GTC - General Terms and Conditions of Business

Art. 1 Validity
1. For contracts between the company Bernd's GmbH & Co. KG (hereinafter referred to as BERNDS) and the other contracting party (hereinafter referred to as the purchaser) apply exclusively the following General  Terms and Conditions of Business, in the version valid at the time when the order was made. Any conflicting provisions in the customer's General Terms and Conditions of Sale are hereby expressly repudiated.
2. Offers made by BERNDS in catalogues, advertisements etc. – including those referring to prices - are subject to change and without obligation insofar as no binding offer is expressly made.

Art. 2 Conclusion of contract
1. The order of the purchaser represents an offer to BERNDS to conclude a purchase contract. When an order is made to BERNDS, the purchaser receives an e-mail, a fax or a letter wherein the receipt of his order is confirmed and the details thereof are stated (order confirmation). This order confirmation represents no acceptance of the purchaser's offer, but is only to inform the purchaser that his order has been received by BERNDS.  A purchase contract only comes into force when BERNDS ships the product ordered to the purchaser.
2. Verbal agreements are invalid. Modifications to the conditions, including this clause concerning written agreement, require agreement in writing.

Art. 3 Delivery
Insofar as no other agreement is made, delivery shall be made from the warehouse to the delivery address given by the purchaser. Details concerning the delivery date are given without obligation, unless in exceptional circumstances a binding delivery date is stated. In the event that a supplier of BERNDS, despite his contractual obligation, does not deliver the goods ordered to BERNDS, BERNDS is entitled to withdraw from the contract.
Art. 4 Shipping costs, condition upon delivery and warranty
1. BERNDS shall receive from the purchaser for shipping
within the Federal Republic of Germany € 35.00 for a folding bike and € 46.00 for a tandem. Shipping costs, packaging, insurance and transport insurance. For deliveries outside the Federal Republic of Germany but within the European Union, these costs shall be related to the shipping costs with a minimum of €35.00. For deliveries outside the European Union shipping costs will be calculated on request.
2. BERNDS advocates delivering carefully pre-assembled yet shippable bicycles.  BERNDS accepts no liability for the final assembly.
3. The guarantee period for newly manufactured goods is two years and commences with delivery of the goods. During this period, all defects covered as legally required by the warranty will be rectified free of charge. The purchaser's claims under warranty are regulated in Art. 8 of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale.

Art. 5  Damage in transport and transport insurance
Should the article delivered have any obvious material or manufacturing defect, including damage in transport, the purchaser is to claim such defects immediately to the driver of the transport company who has delivered the article. The purchaser may only make a claim to BERNDS for those damages which are immediately noted on the transport company's delivery papers. In the event of damage, even for a broken cardboard box, please always note "goods damaged“ on the transport company's delivery papers.
In the event of minor damage, such as a broken rear light, we would ask you to note the kind of damage on the delivery note and accept delivery  of the goods. In the event of more serious damage, such as a bent front or rear wheel, we would ask you to note the kind of damage on the delivery note and reject delivery of the goods.

Art. 6  Prices, payment
1. The prices stated are the full, final price, in other words they include the applicable, statutory VAT and any other increments, to which must be added the shipping costs as shown in the ordering process. Should the article price in the catalogue differ from the price list published on the BERNDS website, the applicable price is that shown on the Internet.  Subject to errors and misprints.
2. As means of payment we accept payment in advance and cash on delivery with the reservation that for orders from abroad only payment in advance will be accepted.
a) If the purchaser chooses to use payment in advance, the purchaser is to pay the amount in full including shipping costs before delivery of the goods stating his customer and order number, his first and surname, to Account No. 46219275 at the Sparkasse Detmold [Detmold Savings Bank] Bank Sort Code 47650130.
b) When paying COD, the purchaser is to pay the price of the goods in addition to the shipping costs, the charge for COD and any other delivery charges in cash to the transport company at the time of delivery of the goods. Apart from the shipping costs there is an additional COD charge, as well as a delivery charge.

Art. 7 Offsetting costs, right to withhold payment
The purchaser is only entitled to offset costs where his claims have been legally established or have been recognised by BERNDS. Furthermore, he is only entitled to exercise his right to withhold payment insofar as his claim is based on the same contractual relation.

Art. 8  Supplementary performance, liability for defects
1. If there is a defect in the sales item, the purchaser is entitled to demand supplementary performance (removal of defects or replacement). If supplementary performance fails to remedy the defect on two occasions, in the event of a major defect, the purchaser may withdraw from the contract, reduce the sales price or assert a claim for damages. Excluded from the warranty are damages arising from natural wear, incorrect use, or lack of or incorrect care.
2. Insofar as no other conditions are stated hereinafter, any other claims by the customer - on whatever legal basis - are excluded. BERNDS accepts no liability for damage to objects other than the delivery item itself. In particular, BERNDS accepts no liability for loss of profit or for any other financial losses incurred by the purchaser. Insofar as the liability of BERNDS is precluded or limited, this also applies to the personal liability of employees, representatives or servants.
3. The aforesaid limitation of liability shall not apply if the damage is caused with inten or as the result of gross  negligence, or results in injury to persons. Furthermore, it shall not apply if the purchaser asserts a claim under Art. 1, and 4 of the Product Liability Act. To the extent that BERNDS negligently violates an essential contractual obligation, its liability to pay for damage to property is limited to damages typical in such cases. Should the purchaser note a defect, he should contact BERNDS.  Small parts with which the purchaser has found fault shall be delivered subsequently by BERNDS and the purchaser shall be given the opportunity to send the original part back; BERNDS shall arrange to have large items collected. The purchaser shall receive the replacement parts free of shipping costs. This warranty no longer applies if deterioration is caused by attempts at repair or the cause of damage can no longer be determined as a result thereof.

Art. 9 Reservation of proprietary rights
BERNDS shall retain ownership of the goods delivered until the customer has completely satisfied the sales price for all the goods in any one order.
Art. 10 Right of return
1. In the case of a distance contract, the purchaser is entitled to return the goods up to one week later; the period shall not commence before receipt of the goods. In other words, the purchaser may return the goods, without specifying any reasons within one week by returning the goods.  The period commences at the earliest with receipt of the goods and of this instruction. If the object cannot be shipped as a parcel, the return may be declared by a request to return it, e.g.: by letter, fax, telephone or e-mail. To comply with observation of this period, it is sufficient to give timely notification of the request to return to:

BERNDS GmbH & Co. KG
32756 Detmold
Tel. 05231 17777
Fax 05231 17778
info@bernds.de
www.bernds.de

BERNDS shall subsequently make arrangements to collect the goods. The article must be returned in its original packaging.
2. Distance contract means any contract concerning goods or services concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organized distance sales or service-provision scheme run by the supplier, who, for the purpose of the contract, makes exclusive use of means of distance communication up to and including the moment at which the contract is concluded.
3. Means of distance communication are means of communication which may be used for the initiation or conclusion of a contract between a consumer and a supplier without the simultaneous physical presence of the parties to the contract, in particular letters, catalogues, telephone calls, faxes, e-mails as well as radio, telematic or media services.
4. A right of return does not exist for goods which have been manufactured according to the customer's specifications or clearly tailor-made in accordance with the personal needs of the purchaser.

Art. 11  Consequences of returning goods
1. In the event that the right of return in accordance with Art. 10 of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale is exercised, the services mutually received by both sides are to be reimbursed and if necessary each party shall return the benefits received to the other party. In the event of deterioration of the goods, compensation of equal value may be demanded. This does not apply if the deterioration of the goods is exclusively the result of them being checked e.g.: a test ride, such as would have been available to the purchaser in a shop. In any case the purchaser can avoid the obligation of compensation by not using the goods as if he were the proprietor and by avoiding undertaking anything which might negatively affect their value. If the purchaser makes use of his right of return, the purchase contract lapses.
2. Compensation to a reasonable value is to be paid; in case of doubt, 10% of the purchase price as a lump sum payment is appropriate. The purchaser is entitled to show that in a particular case a considerably lower lump sum than this is appropriate.

Art. 12 Privacy policy
The handling of the purchaser's address details will in principle be carried out in line with the provisions of the Federal German Law on Data Protection. For the purposes of credit checks and where interest is justified, BERNDS habitually exchanges data with the financial institution concerned, as well as with the SCHUFA [German credit reference agency].

Art. 13 Storing the text of the contract
The text of the contract is not stored by BERNDS and consequently after completing the order process cannot be retrieved. The purchaser may however print out the details of the order directly after sending off his e-mail.

Art. 14 Applicable law and place of jurisdiction.
1. The contractual partners agree that in all legal matters arising from this contractual relation that German law shall apply. With regard to cross-border sales, the law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
2. Insofar as the purchaser is an entrepreneur or has his place of residence outside the Federal Republic of Germany, it is agreed that Detmold shall be the place of jurisdiction.
3. Place of fulfillment is Detmold, Germany.

Art. 15 Severability clause
Should any provision of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale be or become void, the remaining conditions are unaffected in their validity. The contractual partners shall replace the void provision by one which can effectively be applied and which most closely corresponds to the desires of the contractual partners in economic terms.

Detmold, 1.08.2005