Consumer purchase - breach of contract and what you are entiteld to?
Hi, I have a question. My husband and I have given a catering firm a job to prepare a vegan menu buffet for our wedding. We agreed all together on the menu weeks before and the chef said that he is going to provide personnel that is going to put the food up on the day. So what happened on our wedding day:
1. The food wasn't entirely vegan (he delivered mayonnaise and butter) and we mentioned before that there are guests that are strictly vegan and guests that were depending on our words because they had allergies towards lactose and eggs. Two guests got stomach ache due to the butter.
2. He didn't deliver two dishes out of 8 and the remaining dishes, half of them were not as on the menu.
3. He didn't bring any personnel, but instead someone from his catering firm just stopped by quickly and placed all the open foods on trays on the floor in the kitchen and told us where what is and left. That this is not hygenic is one point, the other that our only and own personnel from the service and the bar had to jump in for his missing people and our drinks had to be served by family members and friends. And we had to skip our planned photo shooting to help out.
We are really upset and dissapointed because of this on our wedding and don't know what to do at the moment. The chef did not only cross ethical and health borders, but also did not deliver what we ordered. Do we even have to pay and or what should we or can we do from a legal perspective?
We hope that you can help!
Lawline svarar
Hi and thank you for choosing Lawline.
Your question is regulated within the consumer purchase law (Konsumentköplagen - kkL). As this purchase also have some element of service we can also use some laws in consumer service law (konsumenttjänstlagen - ktjL).
All services provided by a business owner should be performed professionally, cater to the clients interests and also confer with the client. (4 § ktjL). The service you have ordered should be specified in a contract, if the service is not performed according to the contract this is a breach of contract and the service is faulty (16 § kkL/9 § ktjL). The service can also be deemed as faulty if the service-provider has not fulfilled the service professionally (9 § 1 point; 4 § ktjL). From what you are mentioning in your question it seems that the service has not been executed in accordance with current health regulation nor according to your contract.
You are entitled to either abort or reduce payment or rescind your contract (22 § kkL). In order for you to rescind your contract the fault must be critical to you, which it seems to be (29 § kkL). If you choose to rescind your contract you no longer haft to pay for the purschase. You can also file for damages (30 § kkL). If you are filing for damages the reason for why the service-provider failed to deliver in accordance with the contract must be within his hypothetical ability to avoid the situation at hand. As it seems some of the wrongdoing could have easily been avoided and therefore you may be entitled damages. Also, most important you need to make a complaint towards the service provider within 2 months from the day the service was provided (23 § kkL).
My conclusion is that the service you have ordered was not performed in accordance with you contract. First step is always to contact the provider and try to come up with a solution. If that fails, you have legal basis to make a claim towards the provider.
If you need assistance drafting a legal claim towards your service provider or in need of a more in-depth advisory opinion you are welcome to contact us and book an appointment with a legal counsel using this link here.
Hope this answered your question,
Best regards.
