Please note: Only the German version is legally binding. An English translation is offered as a service. No liability is accepted for translation errors.

1 General and scope of application

Vintus GmbH delivers exclusively to business customers and not to consumers. The following General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to all orders placed by business customers. A consumer is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that can predominantly be attributed neither to his commercial nor to his independent professional activity. An entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of his commercial or independent professional activity. The following shall apply to entrepreneurs: If the entrepreneur uses conflicting or supplementary general terms and conditions, their validity is hereby rejected; they shall only become part of the contract if we have expressly agreed to them. All agreements made between us and the customer for the purpose of executing this contract are set down in writing in this contract. Ancillary agreements require written confirmation by our management to be effective. Field staff, sales staff, warehouse personnel, fitters, drivers, etc. are not authorized by us to make ancillary agreements or declarations that go beyond the written contract or are intended to amend it.

2 Contractual Partner and Conclusion of Contract

The purchase contract is concluded with Vintus GmbH.

Online Shop

The presentation of the products in the online store does not constitute a legally binding offer, but a non-binding online catalog. You can initially place our products in the shopping cart without obligation and correct your entries at any time before sending your binding order by using the correction tools provided and explained for this purpose in the order process. By clicking the order button, you place a binding order for the goods contained in the shopping cart. The confirmation of receipt of your order will be sent by e-mail immediately after sending the order and does not constitute acceptance of the contract. We can accept the order by confirming the order by e-mail or by delivering the goods.

Print catalog

When ordering goods presented in the Seller’s print catalog, the Customer may submit its offer to the Seller by telephone, fax, e-mail or mail. For this purpose, the Customer may fill in the order form attached to the Seller’s print catalog and return it to the Seller.

The Seller may accept the Customer’s offer within 14 days,

• by sending the customer a written order confirmation or an order confirmation in text form (fax or e-mail), in which case the receipt of the order confirmation by the customer shall be decisive, or
• by delivering the ordered goods to the customer, in which case the receipt of the goods by the customer shall be decisive, or
• by requesting payment from the customer after the customer has placed the order.

If several of the aforementioned alternatives exist, the contract shall be concluded at the time when one of the aforementioned alternatives occurs first. The period for the acceptance of the offer begins on the day after the sending of the offer by the customer and ends with the expiry of the fifth day following the sending of the offer. If the Seller does not accept the Customer’s offer within the aforementioned period, this shall be deemed to be a rejection of the offer with the consequence that the Customer shall no longer be bound by its declaration of intent. The conclusion of the contract is subject to the reservation of self-delivery by our suppliers. This shall not apply if we are responsible for the non-delivery, in particular if we have not concluded a congruent hedging transaction. We will inform the customer inform the customer about the unavailability of the goods and refund any consideration already rendered without undue delay.

3 Contract language, contract text storage

The language(s) available for the conclusion of the contract: German

We store the text of the contract and send you the order data and our terms and conditions in text form.

4 Property rights, copyrights and rights of use

Ownership and copyright

We reserve the property rights and copyrights to illustrations, drawings, calculations, models, tools and other documents and aids. This shall also apply to such written documents which are designated as “confidential”. The Contractual Partner may not make these items available to third parties, either as such or in terms of content, disclose them, use them itself or through third parties, or reproduce them without the express consent of Vintus GmbH. Upon request of Vintus GmbH, the Contracting Partner shall return these items and documents to Vintus GmbH in full and destroy any copies made if they are no longer required by the Contracting Partner in the ordinary course of business or if negotiations do not lead to the conclusion of a contract.

Rights of use to digital content

Digital content within the meaning of these GTC is all data that is not on a physical data carrier, which is produced in digital form and provided by the seller under the granting of certain rights of use regulated in more detail in these GTC. Unless otherwise stated in the DeepL description in the Seller’s offer, the Seller grants the Customer the non-exclusive right, unlimited in time and place, to use the provided content exclusively for private purposes. Passing on the content to third parties or making copies for third parties outside the scope of these General Terms and Conditions is not permitted unless the Seller has agreed to a transfer of the contractual license to the third party. The granting of rights shall only become effective when the customer has paid the contractually owed remuneration in full. The Seller may provisionally permit the use of the contractual content even before this point in time. A transfer of rights does not take place through such provisional permission.

5 Delivery, delivery conditions and transport damage

Delivery

Shipping costs are added to the indicated product prices. More details about the amount of shipping costs can be found in the offers. The delivery of goods is made by shipping to the delivery address specified by the customer, unless otherwise agreed. In the case of goods delivered by freight forwarding, delivery shall be made “free curbside”, i.e. to the public curbside nearest to the delivery address, unless otherwise stated in the shipping information in the Seller’s online store and unless otherwise agreed. If the delivery of the goods fails for reasons for which the customer is responsible, the customer shall bear the reasonable costs incurred by the seller as a result. There is no delivery to packing stations.

Alternatively, there is also the possibility of collection from Vintus GmbH, Koppelskamp 16a, 40489 Düsseldorf, Germany during the following business hours: by arrangement.

Delivery conditions

Information provided by Vintus GmbH on the subject matter of the delivery or service (e.g. weights, dimensions and technical data) as well as representations of the same (e.g. drawings and illustrations) are only approximately authoritative, unless the usability for the contractually intended purpose requires exact conformity. They are not guaranteed quality features, but descriptions or identifications of the delivery or service. Deviations that are customary in the trade and deviations that occur due to legal regulations or represent technical improvements as well as the replacement of components with equivalent parts are permissible insofar as they do not impair the usability for the contractually intended purpose. Deviations in structure and color compared to the exhibit or illustrations in the catalogs, price lists, etc. are reserved, insofar as these are in the nature of the materials used (e.g. woods or textile products) or are customary in the trade.

The beginning of the delivery time stated by us presupposes the clarification of all technical questions. For deadlines and dates that may not be exceeded under any circumstances (fixed transactions), this characteristic must be expressly agreed. Vintus GmbH shall not be liable for the impossibility of delivery or delays in delivery as a result of force majeure or other unforeseeable, extraordinary and non-culpable circumstances, such as operational disruptions, strikes, lawful lockouts as well as delays in the delivery of essential materials, insofar as such obstacles can be proven to have a considerable influence on the delivery of the delivery item. If the delivery or performance becomes impossible or unreasonable due to the aforementioned circumstances, and if the impediment is not only of temporary duration, Vintus GmbH shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract. In the event of hindrances of temporary duration, the delivery or performance period shall be extended by the period of the hindrance plus a reasonable start-up period. Insofar as the Contractual Partner cannot reasonably be expected to accept the delivery or service as a result of the delay, it may withdraw from the contract by immediately notifying Vintus GmbH in writing.

Transport damage

The following shall apply to entrepreneurs: The risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration shall pass to you as soon as we have delivered the item to the forwarding agent, the carrier or the person or institution otherwise designated to carry out the shipment. Among merchants, the obligation to inspect and give notice of defects regulated in § 377 HGB (German Commercial Code) shall apply. If you fail to give notice of defects as stipulated therein, the goods shall be deemed to have been approved, unless the defect was not recognizable during the inspection. This shall not apply if we have fraudulently concealed a defect.

6 Prices and payment

Prices

The prices listed in the online store at the time of the order shall apply to orders. Unless otherwise stated in the order confirmation, the purchase price plus VAT, plus the separately invoiced costs for transport and assembly, is due for payment net (without deduction) within 14 days of the invoice date. The deduction of a discount requires a special written agreement. The purchaser shall automatically be in default upon expiry of 30 days from the date of invoice. In all other respects, the statutory provisions on default of payment shall apply. In the case of deliveries outside of Germany, further costs may be incurred for import into a third country (customs duties, possible customs fees and import sales taxes). These other costs shall be borne by the customer. The Customer hereby agrees that Vintus GmbH is entitled to send the invoice as an electronic invoice (invoice issued and received in an electronic format, e.g. as a PDF document) to the Customer by e-mail. Vintus GmbH may, at its own discretion, also send the invoice to the Customer on paper.

Payment

Basically, the following payment methods are available:

• Prepayment (Direct bank transfer)

If you choose payment in advance, we will give you our bank details in a separate e-mail and deliver the goods after receipt of payment.

• Credit card

By submitting the order you provide your credit card details. After your legitimation as a legitimate cardholder, the payment transaction will be carried out automatically and your card will be charged. In the event of a rejection of the credit card charge, the customer undertakes to pay the price plus any costs incurred immediately. These costs include, but are not limited to, the costs incurred due to the rejection of the credit card charge. Order processing will only take place after successful receipt of payment.

• PayPal

In the ordering process you will be redirected to the website of the online provider PayPal. In order to pay the invoice amount via PayPal, you must be registered there or register first, legitimize with your access data and confirm the payment instruction to us. After submitting the order in the store, we request PayPal to initiate the payment transaction. The payment transaction is carried out automatically by PayPal immediately afterwards. You will receive further instructions during the order process.

Other payment methods may be offered as needed.

7 Right of set-off, retention and assignment

The customer shall only have the right to set-off insofar as his counterclaim has been legally established or is undisputed. This prohibition of set-off shall not apply to a counterclaim due to a defect which is based on the same contractual relationship as our claim. The customer shall only be entitled to exercise a right of retention insofar as his counterclaim is based on the same contractual relationship. The Contractual Partner may not assign its claim against Vintus GmbH to third parties, irrespective of its nature and irrespective of its legal basis.

8 Right of withdrawal

Entrepreneurs are not granted a voluntary right of withdrawal.

9 Retention of title

The goods remain our property until full payment. For entrepreneurs, the following shall apply in addition: We shall retain title to the goods until all claims arising from an ongoing business relationship have been settled in full. You may resell the goods subject to retention of title in the ordinary course of business; you assign to us in advance all claims arising from this resale – irrespective of any combination or mixing of the goods subject to retention of title with a new item – in the amount of the invoice amount, and we accept this assignment. You shall remain authorized to collect the claims, but we may also collect claims ourselves insofar as you do not meet your payment obligations.

10 Warranty and guarantees

Unless otherwise expressly agreed below, the statutory liability for defects shall apply. For entrepreneurs, the limitation period for claims for defects in newly manufactured goods is one year from the transfer of risk. The sale of used goods shall be made to the exclusion of any warranty. The statutory limitation periods for the right of recourse according to § 445a BGB remain unaffected. With respect to entrepreneurs, only our own specifications and the manufacturer’s product descriptions included in the contract shall be deemed to be an agreement on the quality of the goods; we shall not assume any liability for public statements by the manufacturer or other advertising statements. If the delivered item is defective, we shall initially provide a warranty to entrepreneurs, at our discretion, by rectifying the defect (subsequent improvement) or by delivering an item free of defects (replacement delivery).

The above restrictions and shortening of time limits shall not apply to claims based on damage caused by us, our legal representatives or vicarious agents.

• in the event of injury to life, limb or health
• in case of intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty as well as fraudulent intent
• in case of breach of essential contractual obligations, the fulfillment of which is a prerequisite for the proper execution of the contract and on the observance of which the contractual partner may regularly rely (cardinal obligations) within the scope of a guarantee promise, if agreed, or
• insofar as the scope of application of the Product Liability Act is opened.

Information on any additional warranties that may apply and their exact terms can be found with the product and on special information pages in the online store.

Customer service: You can reach our customer service for questions, complaints and claims on weekdays from 2 to 4 pm at +49 (0)203/70 900 393.

11 Liability

For claims based on damages caused by us, our legal representatives or vicarious agents, we shall always be liable without limitation

• in the event of injury to life, limb or health
• in case of intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty
• in the case of warranty promises, if agreed, or
• insofar as the scope of application of the Product Liability Act is opened.

In the event of a breach of material contractual obligations, the fulfillment of which is a prerequisite for the proper execution of the contract and compliance with which the contractual partner may regularly rely on (cardinal obligations) due to slight negligence on our part, on the part of our legal representatives or vicarious agents, the amount of liability shall be limited to the damage foreseeable at the time of conclusion of the contract, the occurrence of which must typically be expected. Otherwise, claims for damages are excluded.

12 Export

Insofar as the Contractual Partner resells products purchased from Vintus GmbH abroad, it undertakes to comply with all provisions to be observed for such export transactions. It is the responsibility of the Contracting Partner to ensure that the customs code is valid for the country into which the Vintus GmbH products are to be imported.

13 Dispute settlement

The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (OS), which you can find here. We are not obliged or willing to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.

14 Final clauses

If you are an entrepreneur, German law shall apply to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a merchant within the meaning of the German Commercial Code, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from contractual relationships between us and you shall be our registered office. Should individual provisions of these general terms and conditions be wholly or parts of these general terms and conditions are not legally effective or lose their legal effectiveness later, the otherwise the validity of the general terms and conditions shall not be affected. To the invalid provisions shall be replaced by the statutory provisions. The same shall apply if the general terms and conditions contain an unforeseen gap.

 

Customer information: Take-back and disposal

 Vintus GmbH draws the customers’ attention to the contents of §§ 17 and 18 of the Battery Act:

1. the end user of these batteries and accumulators is legally obliged to return them.
2. the customer can return his batteries and accumulators after use free of charge to us or in the trade. This can either be done on site or the customer can return the batteries and rechargeable batteries to us at the address below:

Vintus GmbH
Koppelskamp 16a
40489 Düsseldorf
Germany

3. the symbol with the crossed out garbage can (§ 17 paragraph 1 battery law) means that the disposal of batteries and accumulators via household waste is prohibited by law. On batteries and accumulators you can find the chemical signs “Hg” (mercury), “Cd” (cadmium) and “Pb” (lead) (§ 17 paragraph 3 Battery Law). If more than 0.0005 mass percent mercury, 0.002 mass percent cadmium or 0.004 mass percent lead is present, batteries and accumulators must be marked with the symbols “Hg”, “Cd” and “Pb”.