After purchasing a product, the user may be faced with the problem of eliminating identified defects or restoring the functionality of the equipment. According to Art. 18 clause 1 of the PLA for non-food products, the manufacturer is obliged to provide a guarantee. This is the basic requirement that can be presented to the manufacturer or seller if a defect is detected. However, citizens are often faced with refusal of warranty repairs. In some cases there are legal grounds for this, in others there is an offense.
Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 “On the protection of consumer rights”
When can warranty repairs be denied?
According to paragraph 1 of Art. 19 of the Law of 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”, you have the right to contact the seller for warranty repairs during the entire warranty period. He can refuse repairs only if he proves that the defects arose due to your fault.
When warranty repairs may be denied:
- Warranty conditions were not met. For example, if you bought a car, a refusal is possible due to failure to undergo maintenance at the dealer, if the breakdown occurred due to the fault of a third-party service.
- Due to mechanical damage caused after purchasing the product.
- Due to violation of operating rules. For example, if you bought a microwave oven and decided to cook or heat food packed in foil in it.
The right to warranty repairs arises if the defects arose as a result of a manufacturing defect, during transportation or storage of the goods by the seller. Some stores provide an extended warranty, under which repairs can also be made in case of breakdowns caused by the buyer, but it is purchased and paid for separately. The basic warranty is required by law and is usually included in the price of the product.
Pre-trial settlement procedure
How to properly file a claim?
The claim must be made in two copies - one remains with the service, the other with a note about acceptance by you. This is necessary so that you have proof of your visit and use of the service.
The document itself details the essence of the complaint, a description of the product malfunction, indicates the fact of fair use, and your requirements to the seller/organization.
Important! The employee accepting your claim must sign it in front of you, affix the date of receipt and stamp it.
The text of the complaint itself does not have a general template. But for it to have legal force, it must contain:
- Your personal data, including passports, phone number.
- Details and name of the manufacturer in whose name the claim is being submitted, place and date of purchase of the defective product.
- Next comes the seller’s personal data, product description and warranty period.
- In a separate paragraph, describe the defect in the product and under what circumstances it was detected.
We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:
8 (800) 302-76-94
When a refusal is considered unfounded
The seller cannot refuse warranty repairs for the following reasons:
- Due to lack of original packaging or warranty card.
- Due to incomplete configuration. For this reason, they can only refuse a return, but not warranty service.
- Due to violation of operating rules, if these rules are not specified in the documents for the product.
Before applying for warranty repairs, you should study the coupon - all the conditions will be indicated there.
What is the legal period for returning goods to the store and what to do if the seller refuses to return the purchase price?
Do I need to keep the box for warranty?
Consumer rights during warranty repairs
If you find a defect in your phone, laptop, home appliance, car, smartphone or other product, according to the consumer protection law, you can contact the store for repairs. But most often, everything is repaired by service centers, and the seller’s responsibilities are transferred to them.
What features are important to consider:
- If you submitted the product for repair, but were later refused, request a certificate of refusal. It must indicate what work was carried out, what defects were identified, and for what reasons they arose. Without such an act, refusal to repair is illegal.
- If the refusal certificate is not issued, you can demand that the seller conduct an examination at his expense.
- If the store refuses to conduct an examination, you have the right to do it yourself and then demand reimbursement of expenses from the seller. But only if experts establish that the shortcomings appeared through his fault.
- If the examination determines that the defects appeared due to the fault of the seller or the manufacturer, you do not have the right to refuse warranty repairs.
If the expert opinion is already in hand and the seller is guilty of the shortcomings, but he refuses to repair the product free of charge, he can be obliged to do this in court.
How to write a letter about replacing a product with a similar one
There is no legally approved form for the letter, so it is drawn up in any form. When writing a document, it is necessary to use an official business style, exclude colloquial and colloquial expressions, and avoid any kind of mistakes.
It is better to draw up the document on the company’s letterhead indicating all the details.
What to include in a letter (complaint):
- Information about the recipient organization. They will be inserted automatically if the organization's official letterhead is used.
- Addressee. You must indicate the position and full name of the head of the supplier company.
- Outgoing number. Under it, the responsible employee registers the letter in a special journal of outgoing correspondence.
- The date the letter was written.
- The name of the document is a letter about the replacement of goods.
- The essence of the complaint. It is necessary to describe the reason for the dissatisfaction: discrepancies in color, configuration, model or other characteristics. You will also need to indicate that during inspection of the goods a report on the discrepancies identified was drawn up, write its number and date. The document will need to be attached to the letter.
- A reference to the legislation (Article 468 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) and to the clause of the contract in which all the characteristics of the product were stipulated.
- Attachments to the letter. Discrepancy reports, invoices, invoices, etc.
- Signature of the head of the company receiving the goods.
Repair under warranty was refused: what to do?
If you have already applied for warranty repairs and were denied, there are several steps you need to take:
- Receive the refusal in writing.
- Send a complaint to the seller.
Further actions depend on the store's response. If he agrees to repair the product, all that remains is to hand it over and wait for it to be returned. By law, the repair period cannot exceed 45 calendar days.
If the claim is ignored or the store still refuses to fulfill its obligations, you can go to court or complain to Rospotrebnadzor.
Let's look at each step in detail.
Step 1: Get a written refusal
Contact the seller or service center, demanding two reports: about the work performed and about the refusal to repair under warranty. The first act must contain information about all the work performed and the reasons for the malfunction and the person responsible for them, the second - the grounds for refusal.
Step 2: submit a claim and request an examination
A claim is submitted if you were not given any of the certificates, or were given, but the repairs were refused illegally.
What it says:
- name and address of the seller;
- Full name, address, telephone number;
- information about the product;
- dates of request for repair and refusal of it;
- requirements: carry out warranty repairs, organize an examination;
- date of compilation and signature.
It is better to send the claim by a valuable letter with a list of attachments. The seller must respond to it within 30 days of receipt. But it’s better to add another 10 days for delivery of documents by Russian Post.
Sample claim
Step 3: Complain about the organization
If a service center or store refuses to repair under warranty, you can complain to Rospotrebnadzor. You can also submit a complaint online on the website of the territorial division of the department.
The second option is to go to court. There you can not only oblige the seller to carry out repairs, but also collect a penalty, compensation for moral damages and a fine in the amount of 50% of the satisfied claims.
Who draws up the act
The preparation of this document takes place with the participation of a specially created commission, which includes several people (at least two). It must include a specialized specialist (foreman, technician, engineer, etc.), as well as employees who are directly related to the equipment and who are able to establish the fact of its malfunction and describe the events preceding the breakdown. If necessary, experts from third-party organizations can be involved in investigating the circumstances of the breakdown.
Challenging a refusal in court
If the cost of the claim does not exceed 100,000 rubles, you should apply to the magistrate’s court. For an amount over 100,000 rubles. documents are submitted to the district, at your place of residence or at the defendant’s address - your choice.
Before filing a claim, you need to send a pre-trial claim to the seller, and if there is no response, proceed further:
- Send one copy of the claim to the defendant and wait for him to receive it. Since 2021, plaintiffs have been doing this.
- Submit the documents along with the receipt notice to the court.
- Participate in legal proceedings.
First, a preliminary hearing is scheduled, then proceedings. The case will be considered in the magistrate’s court in one month, in the district court in two. The decision will come into force one month after it is adopted in final form.
Sample claim
Application sample
Application sample. Many people ask how to write an application or how to compose an application. First of all, I would like to say that a request is a written request from a subordinate to the boss (to the supply department). As you understand, requests are different and therefore in the application you can ask for repairs, painting and much more.
The examples of writing applications are similar in content and therefore do not differ much from each other, except in cases where company policy requires applications to be submitted on official letterhead with the company logo. Although, in essence, applications are intended for internal use.
How to submit an application?
The header of the document indicates the name of the department, department, organization, or other. And also the person to whom the application is addressed specifically; as a rule, all applications are written to the procurement department. In the application itself we write about what we need to complete a certain task.
Application forms:
Applications can be both internal and external. We have dealt with internal requests; they are used for the company’s internal use.
External requests include requests to receive something. For example, to obtain a patent, I need to submit an application where I can state the essence. To attract foreign workers, you need to write an application about the need to attract foreign workers. An application for issue, an application for sale, an application for a loan and many other external applications that need to be written or filled out using the company’s official form essentially resemble internal applications, samples of which are given below, except that the data will be completely different.
Even athletes make their own applications. For example, an application for a rank.
You can write an application using the sample below.
Arbitrage practice
Let's consider an example of a case in which the seller initially refused to comply with the buyer's requirements when a malfunction occurred:
A man bought a car from a dealer. After some time, malfunctions arose, he contacted the service center. There they refused to repair it, arguing that the sulfur content in the fuel was too high.
A complaint was also sent to the center - refusal. The regional public organization, in the interests of the plaintiff, went to court with a demand to declare the refusal of warranty service illegal and the work order for the work performed invalid. They also wanted to seek compensation for moral damages, damages and a fine.
Decision No. 2-77/2017 2-3122/2016 2-77/2017(2-3122/2016;)~M-2637/2016 M-2637/2016 dated July 11, 2021 in case No. 2-77/2017 the requirements were partially satisfied. The court ordered the defendant to compensate the cost of spare parts and work to replace them, as well as pay a fine.
What information should a car service provide?
Before taking the car in for repair, the car service center is obligated to:
- Tell in detail about the work that is planned.
- A certificate of conformity must be provided for certified work.
- Name the correct prices for services and spare parts if they are purchased at a car service center.
- State the terms of work, as well as the warranty period for them and the spare parts that are used.
- Introduce a specific contractor who performs the work.
Lawyer's answers to private questions
How can I sue if I was denied repairs under warranty, but I cannot bring the documents in person?
You can submit a statement of claim and attach scans of all documents through the State Automated System “Justice” if you have a verified account on State Services. But you still have to go to meetings.
I bought a waterproof smartphone, tested it in a river - it got wet and stopped turning on. What to do?
You need to look at the operating conditions in the technical documents. If it says that the smartphone can be used in bodies of water, you have the right to repair under warranty. If it is indicated that there is only a moisture-proof coating from the manufacturer, the fault for the malfunction will be entirely yours.
What happens to the warranty if I return the product for repair?
The warranty period is extended by the number of days during which the product was under repair.
What to do if your car breaks down due to poor fuel quality?
The dealer may refuse to repair, but you can recover compensation from the gas station. To do this, you first need to conduct an examination that will identify the problem and the culprit, then submit a claim. You can go to court if the gas station does not respond to the claim or refuses to resolve the issue pre-trial.
Can they refuse warranty repairs if I have already contacted the service center with the same product and the same fault?
No. In addition, you can demand the return of a technically complex product if it cannot be used for more than 30 days during the year, if it is often repaired (Article 8 of the PZPP).
Forbidden
B (name of organization, individual entrepreneur) Address From full name Address for sending a response, contact phone number CLAIM. 20 years old I purchased in your store (product name, model) for the price of rubles. The product has a warranty period of one year. The product is included in the list of technically complex products.
- If the product was purchased in installments: Under the terms of the purchase and sale agreement, the product was provided with an installment plan for a period of up to.
At the time of filing the claim, I paid for the goods in rubles. If the product was purchased using a consumer loan: The product was paid for using credit funds. The loan was provided by the bank in the amount of interest per annum for a period of up to.
I repaid the loan..., the amount of interest paid for the entire period of using the loan amounted to rubles.
As a result of using this product, I identified shortcomings - (describe in detail what does not work).
