Can a purchase be returned and refunded?

Can a purchase be returned and refunded?

"I bought a present for a friend that turned out not to be what she expected.

When I tried to take it back to the shop it came from, they refused to refund me. Two disappointments in a row, that's a lot... Isn't the law obliging shops to take back items sold within a certain period?

On a commercial level, some shops offer general terms and conditions such as "satisfied or reimbursed", giving their customers more rights than those provided by law, which is quite possible given the principle of contractual freedom that governs Swiss law. Most supermarkets give out an exchange voucher with the gifts they wrap, although this is not a legal obligation.

According to the Swiss Code of Obligations, when two parties have expressed their intention to enter into a contract of sale and the buyer acquires ownership of an object by undertaking to pay the seller the price, he is not entitled to change his mind on any pretext whatsoever. It is only in the case of contracts concluded as a result of door-to-door sales, at the workplace or on the public highway that art. 40a et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations give the purchaser the right, under certain conditions, to revoke his or her consent. Apart from these cases, the law only allows the purchaser to claim reimbursement in the event of a defect in the item sold, by invoking the action in warranty provided for in art. 205 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations.

For the sake of completeness, the only other cases in which restitution may be demanded are when a contract is invalidated due to a fundamental error made by one of the parties at the time it was concluded (art. 23 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations) or when one of the parties is in default for failing to perform his obligation on time (art. 107 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations).

If none of the above applies to you, the shop was under no obligation to take back the gift you wanted to return, even if it was perfectly new and in good condition. Try to negotiate an exchange for a gift voucher, which is an advantageous solution for both parties: the buyer feels taken into consideration and the seller is assured that the sale price will remain with him.