Layout for Offer / Penalty

I am not sure whether that is not allowed to be shared. For example, I was advised that posting kitchen pictures (before purchase) is considered unproblematic. The reason was, I believe, because it is an interaction with your very personal individual circumstances.

Otherwise, I find the company's behavior to be unprofessional. Anyone who is confident in what they do has no concerns about clarifying the situation and involving you in the follow-up discussion. It's a shame that apparently a business practice of the carport seller is the warning letter approach.

Whoever is convinced of what they are doing has no concerns about clarifying the matter

Tz! What do you want to clarify there? The OP (sorry for the harsh but true words) intentionally obscured the company's name and passed on the data/drawing... Passed on to get a better offer, because it's Polish.

Sorry, I'm in the wrong movie here if someone justifies or downplays something like that - The company goes into advance with an engineering product and the customer can then pass on the plans just because they are not printed on glossy paper??! :mad:

You liked the carport, the price too? Then clarify that you only wanted a price quote from Poland and would like to build with the German company. And that's it.

Well, it would have to be a complex project for me to get into a dispute with a customer about it. Hardly imaginable with a carport. If he actually sues you, he's not the smartest managing director. At the moment, it still looks like he just wanted to scare you, which he did succeed in doing. But if he takes a hard line here, in my opinion, he can only lose. In no time, he'll be online with a few "nice" Google entries. He'll lose more than he can gain. I would first try an apology where you also flatter him a bit by saying his designs are so great. Then just wait and see.

Buy the carport from the German, then you are in the clear.

Hello,

Sorry, I am in the wrong movie here if someone justifies or downplays something like this – the company advances an engineering product and the customer can then pass on the plans just because they are not printed on glossy paper??!

Calm down.... ;-) Something like this happens to me again and again at work, only in our case it’s not small carports that someone pulls out of the drawer as a standard plan like in this case, but complete industrial plants, in which, in the worst case, several personYEARS of work are already invested at the time of the offer submission. And when you then find out that the customer has your plans built by a competitor, it really makes your blood boil. Strangely, the really shady stuff mostly happens here in Europe, or more precisely in Germany. In China, the customers are fair and at least pay you for the planning work.
Therefore, I take it a bit more relaxed.

Back to the topic: Unfortunately, the original poster still hasn’t said what exactly he passed on (rough sketch or detailed plans) and also not what kind of email he received. Nor have we heard what "penalty amount" they want from him.
"Fines" are still imposed by courts in this country, so I am not interested in any random email at all.

And realistically speaking, they might be able to claim some licensing fees. With a carport worth maybe 5–10k€ that is built hundreds of times, it can’t be much.

Best regards,

Andreas