GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EYE SPECIALS WORLDWIDE NV
1. These general terms and conditions must be read together with any special terms and conditions as agreed, with the latter taking precedence in the event of a contradiction. These general terms and conditions take precedence over conflicting or differing terms and conditions of the customer, even if these are communicated afterwards. The customer expressly declares that he or she has taken due note of these general terms and conditions and that he or she accepts them.
2. Price quotations are provided for information only, and are by no means considered an offer. They are free of obligation. Their validity is limited to the date indicated. An order will only become final after written confirmation by Eye Specials. Quotations may be modified due to unforeseen changes and/or modified customer requirements.
3. Non-payment of any predetermined advance gives Eye Specials the right to postpone the delivery indefinitely without any right to compensation on the part of the customer, without prejudice to the provisions contained further in these general terms and conditions.
4. Eye Specials will observe the greatest possible care in the execution of product orders. However, any stated delivery deadline, even if specifically stated, is a best-effort approach and is provided by way of information. If a delivery deadline is exceeded, it cannot in any case lead to the contract being annulled or terminated. Nor does it give rise to any compensation for damages.
Eye Specials undertakes to keep the customer informed of the delivery process in writing to the best possible extent. If the delivery of an ordered product proves impossible, Eye Specials will endeavour to make a replacement item available. The description of the products in the Eye Specials webshop is sufficiently detailed to enable a good assessment of the offer. Product images are a true representation of the products offered. Eye Specials cannot guarantee that the colours displayed exactly match the actual colours of the products.
5. When purchasing products online, a consumer (being a natural person who does not act in the exercise of a profession or business) has the possibility of terminating the contract during 14 days without giving reasons. This 14-day cooling-off period starts on the day after the consumer has received the product. During the cooling-off period, the consumer will handle the product and the packaging with care. He or she will only unpack or use the product to the extent necessary to be able to assess whether he or she wishes to keep the product. If the consumer exercises his or her right of withdrawal, he or she will inform Eye Specials of this by email with acknowledgement of receipt. The product must then be returned to Eye Specials within 2 days of sending this email message with all the accessories supplied and in its original condition and packaging. The consumer must prove that the delivered products were sent back on time, for example by means of proof of dispatch. The costs of sending back the products are at the customer’s expense. If the consumer has paid an amount, Eye Specials will reimburse this amount as soon as possible, but no later than 14 days after the date of cancellation. This is subject to the condition that the product has already been received back by Eye Specials. Repayment will be made using the same payment method used by the consumer unless the consumer expressly consents to a different payment method. If the product is damaged by careless handling by the consumer, the consumer is liable for any loss of value of the product. Eye Specials may exclude the consumer’s right of withdrawal. The exclusion of the right of withdrawal only applies if Eye Specials has clearly stated this in the offer, at least in due time before the agreement was concluded. For example, the following products can be excluded (non-exhaustive list): – created by Eye Specials in accordance with consumer specifications; – which are clearly personal in nature; – which by their nature cannot be sent back.
6. The products are sent with Fedex. Costs within Europe amount to EUR 15.00, while costs outside Europe amount to EUR 25.00. Sending and transport costs are at the customer’s expense. Eye Specials reserves the right to modify sending and transport costs. The products are always delivered to the specified address of the customer, but are presumed to have been received in the warehouses of Eye Specials.
7. In the case of defective or non-compliant products, without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 9, 10 and 11, Eye Specials will be released from any claim for damage after these products have been re-delivered.
8. Disputes regarding visible defects or non-compliant products, or regarding delivery, execution or invoicing must take place within 5 days after delivery, execution and/or invoicing and this in writing (by email with acknowledgement of receipt or by registered letter). In any event, Eye Specials is not liable for the visible defects disclosed after the aforementioned period. The contract can no longer be terminated on this basis.
9. The materials supplied are guaranteed regarding invisible defects, on strict condition that the products are used under normal circumstances. The guarantee period runs until 60 days after delivery. The invisible defects that present themselves in the period of 60 days after delivery must be notified to Eye Specials in writing (by email with acknowledgement of receipt or by registered mail) within 5 days after they have been noticed. Under no circumstances can the guarantee extend beyond the guarantee granted by any supplier of Eye Specials.
In any case, no guarantee is provided if:
- the product was taken over by a third person, either by sale, lease, loan, pledge or seizure;
- the product was dismantled, modified or repaired, either by the customer or by a third party not authorised to do so, without the permission of Eye Specials;
- the customer fails to fulfil his or her contractual obligations, primarily as regards payment;
- defects arise concerning contamination, poor maintenance, normal wear and tear, improper or abnormal use by the customer.
The guarantee for hidden defects is limited to replacing or repairing (at the discretion of Eye Specials) the defective parts. Packaging and sending costs remain at the customer’s expense.
10. With regard to both visible and hidden defects whereby the liability of Eye Specials could be retained, its liability remains in any event limited to:
- claims for replacement or repair or;
- the amount paid by the insurance of Eye Specials or;
- the amount included in the order in respect of that part.
Indirect damage (including, but not limited to, loss of production, loss of profit, reputational damage, loss of contracts, loss of goodwill, financial costs, immaterial damage, consequential damage) is in any case not eligible for compensation.
11. All delivered products remain the property of Eye Specials until full payment of the sum has been made. In the event of non-payment, Eye Specials can at any time have the products collected at the expense and risk of the customer. The risk transfers to the customer from the moment of delivery, regardless of whether or not payment has already been made. The products always travel at the customer’s risk, regardless of the transport provisions.
12. Unless otherwise agreed, the amounts due must be paid when placing an order. If payment is not made on this due date, legal interest will apply to a consumer, after written notice of default, until the date of actual payment. Compensation for damages equal to 10% of the invoice amount negotiated between the parties is also owed, with a minimum of EUR 100.
With regard to a company, as from the due date, by operation of law and without prior written notice of default, interest runs in accordance with the Law on Late Payment in Commercial Transactions up to and including the date of full payment and a compensation of 10% of the invoice amount is due.
In the event of non-payment on the due date of one invoice, all invoices become immediately due and payable and Eye Specials has the unconditional right to suspend further deliveries until the amount owed has been paid in full. Where appropriate, all agreements made regarding delivery and execution periods lapse. Suspending further deliveries cannot give rise to a right to compensation on the part of the customer. Eye Specials informs the consumer of this in writing.
If the order consists of partial deliveries, Eye Specials reserves the right to suspend the execution of the next delivery in accordance with the above, until the previous delivery has been paid in full.
The foregoing will be without prejudice to the right of Eye Specials to recover from the customer the damages suffered in the form of the profit lost and any other costs caused by lack of or delay in payment (administration costs, etc.).
The above without prejudice to the right of Eye Specials to unilaterally terminate the agreement concluded between the parties to the customer’s disadvantage due to non-payment.
13. The customer must notify Eye Specials in writing (by email with acknowledgement of receipt or by registered letter) of any defects/objection to invoicing, cf. the provisions of Articles 9 and 10. If there is a timely and founded protest regarding delivered products and/or invoicing, the customer can suspend his or her payment obligations until the time of compliant service provision and/or invoicing by Eye Specials.
14. In the event of cancellation, destruction or no execution of the agreement, a fixed amount of compensation for damages stipulated between the parties is owed of 35% of the total offer amount, with a minimum of EUR 100, and this under the express possibility of claiming higher damages.
15. Each party has the right to terminate the agreement by registered letter, immediately and without prior intervention by a judge, if the other party does not comply with his, her or its contractual obligations and he, she or it fails to remedy this omission within 14 days after having been summoned to do so in writing.
16. In the event of complaints, a consumer must first turn to Eye Specials. It is also possible to report complaints via the European ODR platform (http://ec.europa.eu/odr).
17. Force majeure is understood to mean the situation in which the execution of the agreement by one of the parties is prevented in full or in part, temporarily or otherwise, by circumstances beyond the control of that party. The examples in the following non-exhaustive list are in any case regarded as cases of force majeure: strike or lock-out, lockdown, fire, insurrection, war, epidemic, electrical failures, IT failures, internet failures, telecommunication failures, decisions or interventions by or on behalf of the government, errors or delays attributable to third parties. In the event of force majeure, the obligations of the respective party will be suspended and the other party will be informed of this promptly in writing. In such a case, the parties will make all reasonable efforts to limit the consequences of a force majeure situation. If the force majeure lasts longer than one month, the other party is entitled to terminate the agreement without the party invoking force majeure being held liable for payment of any compensation to the other party.
18. Any nullity of one of the clauses of these general terms and conditions does not jeopardise the validity of the others.
19. Only the Justice of the Peace in Mol-Geel and the Courts of Antwerp, Turnhout division, have jurisdiction in the first instance. Belgian law is applicable.