Free first appointment...
Free first appointment...
"With a view to opening my own medical practice, I approached a trust agent who had issued a voucher for a free initial consultation. Over the phone and at the start of the interview, the agent confirmed that the first appointment would be free, but that subsequent appointments would be subject to a charge. In the end, the project didn't come to fruition and today the agent is asking me to pay CHF 320 on the grounds that the project was abandoned and that I should be charged for the time and advice. It's true that I forgot to give the voucher at the meeting. I'm shocked by this. Am I obliged to pay?
F., Geneva
In all contractual relationships, the parties enjoy considerable freedom as to the terms, content and form of their agreement, subject to mandatory provisions of law. However, particular attention must be paid to any expressly reserved contractual terms and conditions.
It is settled case law that any person who signs a text containing an express reference to general terms and conditions or accepts a service subject to them is bound both by the content of the contract itself and by the said general terms and conditions, regardless of whether he has read them or not, provided that they are not intentionally hidden or deliberately inaccessible.
In order to protect the "weaker party", these conditions must have been clearly discussed and agreed between the parties or appear on the contract or a voucher such as the one you have been given. In addition, any unusual, unusual or unclear clause worded to the disadvantage of the inexperienced party will be considered invalid.
If, as you explain, no conditions relating to the completion of the project have been discussed or appear on the voucher you received, the claim for CHF 320 simply does not exist. In accordance with the principle of good faith and the security of commercial relations, it is not possible to unilaterally modify contractual conditions, especially to the detriment of the consumer.
For the rest, it is important to specify that even if you failed to present the voucher, if you agreed with the agent that the first appointment was free of charge, this obligation has the same binding force as a contract; however, it is more difficult to prove this in the event of a dispute. The agent was certainly entitled to demand that you hand over the voucher, but he apparently did not do so and could not claim without further notice that the service provided was now billable for this reason alone, even if this was stated in his general terms and conditions.
