General Terms and Conditions for the ECC “Third Year Warranty”

As of: 02/05/2019

Preamble

The company ECC ESC International GmbH, Bentheimer Straße 118, 48529 Nordhorn, - hereinafter referred to as the “Warrantor” - offers, among other things, warranty services for end customers of electronic devices as a repair service provider for the electrical trade. In this respect, the offer of the warrantor includes warranty extensions as well as the associated protection of the associated equipment. The provision of the warranty services - hereinafter referred to as “ECC ESC Warranty” - during the performance period shall be carried out exclusively by the warrantor itself. The prior distribution of the devices takes place via retail. The delivery modalities and any functional installation of these devices are agreed between the end customer and retail. 

The term “end customer” used in these General Terms and Conditions includes both female and male, gender-neutral and legal persons.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing in individual cases, the following General Terms and Conditions shall apply exclusively. Any terms and conditions of the end customer deviating herefrom shall be deemed to be objected to and shall be excluded.

§ 1 General

The rights of the end customer under the applicable national legislation, i.e. the rights of the end customer derived from the purchase contract against the seller, are not affected by the ECC ESC warranty. This warranty is in addition to the applicable statutory warranty and liability provisions and in no way limits the rights of end customers against sellers or other mandatory or non-derogable rights of the end customer under national or European law according to the law regarding general terms and conditions. These rights of the end customer remain unaffected. 

§ 2 Origin, beginning and end of the ECC warranty

(1) Subject to the provisions of §§ 3 ff. below, a claim for performance by the end customer under the warranty contract shall arise at the earliest on the 25th month after the date of purchase/delivery of the device by the end customer. The benefits under these General Terms and Conditions generally end at the latest at the end of the 36th month after the date of purchase/delivery of the device.

(2) The entitlement to benefits is firmly assigned to the device and is in principle not transferable to other devices. However, if a device is replaced by the specialist retailer within the scope of the statutory warranty/liability for defects or by the manufacturer within the scope of the manufacturer’s warranty vis-à-vis the end customer by a new device of the same type and quality, the claim to performance shall pass to the new device. However, the prerequisite for the entitlement to benefits in the case of a device replacement is the presentation of corresponding proof by the end customer to the warrantor. This does not result in a change with regard to the duration of performance and the performance content of this warranty.

(3) The warranty period shall not be extended by any service rendered under this warranty contract.

§ 3 Scope of warranty

(1) From the 25th month and at the longest until the end of the 36th month after the date of purchase/delivery of the registered device, the end customer shall be entitled to performance in the event of direct loss of the functionality of the device due to material defects of individual components or of the entire device. The warranty does not cover 

(a) Regular maintenance and repair or replacement of parts due to normal wear and tear,
(b) Consumables (components that are expected to require regular replacement during the life of the product)
(c) Damage or defects caused by use, operation or handling of the device other than normal private use;
(d) Damage or modification to the device by:

(aa) Improper use including: 

  • Treatment that results in physical or surface damage or blemishes to the device;
  • Damage due to connection or use of the device for a purpose other than its intended use or failure to observe the operating and installation instructions;
  • Installation or use of the device contrary to the applicable technical standards or safety regulations in the country where the device is installed or used; 

(bb) Damage caused by viruses or by the use of software that was not included in the scope of delivery or was installed improperly;
(cc) Damage caused by the use of the device with other systems or devices that were not designed for this use;
(dd) Use of the device with accessories, peripheral devices and/or components of a different type; according to a different standard or under conditions other than those approved by the manufacturer of the device;
(ee) Repairs or attempted repairs by specialist companies other than those approved by the manufacturer of the device;
(ff) Adjustments or alterations to the original design of the device contrary to the specifications of the manufacturer of the device; 
(gg) Negligence 
(hh) External influences such as accidents, fire, liquids, chemicals, other substances, flooding, shocks, excessive heat, inadequate ventilation, voltage fluctuations, excessive or improper supply or mains voltage, radiation, electrostatic discharges such as lightning, external forces and impacts. 

(2) This warranty only covers hardware components of the device, but not accessories such as batteries (including permanently installed batteries), power supply units, cables, hands-free devices, memory cards, etc.), nor software that was included with the device. 

(3) The service content of this warranty is limited to the execution of the repair/rectification of the defective device of the end customer as well as the arrangement of the return of the device to the end customer after repair/rectification. The warranty does not include any further liability on the part of the warrantor, in particular no liability for damage that has not occurred to the device itself or that is caused by the failure of the device until it is repaired (e.g. travel costs etc.). 

(4) In the event that the reported device defect cannot be remedied by the warrantor within the scope of two repair/rectification attempts or if the costs of the repair/rectification of the defective device exceed its current value by more than 150 %, the warrantor is entitled to fulfil the customer’s claim under the warranty contract by replacing the defective device with an identical model (same technical equipment), provided this is available from the warrantor. Otherwise, the end customer shall receive a replacement device of the same type, equipment and quality corresponding to the current value of the device to be replaced. Alternatively, a technically equivalent device from another manufacturer or series can be offered as a replacement device. 

(5) All components of the device that are replaced within the scope of the provision of warranty services shall become the property of the warrantor. The new parts or replacement parts become the property of the end customer.

(6) There shall be no claim against the warrantor for a replacement device for the duration of the repair/rectification of the defective device.

§ 4 Conditions for claims under the warranty

(1) The end customer shall register a possible warranty claim immediately, at the latest within 1 month of occurrence, in the warrantor’s Internet warranty portal www.3jahregarantie.de via the “Create repair order” button there, providing the information requested there completely and truthfully and following the instructions given there for processing a warranty claim. 

(2) Immediately after notification by the end customer, the warrantor shall carry out the necessary checks and, within three calendar days after the registration in the Internet warranty portal described under no. 1 above, confirm a claim under the warranty to the end customer - if the corresponding respective prerequisites are met in the reported individual case - or reject a claim under the warranty.

(3) After confirmation of the claim under the warranty, the warrantor shall send the end customer a so-called Free Way Ticket by email. The defective device must then be sent by the end customer to the warrantor for repair/rectification free of shipping costs within a period of 14 calendar days, following the instructions contained in the warrantor’s warranty portal and using the Free Way Ticket. After 14 calendar days, the validity of the Free Way Ticket expires. 

(4) In order to avoid damage to removable data storage media or accessories or the loss or deletion of data, the end customer must remove them before sending the device for warranty service. The end customer is advised and agrees that any device handed over by the end customer to the warrantor for repair/rectification in the course of this warranty will be reset to the factory settings for technical reasons, which will result in the complete loss of the data stored on the device by the end customer. 

(5) After the repair/rectification has been carried out, the device will be returned by the warrantor directly and free of shipping costs for the end customer ECC to the address provided by the end customer when registering the warranty claim in the warranty portal. If, despite two delivery attempts, the end customer does not accept the device or it is not possible to send the device to the address provided by the end customer in the warranty portal during registration, the device will be kept for a period of 60 calendar days. After this period, the warrantor shall send the end customer a notification in electronic form (email) or by post to the address provided by the end customer in the warranty portal during registration. If the end customer then fails to collect or arrange for collection of the product from the address notified by the warrantor within 30 calendar days of receipt of the request, the warrantor reserves the right to claim damages from the end customer, including storage charges, disposal of the product in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and a statutory right of retention for unpaid claims. 

§ 5 Warranty exclusions/restrictions

(1) With the exception of the services mentioned in § 3, the warrantor does not give any guarantee (whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise) as to the quality, performance, accuracy, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose or other characteristics of the device or the accompanying or associated software. 

(2) The warrantor undertakes under this warranty only to repair equipment subject to these warranty conditions. The warrantor shall not be liable for any loss or damage, tangible or intangible, such as purchase price, loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of data, loss of enjoyment of life or unavailability of the device or related components, which may arise directly, indirectly or as a result of products or services under this warranty or otherwise. This applies to loss or damage caused by: 

  • Impairment or failure of the function of the device or related equipment due to defects or due to the unavailability of the product while it is at the warrantor’s premises or at the premises of a third party commissioned by the warrantor, downtimes and business impairments; 
  • Inaccuracies in the performance result of the device or associated equipment; 
  • Damage to or loss of software programs or removable data carriers; or 
  • Virus infestation and other causes. 

(3) This limitation of liability applies to loss and damage irrespective of the legal grounds, in particular negligence, tort, breach of contract, express or implied warranties and strict liability. If these exclusions of liability contradict applicable law in whole or in part, the warranty performance or the liability of the warrantor shall be limited insofar as this is permissible under applicable regulations. For example, some state laws prohibit the exclusion or limitation of liability for damages due to negligence, gross negligence, wilful misconduct, fraud and similar acts. Any liability that cannot be completely excluded shall be limited by the warrantor to the duration of this warranty, to the extent permitted by applicable law. The liability under this warranty is limited to the current value of the device, at most its replacement value. If, however, the relevant applicable law only provides for higher liability limits than those described above, this higher limitation of liability shall of course apply.

§ 6 Data protection and disclosure of data/information

(1) By registering the warranty claim, the end customer agrees and understands that it is necessary for the warrantor to collect, transfer and process their personal data in order to carry out and process the desired warranty services. However, the warrantor shall at all times use and protect the end customer’s personal data in accordance with the warrantor’s Privacy Policy. The end customer can view this Privacy Policy at the following Internet address: www.ecc.de/datenschutz

(2) By registering the possible warranty claim in the warrantor’s Internet warranty portal, the end customer agrees and understands that service providers and vicarious agents used by the warrantor to process the warranty services will also be granted access to the end customer’s data for these purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Policy mentioned under no. 1. 

(3) By registering the possible warranty case in the warrantor’s Internet warranty portal, the end customer agrees and understands that the warrantor and/or third parties and vicarious agents used by the warrantor to process a warranty case will not pass on data beyond the cases described in the Privacy Policy mentioned under no. 1 without the express consent of the end customer, unless there is a legal reason, e.g. if it is legally obliged to hand over data. In case of suspicion of a criminal offence or in preliminary proceedings, data may be transmitted to the police, prosecution authorities and/or court.

§ 7 Termination

The warrantor is entitled to terminate the warranty extension without notice if the end customer fails to fulfil a material contractual obligation or breaches a condition of this contract (e.g. false information).

§ 8 Final provisions

(1) Notwithstanding the other provisions of the contract, the end customer shall only be entitled to performance insofar as and as long as there are no economic, trade or financial sanctions or embargoes of the European Union or the Federal Republic of Germany directly applicable to the contracting parties.

(2) Unless otherwise stipulated in these General Terms and Conditions, the statutory provisions shall apply. There are no verbal ancillary agreements.

(3) Notifications and declarations by the end customer shall be addressed to the warrantor in text form, unless separately regulated.

(4) The place of performance shall be Nordhorn. 

(5) The contractual relations between the warrantor and the end customer shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Excluded from this choice of law are the mandatory consumer protection provisions of the country in which the end customer has their habitual residence. The application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is excluded.

(6) The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the contractual relationship between the end customer and the warrantor shall be the registered office of the warrantor, provided that the end customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law.