§ 57. What happens if only part of the order is missing?
Defects (mangler) or delays (forsinkelse) affecting part of the order give you the right to complain about that part. You can only cancel the whole purchase if it makes no sense to keep the working part without the part that is missing.
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 seller's (selgerens) breach of contract (kontraktsbrudd) concerns only part of what was sold, the rules on defects and delay in chapters 5 and 6 apply to that part. If, given the circumstances, the seller must be assumed to have completed their delivery (levering) even though not everything has been delivered, the rules on defects apply.
If the consumer (forbrukeren) cancels the purchase for part of what was sold, the consumer may also cancel for other parts which he or she cannot reasonably be expected to keep.
What does this mean?
The basic rule: Complaints and claims apply only to the faulty part. If one of five T-shirts has a hole, you cancel the purchase (heving) for one T-shirt — not all five.
The exception: Items that belong inseparably together. If you buy a left and a right shoe and the right shoe is missing, it is obviously unreasonable to be forced to keep the left shoe. In that case, you cancel the whole purchase.
Example
Tom buys a designer dining set: one table and six specially ordered chairs. The table arrives, but the chairs have been discontinued. Tom cancels the purchase of the chairs. He also cancels the purchase of the table — it is impossible to find other chairs that match this specific table. He succeeds and cancels everything.
Common mistakes
- Demanding to return the entire grocery order because the cheese was missing
What should you do?
If a missing part ruins the whole: Explain clearly WHY the broken part makes the working part useless, and demand cancellation of the whole amount in return for them collecting everything.