General sales conditions for the National Library of Norway’s online shop
Introduction
Purchases through the National Library of Norway’s online shop are regulated by the Standard Sales Conditions for Consumer Purchases of Goods over the Internet as set out below. Consumer purchases over the Internet are primarily regulated by the Act relating to Conclusions of Agreements (Norw.: avtaleloven), Consumer Purchases Act (forbrukerkjøpsloven), Marketing Control Act (markedsføringsloven), Cancellation Act (angrerettloven) and Electronic Commerce Act (ehandelsloven), which give consumers non-derogable rights. These acts can be found in Norwegian at www.lovdata.no. The provisions in these conditions shall not be interpreted as limiting statutory rights in any way, but rather they set out the parties’ most important rights and obligations in relation to the transaction.
The conditions have been drawn up and recommended by the Norwegian Consumer Authority. For more information about these sales conditions, see the Consumer Authority’s explanation here.
1. The Contract
The contract consists of the sales conditions, the information provided in the e-commerce solution and any special conditions. In the event of any conflict between them, any special conditions agreed between the parties shall take precedence, provided that they do not conflict with non-derogable rights.
The contract also comprises relevant laws that regulate the sale of goods by businesses to consumers.
2. The Parties
The vendor, which is the National Library of Norway (postboks 2674 Solli, 0203 Oslo), nb@nb.no, 23 27 60 00, organisation number: 976 029 100, is hereafter referred to as the Seller.
The buyer, who is the consumer making the order, is hereafter referred to as the Purchaser.
3. Prices
The price specified for goods and services is the total price payable by the Purchaser. Any further costs that the Seller has not informed the Purchaser of prior to the purchase shall not be borne by the Purchaser.
For international deliveries, import VAT and additional customs charges may be charged to the Purchaser.
4. Conclusion of contract
The contract becomes binding on both parties once the Purchaser has sent their order to the Seller.
Nevertheless, the contract shall not be binding if there are any errors or typos in the offer made by the Seller in the e-commerce solution in the online shop or in the Purchaser’s order, and the other party realised or should have realised that such an error had been made.
5. Payment
The Seller may demand payment for the item from the moment at which it is dispatched by the Seller to the Purchaser.
If the Purchaser uses a credit or debit card for payment, the Seller may reserve the purchase price on the card when the order is made. The card will be charged on the same day that the item is dispatched.
6. Delivery
Delivery is considered to have taken place when the Purchaser, or the Purchaser’s representative, has taken possession of the item.
If the time of delivery is not indicated by the e-commerce solution, the Seller shall deliver the item to the Purchaser without undue delay and no later than 30 days after it was ordered by the customer. The item shall be delivered to the Purchaser unless otherwise specially agreed between the parties.
7. Right to cancel
The Purchaser may cancel the purchase of the item in accordance with the Cancellation Act.
The Purchaser must notify the Seller of their intention to invoke the right to cancel within 14 days of the start of the cancellation period. The cancellation period includes all calendar days. If the period expires on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it shall be extended to the next working day.
The deadline for cancellation shall be considered to have been met if notification is sent before the period expires. The burden of proof for showing that the right to cancel has been invoked lies with the Purchaser, so notification should be given in writing (by cancellation form, e-mail or post).
When the cancellation period begins to run:
* If the purchase consists of a single delivery, the cancellation period shall start to run from the day on which the item(s) is/are received.
* If the purchase consists of several deliveries, the period shall start to run when the final consignment has been received.
The cancellation period shall be extended 12 months beyond the end of the original expiry date if the Seller fails to inform the Purchaser of the right to cancel and the availability of a standard cancellation form prior to the contract being concluded. The same applies in the event of failure to inform of the conditions, deadlines and process that apply to the right to cancel. However, if the company provides this information within the 12-month extension to the cancellation period, the cancellation period shall expire 14 days after the day on which the Purchaser received the information.
If the purchase is cancelled, the item must be returned to the Seller without undue delay and no later than 14 days after providing notification that the right to cancel is being invoked. The Purchaser shall cover the direct costs associated with returning the item, unless otherwise agreed or unless the Seller has failed to inform the Purchaser that they shall cover these costs. The Seller is not entitled to charge any fees for the Purchaser invoking the right to cancel.
The Seller has a duty to refund the purchase price to the Purchaser without undue delay, and no later than 14 days after the Seller has been informed of the Purchaser’s decision to invoke the right to cancel. The Seller is entitled to withhold payment until he or she has received the items from the Purchaser, or until the Purchaser has provided documentation of the items being returned.
8. Delays and non-delivery
If the Seller fails to deliver the item or delivers it later than has been agreed between the parties, and this is not due to the Purchaser or circumstances relating to the Purchaser, the Purchaser is entitled to, depending on the circumstances and in accordance with Chapter 5 of the Consumer Purchases Act, withhold the purchase price, demand fulfilment, cancel the contract and/or claim compensation from the Seller.
If claiming compensation for breach of contract, this should be done in writing (for example by e-mail), so that there is evidence of it.
Fulfilment
The Purchaser may go ahead with the purchase and demand that the Seller fulfil it. However, the Purchaser may not demand fulfilment if some impediment exists which the seller is unable to overcome, or if fulfilment would result in so great an inconvenience or cost to the seller as to stand in material disproportion to the Purchaser’s interest in the Seller’s fulfilment. Nevertheless, should those difficulties cease to apply within a reasonable period of time, the Purchaser is entitled to demand fulfilment.
The Purchaser loses the right to demand fulfilment if he or she waits an unreasonably long time before making the demand.
Termination
If the Seller fails to deliver the item at the right time, the Purchaser shall urge the Seller to deliver the item within a reasonable extended deadline. If the Seller fails to deliver the item within this extended deadline, the Purchaser is entitled to terminate the agreement.
The Purchaser is, however, entitled to terminate the purchase with immediate effect if the Seller refuses to deliver the item. The same applies if delivery at the agreed time was decisive to the conclusion of the contract, or if the Purchaser has informed the Seller that the time of delivery was decisive.
If the item is delivered after the extended deadline set by the Purchaser, or the time of delivery that was decisive to conclusion of the contract, the right to terminate the agreement must be invoked within a reasonable period of time of the Purchaser being made aware of the late delivery.
Compensation
The Purchaser may claim compensation for losses suffered as a result of the delay. However, this does not apply if the Seller proves that the delay is due to impediments beyond his or her control, which the Seller could not reasonably be expected to have taken into account at the time the contract was concluded, avoided or overcome the consequences of.
9. Defects
If an item is defective, the Purchaser must, within a reasonable period of time after he or she discovered or should have discovered the defect, notify the Seller that he or she intends to make a formal complaint. The Purchaser shall always be considered to have raised a complaint on time if he or she does so within 2 months of when the defect was or should have been discovered. Any complaint must be submitted no later than two years after the consumer took possession of the item. If the item or any parts of it are intended to last substantially longer than two years, the deadline for submitting a complaint is five years.
If the item has a defect and this is not due to the Purchaser or circumstances relating to the Purchaser, the Purchaser is entitled to, depending on the circumstances and in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Consumer Purchases Act, withhold the purchase price, choose between rectification and redelivery, demand a reduction in price, cancel the contract and/or claim compensation from the Seller.
Complaints to the Seller should be submitted in writing.
Rectification and redelivery
The Purchaser may choose between demanding that the defect be rectified and delivery of a corresponding item. However, the Seller may reject the Purchaser’s demand if fulfilling it is impossible or would cause the Seller to incur unreasonable costs. Rectification or redelivery shall be carried out within a reasonable period of time. As a general rule, the Seller is not entitled to make more than two attempts to rectify the same defect.
Price reduction
The Purchaser may demand a suitable reduction in price if the item is not rectified or redelivered. This is to bring the relationship between the reduced and agreed price into line with the relationship between the item’s value in its defective condition and its contractually specified condition. If there are particular grounds for doing so, the price reduction may instead be set such that it equals the importance of the defect to the Purchaser.
Termination
If the item is not rectified or redelivered, the Purchaser may also terminate the purchase, provided that the defect is not immaterial.
9. Data protection
See the National Library of Norway’s data protection declaration
10. Conflict resolution
Complaints shall be submitted within a reasonable period of time; cf. Clause 9 and 10. The parties shall seek to amicably settle any disputes. If this is unsuccessful, the Purchaser may contact the Consumer Council of Norway for arbitration. The Consumer Council can be reached by calling +47 23 40 05 00 or through www.forbrukerradet.no.
The European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution platform can also be used for submitting complaints. This is particularly relevant if the Purchaser is resident in a different EU country. Complaints can be submitted here: http://ec.europa.eu/odr.