opzeggen abonnement provider
Opzegging abonnement na prijsverhoging of wijziging algemene voorwaarden
Ontbinding overeenkomst ondeugdelijke dienst provider
Verzoek tot herstel of vervanging ondeugdelijke dienst provider

Living

Cancel rental contract
Purchase agreement for existing apartment
Explanation purchase agreement existing apartment
Purchase agreement for existing home
Explanation purchase agreement existing property
Request for contractor repair
Objection against high account of contractor
Comment of late delivery by contractor