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Notice of defects in goods: demanding repair, replacement or a price cut (Switzerland)

Switzerland · in English · for consumers

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For buyers in Switzerland whose goods are faulty: gives notice of the defect (Mängelrüge) under Art. 201 CO as soon as it is found and demands, with a deadline, repair under the guarantee, a fault-free replacement (Art. 206 CO), a price reduction or rescission (Art. 205 CO). Claims are time-barred two years after delivery (Art. 210 CO). Swiss law has no right to return faultless online purchases. Send it registered. Swiss authorities and courts work in their official language — German, French or Italian — so this English version is for dealings between private parties.

  • Last updated November 4, 2026
  • Document in English
Consumer
Switzerland
English
Complaint & Appeal
Print & sign
1 page

Published byDocMuse

When to use this document

  • A laptop you bought in Switzerland stopped working a few weeks after delivery.
  • Furniture ordered from a Swiss online shop arrived damaged.
  • The shop offers only a repair, but you want a replacement or a price cut.
  • You have noticed a hidden fault in something you bought and need to report it straight away.

What you fill in

The details the document asks for.

  • Buyer
  • Buyer's address
  • Seller
  • Seller's address
  • City
  • Date
  • Description of the item
  • Date of purchase
  • Price
  • Invoice number
  • Noticed on
  • Defect
  • What you demand: repair, replacement, price reduction or rescission
  • Deadline
  • IBAN

Common questions

Is there a cooling-off period for online shopping in Switzerland?
No: unlike the EU, Switzerland has no statutory right to withdraw from an online purchase; a shop may offer returns voluntarily. A 14-day statutory right exists only for doorstep and telephone sales where the customer pays more than CHF 100 (Art. 40a ff. CO). This letter is for goods with a defect, which the seller must answer for under the warranty.
What is the deadline for reporting a fault to a Swiss shop?
There is no fixed number of days: you must inspect the goods as soon as is practical in the normal course of business and report visible defects immediately, and a hidden defect as soon as you discover it (Art. 201 CO). Waiting too long loses the warranty for that defect, so send the notice within a few days by registered post and keep the receipts. For materials built into a building whose defect they caused, the period has been 60 days since 2026 (Art. 201 para. 4 CO).
Does Swiss law give me a right to have faulty goods repaired?
Not as such. The law lets you choose between rescinding the sale (Wandelung: return against a refund) and a price reduction (Minderung, Art. 205 CO), and for generic goods also a fault-free item of the same kind (Art. 206 CO). Repair is owed only where the contract or guarantee provides it; many shops replace the statutory warranty with a repair guarantee in their terms. That is allowed in principle, but not for defects the seller fraudulently concealed (Art. 199 CO).
When do warranty claims on a Swiss purchase expire?
Two years after delivery (Art. 210 para. 1 CO). A trader selling you goods for personal or family use may not shorten this below two years, or one year for second-hand goods (Art. 210 para. 4 CO). Your notice alone does not stop the clock: if the seller does not give in, file a conciliation request (Schlichtungsgesuch) with the competent conciliation authority before the period ends (Art. 135 CO). That request must be in the canton's official language — German, French or Italian.

How you can sign this document

  • Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
  • Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked

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Related documents

  • Notice of defects in goods, demanding repair, replacement or a price cut, in German (Switzerland)

    For buyers in Switzerland whose goods are faulty, in German: gives notice of the defect under Art. 201 CO as soon as it is found, and demands with a deadline repair under the guarantee terms, a fault-free replacement (Art. 206 CO), a price reduction or the unwinding of the sale (Art. 205 CO). Claims become time-barred two years after delivery (Art. 210 CO). Swiss law has no right to return goods bought online when nothing is wrong with them. Send it by registered post.

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