I. Introductory Provisions
1. Information about the seller: Ascona Trading s.r.o., residing at Radlinského 972/3, 05201 Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia, ID: 50011146, Tax ID: 2120140066, VAT ID: SK2120140066, registered in the Commercial Register of the District Court of Košice I, Section: Sro, Insert Number: 37990/V (hereinafter referred to only as the “Seller”). The Slovak Trade Inspection (STI), an authority of internal market surveillance of consumer protection in the internal market is the supervisory authority.
2. Contact information of the seller:
• email: info@balabim.com
• phone: +421 948 943 399
3. These General Terms and Conditions regulate mutual rights and obligations between the Seller and the natural person, who concludes a purchase contract (hereinafter referred to only as the “Buyer”) through the web interface found at the webpage available at www.balabim.com (hereinafter referred to only as the “Online Store”).
4. The provisions of these General Terms and Conditions are an integral part of the Purchase Contract. Different arrangements in the Purchase Contract take precedence over provisions in these General Terms and Conditions.
5. These General Terms and Conditions and the Purchase Contract are concluded in the English language.
6. These General Terms and Conditions comply with the provisions of the Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code, as amended (hereinafter referred to only as the “Civil Code “), Act No. 250/2007 Coll. on Consumer Protection and on the change of the Act of the Slovak National Council No. 372/1990 Coll. on Offenses, as amended (hereinafter referred to only as the “Act on Consumer Protection”), Act No. 102/2014 Coll. on the protection of consumers in sale of goods or provision of services under remote contracts or contracts executed outside the business premises of the seller, as amended (hereinafter referred to only as the “Act on Consumer Protection in Remote Sale“).
II. Goods and Prices
1. Information on goods, approximate delivery dates, including prices of individual items and their main features are listed with individual items in the catalogue of the Online Store.
2. The prices of the goods are listed including the VAT and all related fees and costs for the return of the item, if this item cannot be returned by mail due to its nature. The prices of the goods are valid for as long as they are listed in the Online Store.
3. All presentations of the goods found in the catalogue of the Online Store are of informative nature and the Seller is not obliged to conclude a Purchase Contract about these goods.
4. Information about the costs related to shipping and handling is published in the Online Store.
5. Any discounts on the purchase price of the item cannot be combined, unless the Seller and the Buyer agree otherwise.
III. Method of Concluding the Purchase Contract
1. The goods can be ordered (I) via your customer account, after previous registration in the Online Store, or (II) by completing the order form without registration.
2. Before sending the order, the Buyer can check and change information he/she entered in the order. The Buyer shall send the order to the Seller by clicking on the Send Order button. The information listed in the order is considered correct by the Seller. The condition for the validity of the order is the completion of all the mandatory fields in the order form and confirmation by the Buyer that he/she has read these General Terms and Conditions.
3. After receiving the order, the Seller shall send a confirmation of receipt of the order to the Buyer’s email address, he/she provided in his/her order. This confirmation is considered to be the conclusion of the Purchase Contract. The current General Terms and Conditions are included in the confirmation. The Purchase Contract is concluded by the confirmation of the order by the Seller, sent to the email address of the Buyer. All orders received by the Seller are binding.
4. The Buyer has the right to cancel the order, without having to provide a reason thereof, at any time before the order is shipped, either by email or by phone. In his/her notification of cancellation, the Buyer has to provide the order number, name, email and description of the ordered item.
5. In the case the Seller is unable to fulfill any of the requirements listed in the order, the Seller shall send a changed offer to the email address of the Buyer. The changed offer is considered to be the new draft of the Purchase Contract and the Purchase Contract is concluded in this case by confirmation by the Buyer of acceptance of this offer, which is sent to the email address of the Seller listed in these General Terms and Conditions.
6. In case an obvious technical error has happened on part of the Seller in the listing of the item price in the Online Store, or in the course of the ordering, the Seller is not obliged to the deliver the item to the Buyer for this obviously incorrect price. The Seller shall inform the Buyer of this error without undue delay and he shall send a changed offer to the email address of the Buyer. This changed offer is consider to be the new draft of the Purchase Contract and the Purchase Contract is concluded in this case by its acceptable by the Buyer, which is sent to the email address of the Seller.
7. The costs incurred to the Buyer in the use of remote communication means in relation to the conclusion of the Purchase Contract (Internet connection costs, phone calls costs) shall be paid by the Buyer. These costs do not differ from the basic rate.
IV. User Account
1. Based on registration in the Online Store, every Buyer can access his/her User Account (hereinafter referred to only as the “User Account“). The Buyer can order goods via his/her User Account. The Buyer can also order goods without registration, unless these are items, where registration is required due to the protection of minors.
2. In registration for the User Account and when ordering goods, the Buyer is obliged to provide correct and truthful information. Information listed in the User Account must be updated by the Buyer if there is any change. The information provided by the Buyer in the User Account and when ordering goods is considered correct by the Seller.
3. The access to the User Account is secured by a username and a password. The Buyer is obliged to maintain confidentiality regarding the information necessary to access his/her User Account. The Seller bears no responsibility for the possible misuse of the User Account by third parties.
4. The Buyer does not have the right to allow the use of his/her User Account to third parties.
5. The Seller has the right to cancel the User Account, especially if the Buyer has not been using his/her User Account for longer time, or if the Buyer violates his/her obligations arising from the Purchase Contract or these General Terms and Conditions.
6. The Buyer acknowledges that the User Account cannot be available nonstop, especially given the necessary maintenance of hardware and software of the Seller or third parties.
V. Purchase Price and Delivery Conditions
1. The buyer can pay the price of the products and any costs associated with the delivery of the goods based on the purchase contract using a gift voucher, money transfer to the bank account of the seller, credit card payment through a payment gateway or via PayPal.
2. Together with the purchase price, the Buyer is obliged to pay to the Seller the costs related to the shipping and handling of the item in the agreed amount. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the purchase price shall include the delivery costs as well.
3. For cash payments, the purchase price is payable upon the receipt of the goods. For wireless payments, the purchase price is payable within 7 days after the Purchase Price has been concluded. For payments via a payment gate, please follow the instructions of the respective provider of electronic payments. For wireless payments, the obligation of the Buyer to pay the purchase price is met when the appropriate amount is credited to the bank account of the Seller.
4. If a gift voucher is used for payment, the value of the gift voucher will be deducted from the price of the product. Terms and conditions for using the gift voucher:
• the gift voucher can be used only once for one purchase in the balabim.com online store,
• the validity of the voucher is limited to 1 year from the day it was purchased. After this time, the voucher is no longer valid,
• the value of the voucher is listed on each voucher and it includes the VAT,
• if the total price of the products exceeds the value of the voucher, the customer is obliged to pay the difference amount,
• if the value of the products is lower than the value of the voucher, the rest of the value is forfeited without compensation,
• the voucher can be used only once for a single purchase,
• only one voucher can be used for one order,
• the voucher cannot be exchanged for cash,
• if a product, which was purchased using a gift voucher, is being returned or claimed, the corresponding amount will be reimbursed to the customer in the form of a replacement gift voucher,
• after using the code to make a payment in balabim.com, the voucher ceases to be valid,
• by purchasing the voucher you express your consent with its used based on the above listed terms and conditions.
5. The item is delivered to the Buyer to the address specified by the Buyer in the order. The Seller shall deliver the goods to the Buyer as soon as possible after receiving the electronic form with the order, within delivery times listed on the webpage of the Seller, however no later than within 30 calendar days.
6. In case the Seller is not able to deliver all of the ordered items within the agreed time to the Buyer, the Seller shall notify the Buyer about this fact and the estimated delivery date, or the Seller shall propose to the Buyer the delivery of a replacement item. In case the Buyer orders goods of non-standard dimensions, or the goods weight more than 30 kg, the Seller shall agree with the Buyer on individual payment and delivery conditions.
7. Depending on the delivery method and receipt of the goods, the delivery costs are listed in the order of the Buyer and on the confirmation of the order by the Seller. In case the delivery method is agreed based on specific requirements of the Buyer, the Buyer shall bear the risk and possible additional costs related to this delivery method.
8. If the Seller is obliged to deliver the goods to a place specified by the Buyer in the order based on the Purchase Contract, the Buyer is obliged to receipt the goods upon delivery. If it is necessary, due to reasons caused by the Buyer, to deliver the goods repeatedly or in a different way than what was agreed in the order, the Buyer is obliged to pay the costs related to the repeated delivery or the costs related to the other delivery method.
9. Upon receipting goods, we recommend Buyers to check if the packaging is intact. If there is any damage to the packaging, suggesting unauthorized opening of the parcel, the Buyer does not have to receipt the parcel from the courier.
10. The Seller shall issue to the Buyer a tax document - invoice. The tax document comes with the goods and also serves as the warranty certificate.
11. The Buyer acquires the property right to the goods by paying the purchase price of the goods in full, including the delivery costs, however no sooner than upon the delivery of the goods. The responsibility for accidental destruction, damage or loss of the goods transfers to the Buyer upon the receipt of the goods or at the time the Buyer had the obligation to receipt the goods, but he/she did not do so in violation with the Purchase Contract.
VI. Return of Goods and Withdrawal from the Contract
1. A Buyer, who concluded the Purchase Contract outside of his/her business activity as a consumer, has the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract.
2. If the Purchase Contract is concluded at a distance (via the Online Store) or outside the operational premises of the Seller, and simultaneously, if the Seller gave information to the Buyer about the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract, conditions, deadline and procedure for the execution of the right to withdraw from the contract, including the form for the withdrawal from the Purchase contract, properly and on time (pursuant to Provision § 3 Sec. 1 Let. h) of the Act on Consumer Protection in Remote Sale), while meeting the legal requirements, based on the Act on Consumer Protection in Remote Sale, the Buyer has the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract without giving a reason therefore and without any penalty.
3. The deadline for the withdrawal from the Purchase Contract is 30 days:
• from the moment the last item was received, if the subjects of the Purchase Contract are ordered items, which are delivered separately,
• from the moment the last item was received, if the subjects of the Purchase Contract are several types of items or the delivery of several parts,
• from the moment the first item was received if the subjects of the Purchase Contract are items delivered during a defined period of time.
4. The Buyer acknowledges and agrees to the fact that pursuant to Provision § 7 Sec. 6 of the Act on Consumer Protection in Remote Sale, he/she may not, inter alia, withdraw from the Purchase Contract:
• provision of service, if the provisioning started with the expressed consent of the consumer and the consumer declared that he/she was properly instructed about the fact that by expressing his/her consent, he/she loses the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract after the full provision of the service and if the service was provisioned in full,
• sale of goods made to the specific requirements of the consumer, custom-made goods or goods intended specifically for one consumer,
• sale of goods subject to rapid decrease of quality or deterioration,
• sale of goods sealed in protective packaging, which cannot be returned due to health protection or for hygienic reasons, and the protective packaging of which was damaged after delivery,
• sale of alcoholic beverages, the price of which was agreed at the time the Purchase Contract was concluded, but the delivery of which can be made after 30 days at the soonest and their price depends on market price fluctuations, which the Seller cannot influence,
• sale of audio recordings, visual recordings, audio-visual recordings, books or computer software sold in protective packaging, if the consumer opened this protective packaging.
5. To meet the deadline for the withdrawal from the Purchase Contract, the Buyer has to send any clear statement expressing his/her will to withdraw from the Purchase Contract within the deadline set by Section 3 of this Article.
6. The Buyer may use the template form to withdraw from the Purchase Contract provided by the Seller. The Buyer must send the withdrawal from the Purchase Contract to the email or mail address of the Seller listed in these General Terms and Conditions. The Seller must confirm the receipt of the form to the Buyer without undue delay.
7. A Buyer, who withdrew from the Purchase Contract, is obliged to return the goods to the Seller within 14 days after withdrawing from the Purchase Contract. The Buyer shall bear the costs of returning the goods to the Seller, even in case the goods cannot be returned by mail due to its nature.
8. If the Buyer withdraws from the Purchase Contract, the Seller shall return funds to the Buyer without undue delay, however no later than 14 days after withdrawing from the Purchase Contract, including the delivery costs the Seller received from the Buyer, in the same way the Seller received the funds from the Buyer, unless they agree otherwise. The Seller shall return the funds to the Buyer in a different way only if the Buyer agrees to this and if this does not incur additional costs to the Seller.
9. If the Buyer selected other than the cheapest delivery method the Seller offers, the Seller shall return funds to the Buyer in the amount corresponding to the cheapest offered delivery method.
10. If the Buyer withdraws from the Purchase Contract, the Seller is not obliged to return the funds to the Buyer sooner that the Buyer returns him the goods or verifies that he/she actually sent them.
11. If it is possible, the Buyer should return the goods to the Seller as little damaged, used or dirty as possible and in its original packaging. The consumer is responsible for the decrease of value of the goods in case he/she handled the item differently than how it is supposed to be handled and given its nature and features, and if the decrease of value was cause as a result of such manipulation.
12. The Seller has the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract due to the sale of stocks, unavailability of the item or if the manufacturer, importer or vendor ceased production or import of the goods. The Seller shall inform the Buyer about this fact without undue delay by sending an email to the address listed in the order, and he shall return the funds, including the delivery costs received from the Buyer based on the Purchase Contract, to the Buyer within 14 days after notifying the Buyer about the withdrawal from the Purchase Contract, in the same way he received them from the Buyer.
VII. Complaints Procedure (Rights from Unsatisfactory Fulfillment)
1. The Seller is responsible to the Buyer for the goods not having any defects upon delivery. The Seller is especially responsible to the Buyer at a time when the Buyer received the goods:
• the item has features the parties have agreed on; it has features the Seller or the manufacturer described or the Buyer expected given the nature of the item and based on advertisement for it,
• if the item is suitable for the purpose, for which the Seller declares it or for which an item of similar type is commonly used,
• the item corresponds in quality or design to the agreed sample or template, if the quality or the designed was specified based on an agreed sample or template,
• goods are in corresponding quantity, extent or weight; and
• goods meet the requirements of legal regulations.
2. The Buyer has the right to execute his/her right from defect, which may occur in consumer goods within twenty-four months after they were received.
3. If pursuant to other legislation the sold item, its packaging, instruction manual or advertisement contains a time period, for which it can be used, the provisions on quality guarantee shall apply. Through the quality guarantee, the Seller guarantees that the item will be suitable for its usual purpose or that the item will keep its usual features for a certain period of time. If the Buyer made a justified claim on the defect of the item, the time period for exercising the rights from unsatisfactory fulfillment and the warranty period do not pass for the time, for which the Buyer is unable to use the item.
4. The provisions listed in the previous section of these General Terms and Conditions do not apply to goods sold at a lower price due to a defect, for which the lower price has been agreed; to the tear and wear of the item caused by its common use; for used goods to the defect corresponding to the level of use and the usual tear and wear, the item had when it was received by the Buyer; or if this arises from the nature of the item. The Buyer does not have the right from unsatisfactory fulfillment, if he/she knew prior to receiving the goods that the goods are damaged or if the damage was caused by the Buyer him/herself.
5. If the item is defective, the Buyer has the right to file a complaint with the Seller and demand an exchange for a new item, repair, reasonable discount from the purchase price or to withdraw from the Purchase Contract.
6. The Buyer has the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract if the item has a substantial defect, if the Buyer cannot use the item properly due to repeated occurrence of the defect, after-repair defects or due to greater number of defects.
7. Severe breach of the Purchase Contract is one, in which the party breaching the Purchase Contract knew, or must have known, upon concluding the Purchase Contract that the other party would not have concluded the Purchase Contract if it had foreseen this breach.
8. For defects representing insignificant breach of the Purchase Contract (irrespective if they can be remedied or not), the Buyer has the right for the defect to be remedied or to a reasonable discount from the purchase price.
9. In case a remedied defect reappeared after a repair (usually third complaint for the same defect or fourth for different defects) or if the item has greater number of defects (usually at least three errors simultaneously), the Buyer has the right to claim a discount from the purchase price, exchange of the item or to withdraw from the Purchase Contract.
10. When filing a complaint, the Buyer is obliged to inform the Seller which right he/she chooses. Changing the Buyer’s choice is possible without the consent of the Seller only if the Buyer requests the remedy of a defect, which proves to be irremediable. If the Buyer does not choose his/her right from severe breach of the Purchase contract in time, he/she has the same rights as in an insignificant breach of the Purchase Contract.
11. If the repair or exchange of the item is not possible, the Buyer may claim the full refund of the purchase price based on his/her withdrawal from the contract.
12. If the Seller proves that prior to receiving the goods the Buyer knew about the defect or he/she caused the defect him/herself, the Seller is not obliged to satisfy the claim of the Buyer.
13. The Buyer cannot complain about a discounted item for the reason, for which it is discounted.
14. The Seller is obliged to accept a complaint in any of his operations, in which it is possible to accept a complaint, as well as in his registered office or place of business. The Seller is obliged to issue a written confirmation to the Buyer about when the Buyer exercised his/her right, what is the content of the complaint, which method of handling the complaint the Buyer demands, confirmation of the date and method of handling the complaint, including confirmation of the repair and its duration, as well as possible written justification for the rejection of the complaint.
15. The Seller, or a worker authorized by him, shall decide on the complaint without undue delay, in complicated cases within three business days. This time period does not include the reasonable time for the professional assessment of the defect given the type of the product or service. The Seller is obliged to process the complaint within 30 days after it was filed. The time period for handling the complaint starts on the day following the day the complaint was filed. The expiration of this time period is considered severe breach of the Purchase Contract and the Buyer has the right to withdraw from the Purchase Contract. The complaint is considered to be filed at the moment the Buyer expressed his/her will (exercising the right from unsatisfactory fulfillment) to the Seller.
16. The Seller shall inform the Buyer about the result of the complaint in written form.
17. The Buyer does not have the right from unsatisfactory fulfillment if the Buyer knew, prior to receiving the item, that the item is defective, or if the defect was caused by the Buyer him/herself.
18. If the complaint is justified, the Buyer has the right to reimbursement of reasonable costs incurred in relation to the filing of the complaint. The Buyer can exercise this right with the Seller within one month after the warranty period expired; otherwise, the Seller does not have to accept it.
19. The Buyer has the right to choose the method of complaint.
IX. Personal Data
1. All information you will provide to us is confidential and we will treat it as such. Unless you will give us your written consent for other purposes, we will use your information only to fulfill the Purchase Contract, with the exception of your email address, to which you may receive commercial announcements, because this is allowed by the law, unless you reject it. These commercial announcements may refer only to similar or related goods and you can unsubscribe from them at any time (by mail, email, or clicking on a link in the notification). Your email address will be stored for this purpose for 3 years after the last Purchase Contract has been concluded between the contracting parties.
2. You can find detailed information on our privacy practices in our Privacy Policy HERE.
X. Out-of-Court Settlement of Consumer Disputes
1. The Slovak Trade Inspection, residing at P. O. BOX 29, Bajkalská 21/A, 827 99 Bratislava, Internet address: https://www.soi.sk/sk is the competent authority for out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes. The online platform for the settlement of disputes can be found at the Internet address http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr, which can be used for the settlement of disputes between the Seller and the Buyer arising from the Purchase Contract.
2. The European Consumer Center of the Slovak Republic, residing at Mlynské nivy 44/A 827 15, Bratislava 212 Slovak Republic, Internet address: http://www.evropskyspotrebitel.sk is the point of contact pursuant to the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council (EU) No. 524/2013 from 21. May 2013 on Online Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22 / EC (Regulation on Consumer Online Dispute Resolution).
3. The Seller has the right to sell goods based on a trade permission. Trade inspection is done within its scope by the competent Trade Licensing Office. The Slovak Trade Inspection performs within a limited scope, inter alia, supervision of compliance with the Act on Consumer Protection and Act on Consumer Protection in Remote Sale.
XI. Final Provisions
1. By checking the box before sending the order, the Buyer confirms that he/she has read these General Terms and Conditions, understands them and agrees to them without any reservations.
2. The contracting parties may send each other all written correspondence by email.
3. The Buyer sends emails to the email address listed in these General Terms and Conditions. The Seller sends emails to the email address listed in the Buyer’s user account or in his/her order.
4. All agreements between the Seller and the Buyer shall be governed by the legal order of the Slovak Republic. Should the relation established by the Purchase Contract contain an international element, then the parties agree that the relation will be governed by the law of the Slovak Republic. This does not affect the rights of the consumer arising from the generally binding legal regulations.
5. In his relation to the Buyer, the Seller is not bound by any code of conduct pursuant to Provision § 3 Sec. 1 Let. n) of the Act on Consumer Protection in Remote Sale.
6. All rights to the webpages of the Seller, especially the copyright to the content, including page layout, pictures, movies, graphics, trademarks, logo and other content and elements, belong to the Seller. It is illegal to copy, modify or otherwise use the webpages or part thereof without the consent of the Seller.
7. The Seller does not bear any responsibility for errors cause by the intervention of third parties in the Online Store or as a result of its use contrary to its intended purpose. In his/her use of the Online Store, the Buyer cannot use procedures, which may have a negative impact on its operation, cannot undertake any activity, which would allow him/her or third parties illegal intervention or illegal use of the program or other components of the Online Store, and cannot use the Online Store, its parts or software in a way, which would be contrary to its designation or purpose.
8. The Slovak Trade Inspection is the authority supervising the compliance of the Seller’s obligations to the Buyer; specific office:
Slovak Trade Inspection (STI)
STI Inspectorate for the Košice Region
Vrátna č. 3, 043 79 Košice 1
Department of Technical Inspection of Products and Consumer Protection
Phone: 055/6220 781
Fax: 055/6224 547
E-mail: ke@soi.sk
9. The Purchase Contract, including the General Terms and Conditions, is archived by the Seller in electronic form and it is not accessible.
10. The Seller may change or amend these General Terms Conditions. This provision does not affect the rights and obligations arising for during the period of validity of the previous version of the General Terms and Conditions.
These General Terms and Conditions come into force on 1.8.2022
