§ 4. Other rights apply alongside
The Right of Withdrawal Act (angrerettloven) comes in addition to other rights you have. It does not remove the guarantee (garanti), the right to make a complaint about a defect (reklamasjon) or the rules in the Consumer Purchases Act (forbrukerkjøpsloven). You can use all the rights you have, as needed.
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
The Act does not entail any limitations on the duty to provide information (opplysningsplikt) or on requirements for the contract that follow from other rules.
What does this mean?
§ 4 says that the Right of Withdrawal Act does not stand alone. If another law gives you more information or better rights, those still apply.
The most important additional rules you should know about:
The Consumer Purchases Act gives you the right to complain about faults and defects (mangel) in the goods. You normally have a two-year deadline for complaints about defects (reklamasjonsfrist), or five years for goods that are meant to last a long time (such as white goods and furniture). This applies regardless of whether you have a right of withdrawal (angrerett).
The Marketing Control Act (markedsføringsloven) has rules on misleading advertising, unfair commercial practices and unsolicited telephone sales (telefonsalg).
Guarantees from the seller come in addition to the law. The seller can never give you worse terms than the law requires, but can give you better ones.
In practice, this means: you do not have to choose between the right of withdrawal and the right to complain about a defect. You have both.
Example
Tom buys a designer lamp online for NOK 3,200. When he unpacks the parcel, he sees that the lamp has a scratch. He has two options: (1) Use the right of withdrawal within 14 days and send the lamp back because he does not want it. (2) Make a complaint about the defect under the Consumer Purchases Act and demand that the seller repairs the fault or gives him a new one. § 4 says that both options are open. He chooses whichever suits him best.
Common mistakes
- You think the withdrawal period (angrefrist) is the only deadline. It is not. Even after the withdrawal period has expired, you still have the right to complain about a defect for two or five years if the goods have a defect.
- You think you have to choose one law and stick to it. You do not. You can combine your rights — for example, complain about a defect even if the withdrawal period has expired.
- You think a "guarantee" from the seller is a gift. It often is not. The guarantee must give you something more than what the law already gives you. If not, it has no real value.
What should you do?
When something goes wrong with a purchase, do not limit yourself to the right of withdrawal. Check whether you have a defect case (the Consumer Purchases Act), whether the marketing was misleading (the Marketing Control Act), or whether the seller has given a guarantee beyond the law. You are often in a stronger position than you think.