İzmir Consumer Lawyer and Defective Goods Return Procedures

A product turning out to be faulty, an online order that cannot be returned, or a contract clause noticed only later are everyday problems. As an İzmir consumer attorney, we provide legal support in disputes over defective goods and services, the right of withdrawal, arbitration committee applications and proceedings before the consumer court.

What distinguishes consumer law is that it compensates by statute for the imbalance of power between the parties. A person acting for purposes outside their trade or profession counts as a consumer, and the relationship with the seller, supplier or lender is characterised as a consumer transaction. This characterisation is not merely theoretical: it directly determines which body will hear the dispute, which time limits will run and where the burden of proof lies. In the same set of facts, a person without consumer status is subject to the general rules, while someone treated as a consumer benefits from a far more protective regime.

In practice what is most often lost is not the right but the time. Delaying notice of a defect, giving notice of withdrawal through a channel that cannot be proved, or directing an application to a body without jurisdiction can leave an otherwise well-founded claim without result. For that reason, at the outset of a file the invoice, the contract, the pre-contractual information form, shipping and return records and the correspondence are assessed together, and the route to follow is determined by that assessment. You can see the other fields we work in on our practice areas page.

Defective Goods and Defective Services, and the Consumer’s Elective Rights

Defective goods are goods that, at the moment of delivery to the consumer, do not conform to the agreed sample or model, or do not carry the qualities they objectively ought to have. Non-conformity with the qualities stated on the packaging, the label, the user manual or in advertising also counts as a defect. A defective service, in turn, is one that does not begin within the agreed period or does not carry the qualities determined by the parties or objectively required. The distinction matters, because although the elective rights granted for goods and for services overlap, they are not identical.

For goods, four elective rights are granted to the consumer, and as a rule the consumer decides which of them to use. For services, the options that arise are re-performance of the service, a price reduction proportionate to the defect, or withdrawal from the contract. In both cases the possibility of separately claiming compensation for losses caused by the defect is reserved. Before a choice is made, whether the defect can be remedied, the useful life of the item and whether the seller would face disproportionate difficulty are assessed together.

The table below summarises the elective rights granted to a consumer for defective goods and the point to watch for each of them.

On the question of proof the law clearly protects the consumer: defects appearing within the period set by law following delivery are presumed to have existed at delivery, so during that period the burden of proving otherwise lies with the seller. The limitation period is the one set by law, running from delivery of the goods; for residential and holiday immovables it is longer; where the defect has been concealed through gross fault or fraud, those periods cannot be relied upon. We examine the concept in detail, with examples, in our article on what defective goods are.

For goods covered by a warranty certificate, the repair period, useful life and service obligations also come into play. The legislation sets a maximum period for repair; if that period is exceeded, or the same defect recurs, the consumer may turn to the other elective rights. Where the item fails within the warranty period, the time spent in repair is added to that period. Service slips, fault records and delivery documents form the basis of these claims and should therefore be kept.

Returning Goods Bought in a Shop or Online, and the Right of Withdrawal

The most common misconception in practice is the belief that every purchase carries a right of return. The right of withdrawal is a protection specific to distance contracts and to contracts concluded away from business premises. In a face-to-face purchase on the seller’s premises there is no general statutory right of return; the return facility offered by shops is their own commercial policy, whose conditions they set. We set out this distinction, and what can be claimed on shop returns, in our article on returning goods bought in a shop.

In distance contracts the consumer may withdraw within the period set by law from receiving the goods, without giving a reason and without paying a penalty. For service contracts the period runs from the date the contract was concluded. It is enough that the notice reaches the seller within that period; the goods do not have to be handed to the carrier within it. Giving notice through a provable channel, such as email, a form recorded on the platform or a notarial notice, prevents later argument.

A seller’s failure to fulfil the pre-contractual information duty about the right of withdrawal works in the consumer’s favour: in that case the withdrawal period is extended in the manner set out in the legislation. Once the notice of withdrawal has arrived, the seller must refund all payments collected, including delivery costs, within the period prescribed. By contrast, the right cannot be used in the cases listed in the legislation, such as goods prepared to the consumer’s specifications, perishable products, hygiene and health products whose packaging has been opened, audio and video recordings whose packaging has been opened, and products whose price depends on fluctuations in financial markets.

Applying to the Consumer Arbitration Committee and How the Monetary Threshold Is Set

In consumer disputes the first stop is usually the consumer arbitration committee. For disputes below the monetary threshold set by law, applying to the committee is mandatory; if a claim below that threshold is taken straight to court, the case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The application is free of charge and may be made to the committee at the consumer’s place of residence or where the consumer transaction took place. Applications may also be submitted electronically through the Consumer Information System on the e-Government portal.

The amount of the monetary threshold is not a fixed figure. It is increased each year by the revaluation rate determined under the Tax Procedure Law, announced in the Official Gazette at the end of the year and applied from the start of the following year. That is why no specific figure is stated on this page: the correct method is to confirm the amount from the current communiqué published by the Ministry of Trade at the moment of application. When the value of the dispute is calculated, not only the principal claim but also the interest and ancillary amounts sought are taken into account, and that calculation can change which side of the threshold the claim falls on.

The committee examines the file on the documents, requests information and evidence from the parties, and notifies its decision in writing. Decisions are binding on the parties and are enforced under the provisions of the Execution and Bankruptcy Law on the enforcement of judgments. A party who disagrees may challenge the decision before the consumer court within the period set by law from notification, and the court’s decision on that challenge is final. Formulating the claim clearly in the application and submitting the supporting documents in full directly affects the outcome of this short review.

Consumer Court Litigation, the Condition of Action and Fee Exemption

For disputes above the monetary threshold the competent court is the consumer court; where no consumer court exists, the civil court of first instance hears such cases in that capacity. A consumer may also bring the action before the court at their own place of residence, a jurisdiction rule laid down in the consumer’s favour. As a rule, applying to a mediator before filing is a condition of action. We explain how the mediation process works in detail on our mediation services page.

There are exceptions to mediation as a condition of action. No application to a mediator is required for disputes falling within the jurisdiction of the consumer arbitration committee, for challenges to committee decisions, or for requests for interim injunctions and precautionary attachment. This distinction must be drawn correctly from the outset: an action filed without applying to a mediator is dismissed on procedural grounds for want of a condition of action, and the process starts again from the beginning. If agreement is reached at the mediation meeting, the settlement document, once it bears an enforceability annotation, becomes a document equivalent to a judgment.

Cases filed before consumer courts are exempt by law from all duties and fees. That exemption makes filing easier but does not remove every cost of the proceedings: an expense advance must be deposited for items such as notification, expert examination and site inspection. If the case succeeds, those costs may be claimed from the other party as litigation expenses. Because cases based on an allegation of defect usually involve an expert examination, keeping the product safe and ready for inspection matters.

Subscription Contracts and Unfair Term Claims

Subscription contracts concern the provision of a service continuously or at regular intervals for a definite or indefinite period. Many fields fall within this scope, including telecommunications, internet, digital broadcasting, gyms and the delivery of water products. The law provides that a consumer may terminate an open-ended subscription contract, or a fixed-term one longer than a year, at any time without giving a reason and without paying a penalty. The supplier must allow the termination request to be made through the method by which the contract was concluded, or one at least as easy.

In practice the dispute usually arises not over whether termination occurred but over when it took effect. Amounts charged after the termination notice reached the supplier are assessed separately from items covered by a commitment, and if collected without justification their refund may be sought. Where a subscription carries a commitment, the amount that may be claimed on early termination is subject to the limits set in the legislation for the remaining commitment period. Keeping a record proving the date and content of the termination notice is therefore decisive in practice.

An unfair term is a contractual provision included without being negotiated with the consumer that causes an imbalance to the consumer’s detriment contrary to the rule of good faith. The fact that a term was drafted in advance and that the consumer could not influence its content raises a presumption that it was not negotiated. Unfair terms in a contract made with a consumer are absolutely void, while the remainder of the contract keeps its validity. Reviewing standard-form contracts and general terms against these criteria reduces disputes later, and we also carry out that work within our corporate legal advisory practice.

Consumer Disputes Arising from Residential and Timeshare Sales

A pre-paid residential sale is one in which the consumer pays the price in advance, in a lump sum or in instalments, while the dwelling is transferred at a later date. Such contracts must be concluded in the formal manner required by law, and a failure to observe that form does not give the seller the ability to plead invalidity. The seller’s obligation to transfer and deliver is subject to a maximum period set by law, which must be stated expressly in the contract. The consumer is also granted the right to withdraw from the contract without giving a reason up to the date of transfer or delivery; on withdrawal, any compensation the seller may claim cannot exceed the limit set by law.

Structural problems that appear in a delivered dwelling (water insulation, damp, cracks, thermal insulation, shortcomings in common areas) are treated as defective performance. For residential and holiday immovables the limitation period for liability arising from defects is longer than for other goods. Whether the defect was latent or apparent, and the content of the handover record drawn up at delivery, directly affect the outcome of the claim. Recording a reservation in the handover document and obtaining a determination of the facts is therefore decisive in many files.

Timeshare ownership (devremülk) and holiday-share rights (devre tatil) are two different institutions that are often confused. Timeshare ownership rests on the Condominium Law, is registered in the land registry and gives a periodic right of use attached to a share in co-ownership. A holiday-share right, by contrast, is regulated in consumer legislation and is as a rule a personal right of use. Contracts for holiday shares give the consumer a right of withdrawal, and limits have been introduced on concluding them on a pre-paid basis. Differences between the promises made at sales meetings and the text of the contract account for most disputes in this field; for the title and ownership dimension, the assessment on the real estate law side is carried out in parallel.

Consumer Credit and Bank Fee Refund Claims

A consumer credit contract is one in which the lender extends credit to the consumer by deferring payment in return for interest or a similar benefit. The contract must be made in writing and a copy given to the consumer. The consumer may exercise a right of withdrawal within the period set by law from the contract being concluded, without giving a reason and without paying a penalty; after notice of withdrawal, the principal and accrued interest must be repaid within the period prescribed. In the case of early repayment, the lender is obliged to make the required reduction in interest and commission.

Claims for the refund of bank charges rest on reviewing the lawfulness of the fees and commissions taken when credit is extended or over the course of an account relationship. The charges that may be collected from financial consumers are set out in the legislation in limited terms; items not clearly shown in the contract, collected without the consumer’s knowledge and consent, or without any genuine service behind them become open to challenge. When preparing such a claim, the credit agreement, the payment schedule and the account movements are therefore examined item by item.

The route to follow in such claims is determined by the total amount sought: claims below the monetary threshold go to the consumer arbitration committee, and those above it to the consumer court. Making a written application to the bank first both documents the response and makes it easier to establish the date of default. As regards the interest and limitation period applicable to the claim, the nature of the payment and the type of contract are assessed together. Because that assessment must be made on the facts of each file, no general outcome or collection timetable can be predicted.

Documents to Gather Before Applying

In consumer disputes the strength of a file rests largely on documents. Bringing the following records together before an application or an action prevents the process from dragging on unnecessarily.

• The invoice, sales slip or order confirmation, together with the payment record
• The contract text, the pre-contractual information form and any warranty certificate
• Shipping, delivery and return records, and the handover document
• Correspondence with the seller or supplier and call-centre reference numbers
• Service slips, fault records and any technical report
• Photographs and video showing the defect, and any record of determination

Once the documents are complete, it is decided to which body the claim will be directed, on what legal basis and for what amount. In consumer disputes the time limits are short and the division of jurisdiction between the bodies is strict; a mistake on either point can change the outcome despite the merits. We can assess together the route to follow given the circumstances of your file.