French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

In the event of a breach by the seller of its obligation to deliver goods in conformity, Article 1610 of the Civil Code allows the consumer to request either the performance or the termination of the contract. The purchaser may also, where appropriate, seek damages where the seller's default has caused him harm. …

Buyer's option

  See CA Paris, December 10, 1999, LawLex0510202, declaring that, in the event of breach of its obligation of compliant delivery by the seller, the buyer is entitled to request the cancellation of the sale and that an forced execution cannot be imposed on him, at the request of the seller, in particular when the expert qualifies the treatment proposed to render the thing compliant as being very random.

In the event of a breach by the seller of its obligation to deliver goods in conformity, Article 1610 of the Civil Code allows the consumer to request either the performance or the termination of the contract. The purchaser may also, where appropriate, seek damages where the seller's default has caused him harm.

The purchaser may, in accordance with Article 1610 of the Civil Code, require that the seller who has failed to fulfill its obligation to deliver goods in conformity be compelled to perform the contract. For this purpose, the purchaser may seek direct enforcement ("exécution forcée") of the contract or its enforced amendment.

In the case of direct enforcement  , the purchaser of the thing requires that the seller be compelled to fulfil its promise in full by supplying the thing as provided for in the contract. The court may then oblige the seller to replace the thing by a thing in conformity with the contractual stipulations or repair it thus rendering it compliant. Direct enforcement may be accompanied by a penalty. In addition, under Article 1651 of the Civil Code, the buyer may suspend payment until the seller has fulfilled its contractual obligation.

When he opts for the amendment of the contract, the purchaser may request that the pecuniary benefit contractually provided for be reduced to express the non-conformity found. In this case, the non-conformity is not corrected but gives rise to a decrease of the sale price ordered by the court. On the other hand, the court is precluded from changing the price fixed by the parties by reducing the price of the property sold, when the purchaser is claiming damages for the harm resulting from the seller's failure to fulfil its conformity obligation .

  Cass. 1re civ., 28 June 2012, LawLex201200001246JBJ.

 Cass. 3e civ., 10 March 2015, LawLex201600000102JBJ.  The damage resulting from the seller's failure to fulfil its obligation to deliver goods in conformity can only be compensated by the award of damages.

Performance or amendment of contract

The dissatisfied buyer may request, under Article 1610 of the Civil Code, that the court rescind the contract. In addition to proving that the seller has failed to comply with its obligation  to deliver goods in conformity, the buyer must demonstrate that the breach is sufficiently serious to justify the rescission. According to the Court of Cassation, the purchaser of a partially delivered item may bring an action either for delivery of the missing parts, or for rescission of the sale . The seriousness of the breach is assessed by the court at its discretion, on a case-by-case basis . In order to be considered sufficiently serious , a breach must prevent the thing concerned from fulfilling its intended purpose without incident .  The sale must be rescinded if the conformity issues affecting the electronic control unit and particulate filter of the vehicle are so serious as to require repair work equivalent to the purchase price . For a professional to transfer a vehicle with a roadworthiness test report indicating that it is unfit for use, without carrying out the necessary repairs and a compulsory follow-up inspection, constitutes a breach of his obligation to deliver a vehicle in conformity, which justifies rescission of the contract of sale .The inability to deliver a compliant thing within the agreed time , or the delivery of a seriously damaged vehicle that has been repaired instead of a vehicle presented as having simply suffered a knock , also give rise to the rescission of the contract. Similarly, since the mileage of a used vehicle is a decisive factor for the purchaser, a difference of more than twice the mileage displayed and the actual mileage justified the rescission of the contract of sale .

In accordance with Article 1229 (former Article 1183) of the Civil Code, rescission of the sale entails a return to the same situation as if the obligation had not existed. Accordingly, the buyer must return the delivered thing to the seller, and the seller must return the price received, possibly increased by interest at the legal rate . In the case of successive sales, the original seller cannot be obliged to return more than he has received, unless he owes damages for the damage caused both to the sub-buyer and to the intermediate seller .

The retroactive effect of the rescission of the sale allows the seller to claim compensation for the depreciation suffered by the goods because of their use by the buyer , excluding that due to age . On the other hand, it cannot obtain compensation corresponding solely to the use of the thing by the buyer . The proof of a depreciation of the thing other than that related to its use , as well as the extent of this depreciation, must be provided by the seller , without it being necessary to prove the fault of the buyer . Consequently, a reduction in the price to be refunded should be imposed, where, in the case of delivery of a semi-trailer with a substantial overweight compared to the contractual specifications, its intensive use by the buyer led to a major deterioration, unrelated to the effects of this overweight . In the case of the sale of a vehicle, the assessment of the depreciation suffered by it as a result of its use by the buyer does not depend on a cost per kilometer  but corresponds to the discount resulting from mileage traveled . If it is impossible for the buyer to return the car sold which has been destroyed by a fire, it has been held that the refund must be made by equivalent, meaning that the buyer must pay the replacement value of the destroyed vehicle set by the insurer, while the seller must reimburse the price received, without any reduction related to the use of the thing sold or to wear .

When the buyer has not paid the price of the thing sold and has refused to return it, the seller who has not delivered equipment conforming to the order may be justified in seeking the court-ordered cancellation of the contract of sale. The restitution of the property can then be ordered by the court subject to a penalty payment, and the buyer may also be ordered to pay damages for having improperly retained the thing, resulting in a loss of value and making it impossible for the seller to put it up for sale again .

The Court of Cassation has held that when a sale has been rescinded for breach of the obligation to deliver in conformity, the seller cannot obtain from a third party a guarantee of the price to which, as a result of the rescission of the sale and the handing over of the thing, he is no longer entitled, and the restitution of which does not constitute compensable harm .

Finally, the action in rescission relating to the same non-conformity being transmitted with the thing delivered, the Court of Cassation  recognized a right of priority to the sub-buyer when he exercises the action against the intermediary seller and, simultaneously, the intermediary seller brings the same action against the original seller: in this case, only the action brought by the sub-buyer can be admitted, as the intermediary seller can only take action against the original seller to guarantee the sanctions ordered against him.

Cass. civ. 1re, 6 June 2018, LawLex201900002058JBJ, ruling that a court of appeal is precluded from holding that the plaintiff did not sue for delivery of the four elements that had never been supplied to dismiss his claim for rescission of the sale for non-conforming delivery, since the buyer of a partially delivered item may sue either for delivery of the missing elements or for rescission of the sale.

CA Aix-en-Provence, 2 November 2016, LawLex201600001870JBJ, considering that the sale of windows which, shortly after their installation, underwent deformations necessitating their partial change by the manufacturer and which therefore no longer include a thermal break as originally provided for in the order form, must be cancelled in its entirety, even if the seller has not intervened in the joinery installations, when the order, intended for the renovation of a house by the installation of identical elements, forms an indissociable whole; CA Metz, 10 November 2016, LawLex201600001909JBJ, considering that although the difference of 0.33% of a necklace in relation to the order cannot justify the rescission of the contract of sale, the existence of aesthetic defects added to it justifies this sanction. 

  Cass. 1re civ., 20 May 2010, LawLex201300000508JBJ.

 Cass. 1re civ., 6 July 2000, LawLex200500008963JBJ;  CA Angers, 6 November 2012, LawLex201300000517JBJ.

   CA Caen, 1 March 2007, LawLex201600000189JBJ.

  Cass. com., 10 February  2015, LawLex201500000467JBJ.

  Cass. com., 9 December 2014, LawLex201600000189JBJ.

  Cass. 1re civ., 21 March 2006, LawLex200600000930JBJ;  CA Bordeaux, 3 November 2009, LawLex201300000653JBJ.

   CA Bordeaux, 3 November 2009, LawLex201300000653JBJ.

   CA Paris, 3 March 2016, LawLex201600000540JBJ.

   CA Grenoble, 1 July 2008, LawLex201300000581JBJ.

For an illustrtaion CA Rennes, 13 April 2018, LawLex201800000617JBJ: even if the seller fails to fulfill the obligation to deliver goods in conformity by supplying a vehicle not meeting the contractual stipulations with regard to the mileage and by not providing a comprehensive service manual, the breaches found are not sufficient to justify the rescission of the sale, where the  difference established between the actual mileage and the mileage recorded in the roadworthiness inspection report is relatively small and where the failure to provide a comprehensive service manual, which is accessory to the vehicle, only concerns a few pages.

   CA Amiens, 19 February 2015, LawLex201600000540JBJ.

   CA Pau, 12 September 2014, LawLex201500001853JBJ.

Cass. com., 22 November 2023, LawLex202300014034JBJ.

   CA Douai, 3 December 2012, LawLex201300000784JBJ;  CA Rouen, 7 November 2012, LawLex201300000609JBJ.

CA Grenoble, 10 January 2023, LawLex202300000676JBJ.

CA Limoges, 8 February 2023, LawLex202300002404JBJ.

   CA Bourges, 26 January 1994, LawLex200500010200JBJ.

  CA Rouen, 25 April 1990, LawLex200500010166JBJ.

   CA Versailles, 8 September 2016, LawLex201600001504JBJ.

  Cass. com., 13 May 2003, LawLex200500004327JBJ.

Rescission of the contract

When the buyer has suffered harm as a result of the seller's failure to comply with its obligation to deliver goods in conformity, Article 1611 of the Civil Code provides for the possibility of seeking, in addition to actual performance or cancellation of the contract of sale, the award of damages. However, a damages award is subject to the demonstration of a causal link between the wrongful conduct of the seller and the harm suffered by the buyer . Thus, even if the direct and immediate consequences of the failure of the seller in its obligation to deliver goods in conformity gives rise to a right to compensation, such is not the case when the buyers have not proved that the administrative regularization process after the discovery of the actual dimensions of the ship would have generated a cost or that it would have caused the vessel to be immobilized .

The harm resulting from the non-performance by the seller of its conformity obligation can only be compensated by damages, and in no case by a price reduction . Thus, the company which supplied the non-compliant and dangerous diesel fuel at the origin of the malfunction of a tractor due to the jamming and breakage of the injectors must compensate for the harm related to the lack of conformity, i.e. the amount of the cost of repairs . The trial courts have a discretionary power of assessment to determine the conditions of compensation for the harm resulting from non-conformity between the thing contractually promised and the item actually delivered . The reduction in the value of a vehicle on the used market , or the delay in the renovation works of a building  caused by the breach of the seller of its obligation to deliver goods in conformity, were thus compensated. However, although the purchaser may seek damages for the loss of yield further to an installlation not compliant with usual professional practices, even for the period during which the installation was not functioning, it cannot claim compensation for total loss, when the breakdown at the origin of the operating defect is due to the failure to sign a maintenance contract .

When a buyer has brought an action for damages, even though he was entitled to demand that the machines purchased be brought into conformity, he can no longer expect to be able to keep in parallel the machines made available by the seller in order to remedy the issues encountered .

 Cass. civ. 3e, 18 May 2017, LawLex201700002126JBJ: the mere breach of a contractual results-based obligation to deliver a good in conformity and free of defects cannot characterize a tort giving rise to a right to compensation for a third party to the contract. 

 Cass. civ. 1re, 22 November 2017, LawLex201700002003JBJ.

  Cass. 3e civ., 10 March 2015, LawLex201600000102JBJ.

 CA Paris, 1 June 2017, LawLex201700000948JBJ. 

  Cass. 3e civ., 8 March 2000, LawLex200600000433JBJ.

  CA Bordeaux, 19 February 2013, LawLex201300000781JBJ.

  CA Lyon, 12 March 2013, LawLex201300000513JBJ.

 CA Aix-en-Provence, 16 February 2017, LawLex201700000392JBJ.

CA Lyon, 5 October 2023, LawLex202300012666JBJ.

French Consumer Law

509. Buyer's option(1)

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509. Buyer's option(1)

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