§ 41. Do you have the right to cancel your order before the item arrives?
You can always call off the purchase as long as the item has not been delivered. The shop cannot force you to accept it and pay. But they have the right to claim compensation (erstatning) for the loss they suffer because you withdraw.
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)
If the consumer (forbruker) cancels the order for the item before delivery (levering), the seller (selger) cannot uphold the purchase and demand payment. Unless otherwise provided by the agreement, the seller may instead claim compensation for loss resulting from the cancellation of the order (avbestilling).
The parties may agree on a standard compensation for cancellation of the order (cancellation fee (avbestillingsgebyr)). The standard compensation cannot be set higher than what compensation under chapter 11 can normally be expected to amount to.
If no cancellation fee has been agreed, the compensation is assessed according to the rules in chapter 11.
What does this mean?
You have every right to cancel your order — the shop cannot force the item on you and send it to debt collection (inkasso).
But it is not free. The shop had expected to make a profit. For ordinary off-the-shelf goods, the loss is often zero. For special orders (a custom-made kitchen, engraved jewellery), it can be painfully expensive.
Note: For online purchases, the Cancellation Act (angrerettloven) applies in parallel — there you can withdraw free of charge within 14 days.
Example
Eva orders a specially upholstered sofa for NOK 25,000, with a 15% cancellation fee in the contract. Three weeks later she gets divorced and no longer needs the sofa. She contacts the shop. They cannot force it on her, but Eva pays the fee of NOK 3,750, and the agreement is ended.
Common mistakes
- Believing you can cancel for free on the same day, no matter what you have ordered
- Simply refusing to collect the item instead of formally cancelling the order — then you breach your duty to cooperate (medvirkningsplikt)
What should you do?
Tell the seller immediately. The sooner you tell them, the greater the chance that the shop can cancel the order with its supplier for free — and then they suffer no loss.