Factual Situation
A consumer purchased a refrigerator from a dealer. Subsequently, a defect appeared in the device. The parties did not reach an amicable settlement within the framework of statutory defect rights. Instead, the dealer offered a goodwill solution: The buyer was to receive a credit note that could be applied to the purchase of a new device.
Dispute arose over whether this goodwill credit could be claimed even if the buyer did not return the defective refrigerator to the dealer.
Decision of the District Court of Munich
Goodwill as a Voluntary Performance
The District Court of Munich addressed the question of whether the announced credit constitutes a claim for the buyer that exists independently of further conditions. According to the court’s assessment, a goodwill credit is fundamentally a voluntary service by the dealer outside of statutory warranty. It is therefore crucial under what conditions the dealer granted the goodwill.
Tied to the Return of the Old Device
The court focused on the fact that the credit, according to the understanding of the declaration, was tied to the return of the defective refrigerator. Thus, the return was not a mere side issue, but part of the conditions under which the dealer wanted to grant goodwill.
Consequently, the buyer could not claim the credit note without handing over the old device, according to the court’s decision. The promise of goodwill did not, in the court’s opinion, establish an independent claim to payment or credit.
Legal Classification
Distinction from Statutory Defect Rights
The decision makes it clear that goodwill arrangements are not equated with statutory claims under purchase law. While warranty rights are bound to statutory requirements and legal consequences, a goodwill service is based on the content of the entrepreneur’s respective declaration. It is therefore crucial how such promises of goodwill are to be understood from an objective recipient’s perspective and whether the conditions were clearly recognizable.
Importance of structuring goodwill promises
The core of the judgment clarifies that a credit via goodwill is particularly not enforceable in isolation if it is evidently structured as consideration for a return, retrieval, or other participation from the buyer. The legal assessment is based on the concrete communication between the parties and the individual case circumstances.
Source and Reference
The above statements refer to a decision by the District Court of Munich (Case No. 172 C 24940/24; judgment of 12.05.2026) in the reporting of urteile.news: https://urteile.news/AG-Muenchen_172-C-2494024_Kulanzgutschrift-fuer-defekten-Kuehlschrank-an-Rueckgabe-des-Altgeraets-gebunden~N35972.
Relation to Contract Law
The legal treatment of goodwill, credits, and return conditions shows how interpretation and contract design can significantly shape the enforceability of claims. If questions regarding the design and interpretation of corresponding regulations arise in an entrepreneurial context, an assessment in the framework of Legal Advice in Contract Law by MTR Legal Attorneys may be considered.
