Complaint Procedure of IPM Industries, s.r.o.

I. Introductory Provisions

1. This complaint procedure (hereinafter referred to as the „Complaint Procedure“) of IPM Industries, s.r.o., Company ID: 36629561, with its registered office at Sokolská 12, Zvolen 96001, registered in the Commercial Register of the District Court of Banská Bystrica, section Sro, file no.: 22322S, acting through its executive: Ing. Miroslav Mojžiš, and with operations at the PPS Group site, Detva 96212 (hereinafter referred to as „IPM Industries“ or the „Seller“) is effective from January 1, 2019, and cancels the validity of previous practices for handling Complaints and warranties for goods. The Complaint Procedure is available at the IPM Industries operation in Detva or as a document on www.ipmindustries.sk.
2. By concluding the Agreement or placing an order, the Buyer confirms that they have become familiar with the Seller’s Complaint Procedure and agree with the wording of the Complaint Procedure without reservations. For some business contracts, the Complaint Procedure may also be attached to the contract.
3. The Buyer refers to the business partner of the Seller (whether a natural or legal person) who has entered into an Agreement with the Seller, the subject of which is the transfer of ownership rights to products sold by the Seller as part of its business activities (hereinafter referred to as the „Buyer“).
4. A Complaint refers to the exercise of the Buyer’s rights concerning the Seller’s liability for defects in goods (hereinafter referred to as the „Complaint“).

II. General Provisions

5. The Complaint Procedure governs the Seller’s process in the case of the Buyer exercising rights related to the liability for defects in goods.
6. The Seller provides the Buyer with a warranty for the delivered goods for a period of 12 months. The warranty period begins on the day the Buyer receives the goods. The Seller commits that the delivered goods will maintain the dimensional, mechanical, physical, surface, or other characteristics explicitly specified by the Buyer in the Agreement during the agreed warranty period. No other warranties or obligations arise for the Seller concerning the quality and properties of the goods.
7. Rights from liability for defects in goods, for which the warranty period applies, will expire if not exercised during the warranty period.
8. As proof of warranty (warranty certificate), the purchase document (invoice or delivery note) issued by the Seller to the Buyer for each purchased item, listing all necessary details for warranty claims (product name, warranty period, price, quantity, catalog number, order number, and serial number), serves as the warranty document.

III. Warranty Conditions

9. The Buyer is obliged to inspect the goods as soon as possible after delivery or ensure that the goods are inspected. To remove any doubts, inspection means: a) inspection of the goods, b) checking the quantity of the delivered goods, c) checking for obvious mechanical damage to the goods, d) performing simple tests on the specified characteristics of the goods.
10. The Buyer has the right to refuse to accept goods from the Seller or the carrier if the goods do not have the specified characteristics, i.e., they are defective. If the Buyer accepts the defective goods from the Seller or the carrier, they must clearly record the defect in the acceptance protocol.
11. If the Buyer breaches any obligation regarding the care of the goods during transportation, inspection, or checking according to the provisions of the Complaint Procedure or the Agreement, the Seller reserves the right to reject the complaint for defects caused by the breach of such obligations.
12. Obvious defects must be reported by the Buyer to the Seller immediately after being discovered during the inspection of the goods upon receipt. To remove any ambiguities, the contracting parties consider obvious defects to be defects that can be detected by the Buyer during the inspection of the goods. Hidden defects, especially qualitative defects, must be reported by the Buyer no later than by the end of the warranty period.
13. The Buyer must submit any claims regarding defects in goods to the Seller. The written notice of defects must include: a) order number, order number, and serial number, b) description of the defect or specification of how it manifests, c) extent of the defect, d) the address where the Seller should send the written notice of the resolution of the Complaint.
14. The Buyer is obliged to provide necessary assistance during the complaint process to resolve the Complaint. Providing assistance during the complaint procedure means, in particular, providing any related or relevant information required to assess the complained defect, which the Seller or the manufacturer of the complained goods may request (even repeatedly). During the period of delay by the Buyer in providing assistance, the Seller is not in delay in resolving the Complaint. The defective goods must be secured until the Complaint is resolved. Any subsequent handling of the goods that prevents the verification of the complained defects results in the loss of the Buyer’s complaint rights.
15. The warranty does not cover damage to goods caused by: a) mechanical damage to the goods, b) electrical overvoltage (visible burnt parts of the goods), c) use of the goods under conditions that do not meet the required temperature, dust, humidity, chemical, and mechanical environmental influences, d) improper assembly, handling, operation, or neglect of care for the goods, e) goods damaged by excessive load or in violation of the conditions specified in the documentation accompanying the goods or general principles, f) force majeure, which includes, among other things: natural disasters, wars, fires, floods, general strikes, outages, official interventions of legal or illegal nature, or other circumstances occurring independently of the parties’ will, beyond their control, which could not have been prevented, or which could not have been averted or overcome, g) performing unqualified interventions or changing the goods‘ parameters, i.e., the goods were altered by the customer (thermally, mechanically, or chemically), the goods are within tolerance, i.e., they have dimensional, mechanical, physical, surface, or other deviations from the characteristics explicitly specified by the Buyer in the Agreement, which the Buyer was made aware of at the time of the Agreement or, taking into account the circumstances under which the Agreement was concluded and the type of goods, the Buyer should have known about.
16. The Seller commits to acknowledge the receipt of the Complaint in writing and inform the Buyer of the resolution method within 30 calendar days from the delivery of the written notice of defects. The Seller also commits to ensure, at its own expense, the professional assessment of the complained goods through the opinion of an expert according to Act No. 382/2004 on experts or an independent authorized person’s opinion.
17. Goods sent for complaint will be tested only for the defect specified by the Buyer in the complaint form or the attached letter.
18. The Seller has the right to refuse to accept goods for complaint if the complained goods or their components are contaminated or do not meet the basic requirements for hygienically safe submission for the complaint process.
19. The Seller is not responsible for damage to goods during transportation.
20. The Seller is obliged to notify the Buyer in writing of the method of resolution of the Complaint and send the Buyer the results of the professional assessment.
21. If, during the resolution of the Complaint, it is determined that the cause is not the complained goods, but improper assembly, improper handling, or the goods were damaged by the Buyer or a third party, the complaint will be rejected.
22. In case of an unjustified Complaint, the Buyer will reimburse the Seller for costs incurred in determining the unjustified nature of the complaint.
23. If it is determined that the goods have a defect that can be rectified, the Seller will, within a reasonable time, remove the defect. If the defect cannot be removed and the nature of the defect does not prevent the usual use of the goods, the Seller may agree with the Buyer on an appropriate discount from the goods’ price. If the Seller provides a discount on the goods due to a defect, the Buyer is not entitled to complain about the defect later, even if the extent of the defect increases with further use.
24. If it is determined that the goods have a defect that cannot be remedied and prevents the proper use of the goods, the Buyer is entitled to request the removal of the defect by delivering replacement goods or may withdraw from the Agreement. If the Buyer withdraws from the Agreement and the purchase price has already been paid to the Seller, the Buyer is entitled to request a refund of the purchase price by issuing a credit note.
25. If the Buyer requests a refund of the purchase price for defective goods, the Seller will issue a credit note corresponding to the value of the defective goods. The Seller must issue the credit note within 30 days of receiving the withdrawal from the Agreement and the amount is payable within 14 days of issuance.
26. In the case of uncollected goods, where no defects were found or the defects were resolved by the Seller within a reasonable time, within 60 days from the delivery of the written notice about the resolution of the Complaint, the Seller is entitled to charge the Buyer a storage fee. The storage fee is set at 0.30 EUR/day/m².
27. The Seller’s liability to the Buyer for damage is limited to the price of the goods paid by the Buyer to the Seller under the relevant Agreement.
28. The Seller is not liable to the Buyer for indirect damages, including damages related to losses in production, lost profits, expected profits, losses from anticipated future sales, damage to reputation or goodwill. The Seller is also not liable for damages that could not have been foreseen. This limitation of liability does not apply if the damage was caused by the Seller to the Buyer due to intentional actions or gross negligence of the Seller.

IV. Final Provisions

29. These Complaint Terms apply to all complaints made under contracts concluded with the Seller.
30. If any of the provisions of this Complaint Procedure or parts of it are found to be invalid, it does not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of the procedure, and the procedure remains in force.

Zvolen, 1.1.2019