§6 Delivery

Article 18 1. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise on the time of delivery, the trader shall deliver the goods by transferring the physical possession or control of the goods to the consumer without undue delay, but not later than 30 days from the conclusion of the contract. 2. Where the trader has failed to fulfil his obligation to deliver the goods at the time agreed upon with the consumer or within the time limit set out in paragraph 1, the consumer shall call upon him to make the delivery within an additional period of time appropriate to the circumstances. If the trader fails to deliver the goods within that additional period of time, the consumer shall be entitled to terminate the contract. The first subparagraph shall not be applicable to sales contracts where the trader has refused to deliver the goods or where delivery within the agreed delivery period is essential taking into account all the circumstances attending the conclusion of the contract or where the consumer informs the trader, prior to the conclusion of the contract, that delivery by or on a specified date is essential. In those cases, if the trader fails to deliver the goods at the time agreed upon with the consumer or within the time limit set out in paragraph 1, the consumer shall be entitled to terminate the contract immediately. 3. Upon termination of the contract, the trader shall, without undue delay, reimburse all sums paid under the contract. 4. In addition to the termination of the contract in accordance with paragraph 2, the consumer may have recourse to other remedies provided for by national law. Article 18 only applies to sales contracts, as expressly stated in Article 17(1). The provisions in Article 18 on the time of delivery are linked to the requirement in Article 5(1)(d) and Article 6(1)(g) to indicate the time for delivery of goods. Under Article 6(1)(g) concerning distance and off-premises contracts the trader must inform the consumer of ‘the time by which the trader undertakes to deliver the goods’. For on-premises contracts under Article 5(1)(d), this information must be provided ‘where applicable’. Consequently, in on-premises contracts, this information does not have to be provided if the goods are delivered or the service performed immediately. For on-premises sales contracts, this information also does not have to be provided if the seller plans to deliver the goods within the 30-day time limit specified in Article 18(1) (see also section 3 on pre-contractual information requirements). It is important to note that the Directive has no specific rules regarding service contracts if the trader fails to indicate the time for the performance of the services. The consequences of such omission may be regulated in national law. Under Article 18(2), if the trader does not deliver within this time limit or within the time limit stated to the consumer, the consumer has to agree with the trader on an extension of the delivery period. If the trader still does not deliver before the extension expires, the consumer is entitled to terminate the contract. However, if the stated delivery period or the default 30-day period is essential (e.g. for delivery of a wedding dress – see Recital 52) and the trader fails to deliver the goods on time, the consumer should be entitled to terminate the contract immediately upon expiry of the initially agreed time limit. National laws may regulate the way the consumer should notify the trader of termination of the contract (see Recital 52). Under Article 18(4) national laws may provide the consumer with other remedies, examples of which are given in Recital 53: ‘In addition to the consumer’s right to terminate the contract where the trader has failed to fulfil his obligations to deliver the goods in accordance with this Directive, the consumer may, in accordance with the applicable national law, have recourse to other remedies, such as granting the trader an additional period of time for delivery, enforcing the performance of the contract, withholding payment, and seeking damages .’ Under Article 18(3), if the contract is terminated, the trader must refund all sums paid without undue delay. The Directive does not specify a time limit for reimbursement. If there is a dispute between the consumer and the trader about the timing of the refund, the competent national bodies and courts will have to make a case-by-case assessment. In principle, a few working days should suffice for the trader to process the refund.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07