diff --git a/app/api/checkout/validate-vat/route.ts b/app/api/checkout/validate-vat/route.ts
index 96fdc45..e8e545c 100644
--- a/app/api/checkout/validate-vat/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/checkout/validate-vat/route.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,16 @@ export async function POST(request: Request) {
 
   const result = await checkVatIdViaVies(normalized);
   if (!result.ok) {
-    return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, valid: false, reason: `USt-IdNr.-Prüfung derzeit nicht möglich (${result.reason}).` });
+    // `ok: false` here means "VIES couldn't confirm this one way or the
+    // other" (unreachable, or the member state's own gateway is briefly
+    // down — `MS_UNAVAILABLE`, which VIES itself answers 200 for, not an
+    // error status) — NOT "confirmed invalid". Previously this branch
+    // still answered `{ ok: true, valid: false }`, which the client reads
+    // as a rejected VAT ID (`vatIdViesStatus = "invalid"`) instead of
+    // "couldn't check right now" (`"unavailable"`) — a real, currently
+    // registered VAT ID looked wrong to the customer whenever VIES (or
+    // just Germany's own national gateway) had a hiccup.
+    return NextResponse.json({ ok: false, reason: result.reason });
   }
   return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, valid: result.valid, name: result.name });
 }
diff --git a/app/lib/vies.ts b/app/lib/vies.ts
index 7b3b7c9..fa319b4 100644
--- a/app/lib/vies.ts
+++ b/app/lib/vies.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,19 @@ export async function checkVatIdViaVies(vatId: string): Promise<ViesCheckResult>
       signal: AbortSignal.timeout(8000),
     });
     if (!res.ok) return { ok: false, reason: `VIES antwortete mit ${res.status}` };
-    const data: { valid?: boolean; name?: string; address?: string } = await res.json();
+    const data: { actionSucceed?: boolean; valid?: boolean; name?: string; address?: string; errorWrappers?: { error?: string }[] } = await res.json();
+    // VIES answers 200 even when it couldn't actually perform the check —
+    // `actionSucceed: false` (e.g. `MS_UNAVAILABLE`, the member state's own
+    // national gateway being temporarily down — Germany's in particular is
+    // known to do this) means "couldn't confirm", not "confirmed invalid".
+    // Without this check a `MS_UNAVAILABLE` response fell through to
+    // `Boolean(data.valid)` on a body that has no `valid` field at all,
+    // silently reading as `valid: false` — a real, currently-registered VAT
+    // ID would then look rejected instead of "VIES unavailable, try again".
+    if (data.actionSucceed === false) {
+      const reason = data.errorWrappers?.[0]?.error ?? "VIES konnte die Anfrage nicht bearbeiten.";
+      return { ok: false, reason: `VIES: ${reason}` };
+    }
     return {
       ok: true,
       valid: Boolean(data.valid),