Penalty for cancellation of sale?

Questioner

We bought a sofa a while ago due to an unfortunate move. This sofa would be delivered if the application for a loan for the bank would be approved. We were asked if this was rejected we could then pay the agreed installment amount to them. This was no problem. We signed the contract and waited for the result. Now it turned out that the application had been rejected, because I had a phase A contract with my employer. We contacted the store and they indeed said that we would get the sofa if we had paid them the installments. This was therefore a different situation than they said when we bought it, because this meant that we first had to pay off 3 years (the installments) before the sofa was delivered instead of delivering the sofa and then paying them monthly and in our situation with 3 small children we cannot do without a sofa for 3 years. Now it appears in our contract that after cancellation we have to pay 50% of the agreed amount. This is 1250 euros, the sofa was 2500 euros. We then contacted them about the rejection and whether there was another option because the store is now demanding this amount from us, because we want to cancel the bank. has advised us The bank advised us to contact the legal helpdesk because even though the contract states a penalty claim, this must be realistic and this is not the case in this case. We contacted the legal helpdesk and they said that this is actually a grey area and indeed not really realistic. We could send a letter about the cancellation via their site and we did this, but not by registered mail, which I later understood would be smart. We therefore did not receive a response from the store. Now we have received an email from the store about reminder costs due to the cancellation of 1250 euros and this to be paid within 14 days. My question is, can I do anything about this, are they allowed to do this and what could I possibly do about this, because of course I do not have this money otherwise I would not have wanted the bank to finance me in the first place.

Lawyer

What an annoying situation. It seems to me that it is indeed unusual for someone to buy a product and only want to receive it three years later after all payments have been made. That bank might not even be made anymore by then, or it might be worth less. In such cases it depends on what the parties have discussed and could expect from each other. If you are not well informed or there is sufficient ambiguity, the consumer is usually entitled to protection. It also makes a difference whether the agreement is concluded in a store or via the internet and what exactly is stated in the agreement and conditions etc. Without additional information and access to the agreement/email traffic, I cannot provide specific advice. Please feel free to contact me via my profile if you have any questions or would like to discuss whether I can help you.