Facts
Master Baker [A.] purchased a baking oven from [Z. AG] on May 12, 1975 for the price of CHF 46,815. The contract document was a form of Bank X., which had been assigned the remaining purchase price claim and the ownership rights to the purchased item. [A.] undertook to transfer the remaining purchase price plus "credit fees" to Bank X. in 48 monthly installments.
[A.] later complained about the quality of the baking oven and stopped making the installment payments. After Bank X. was granted enforcement, [A.] sued it for the denial of the claim, repayment of the installments already made, and a declaration that the outstanding installments had been extinguished by set-off.
The District Court of Zurich and the High Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the claim. [A.] then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the contested judgment. It stated that according to the contractual provisions, the buyer ([A.]) had waived warranty claims and their set-off against the purchase price claim vis-à-vis the assignee (Bank X.).
The Federal Supreme Court found that such a waiver of warranty and set-off against the seller ([Z. AG]) is permissible and therefore cannot be inadmissible against the assignee of the purchase price claim (Bank X.). The clause whereby [A.] may not refuse payments to Bank X. due to complaints about defects or warranty claims is therefore not objectionable…