Useful information » Articles on poor-quality provision of services » Poor-quality provision of services - Official clarifications Our team
Dmitry Dmitrievich MaksimovAdvocate. Work experience over 25 years Zimina Maria KirillovnaAdvocate. Work experience more than 15 years Eremin Vladimir TimofeevichAdvocate. More than 10 years of experience
Any service is ultimately aimed at achieving a specific material or information result for the customer. If it is not fully achieved or the desired is not received at all, then we are talking about a poorly provided service.
Documentation of service provision
Based on the uniqueness of the service as an intangible item, the consumer is primarily interested in formalizing legal relations for its provision.
The agreement must cover all aspects:
- list of declared services;
- volume;
- quality characteristics;
- price;
- deadlines;
- procedure for resolving disputes.
Attention! A legally correctly drawn up contract is the key to full protection of one’s rights in the provision of services of inadequate quality.
The provisions of the legislation protecting the rights of the consumer provide the latter with the opportunity to make demands on the contractor at the stage of receiving the service and upon its completion, during the warranty period and up to two years from the date of acceptance, and real estate claims - within five years (Article 29).
If there is irrefutable evidence of poor quality services, the supplier is not relieved of responsibility even if the warranty period is not specified (clause 4 of Article 29).
Right to product safety
The safety of a product (work, service) presupposes its safety for life, health, consumer property and the environment under normal conditions of its use, storage, transportation and disposal, as well as the safety of the process of performing work (providing a service) (preamble of Law N 2300-1) .
The consumer has the right to ensure that the product (work, service) does not cause harm during its service life or shelf life, and in their absence - for ten years from the date of transfer of the product (work) to the consumer.
Security is ensured by a system of mandatory requirements enshrined in the legal regulations (clauses 1, 2, article 7 of Law No. 2300-1).
The consumer is guaranteed full compensation for damage caused to life, health or property due to defects or failure to ensure the safety of goods (work, services), as well as in connection with the use of materials, equipment, tools and other means necessary for the production of goods (performance of work, provision of goods). services).
Losses are compensated in excess of the penalty (penalties) established by law or contract. In addition, payment of a penalty and compensation for damages do not relieve the person who has violated the consumer’s right from fulfilling in kind the obligations imposed on him to the consumer (clauses 2, 3 of Article 13 of Law No. 2300-1; clause 31 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court RF dated June 28, 2012 N 17).
Losses caused to the consumer in connection with the recall of goods (work, services) are also reimbursed in full (clauses 2, 5, article 7, clauses 1, 4, article 14 of Law N 2300-1).
What to do if the service does not meet the stated requirements?
First, try to resolve the issue peacefully. To do this, we draw up a claim - the main condition under which the consumer can defend his rights in the event of their violation.
A letter of claim is submitted in cases where:
— the contractor violated the deadline for providing the service;
— the contractor provided a low-quality service and, as a result, the customer did not receive the expected result.
The content of the claim depends on the specific complaints of the victim, therefore it is drawn up in any form. However, it is recommended to adhere to certain rules when compiling it:
— in the title part, indicate the name of the document and the number of the service agreement;
- in the introductory section - details of the parties (full name, name of the legal entity, actual and legal address, residential address);
- in the descriptive part, provide basic information about the contract and list specific violations of the transaction. This part needs to be given special attention, supported by references to clauses of the contract and laws, photo or video materials, conclusions of experts in a certain field and other arguments confirming the poor quality of services provided;
- state your requirements.
Legislation protecting consumer rights (clause 1, article 29) allows you to require:
- free elimination of deficiencies;
- relative reduction in cost;
- covering the costs of eliminating deficiencies on our own or by third parties;
- gratuitous production of another thing from only-begotten material of the same quality;
- repeated execution (meaning a service of material origin).
Please note! When performing the task again, the consumer is obliged to return the item previously transferred to him by the contractor.
The letter is signed, dated and sent to the place where the poor-quality service was provided or to the address specified in the contract.
Note! The contractor is not exempt from paying a penalty for late provision of services, even if he has satisfied the requirement to eliminate defects free of charge or re-provide them.
The deadlines for eliminating deficiencies and compensating for losses are indicated by the customer in the text of the claim, taking into account sufficiency and reasonableness.
Consumer right to information
The consumer is guaranteed the right to demand the provision of necessary and reliable information, in particular (clauses 1, 3 of Article 8, clauses 1 - 1.2 of Article 9, clauses 1, 2 of Article 10, clause 3 of Art. 11, paragraph 4, article 19, paragraphs 2, 3, article 26.1 of Law No. 2300-1):
• about the product (work, service), including the main consumer properties, mandatory confirmation of the product’s compliance with the requirements of technical regulations, price and terms of purchase;
• on the warranty period (if established), service life or shelf life of the product (work), on the rules and conditions for the effective and safe use of the product (work, service);
• about the manufacturer, performer, seller, including name, address, identifiers in the form of OGRN, OGRNIP numbers, information about the license and operating mode;
• deadlines for filing claims regarding product defects.
When concluding sales and purchase agreements and contracts for the performance of work (rendering services), information about their conditions must be brought to the attention of the consumer in a clear and accessible form (Clause 2 of Article 8 of Law No. 2300-1).
The information provided to the consumer about goods (works, services) must ensure the possibility of their correct choice (Clause 1, Article 10 of Law No. 2300-1).
If unreliable or incomplete information led to harm to the life, health and property of the consumer or to an incorrect choice, then the consumer has the right to demand termination of the contract and compensation for harm and losses incurred (clauses 2, 3 of Article 12 of Law No. 2300-1).
Where to complain about poor quality services?
If the performer ignores your protest, the following will stand up for you:
- Rospotrebnadzor is the main body protecting consumers, authorized to conduct inspections of the activities of service providers and take sectional measures against them.
- Law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor's office. We turn to them if the action of the performer causes harm to the health or life of the recipient of the service. Among other things, these bodies are responsible for making a decision on the fact of fraud in a situation where, for example, the contractor deliberately refuses contractual obligations (Article 159 of the Criminal Code).
Consumer rights and Rospotrebnadzor
Consumers also have the right to contact Rospotrebnadzor as a special authorized body in the field of consumer rights protection, which has the right, in particular (Article 40 of Law N 2300-1; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 02.05.2012 N 412):
• conduct inspections of manufacturers, sellers, performers and other organizations.
• take measures to prevent violations;
• bring the perpetrators to administrative responsibility;
• participate in the judicial protection of the rights of specific consumers;
• file claims for the protection of an indefinite number of persons;
• provide explanations of legislation in the field of consumer protection.
Going to court
The contractor does not agree with your claim and refused to resolve the situation peacefully? In this case, the conflict can be referred to the court for resolution and it is possible to recover material damages and moral damages from the perpetrator, as well as demand a penalty.
Draw up a statement of claim in accordance with the requirements of procedural legislation, indicating in it:
- data of the plaintiff and defendant;
- the cost of the claim (the amount of moral damage is not included in the cost of the claim);
- information about the contract;
- descriptions of services provided;
- list of shortcomings;
- evidence of the provision of services of inadequate quality;
- claim.
The consumer can choose where to file a claim:
- at the actual location of the organization or place of residence of the entrepreneur;
- at the place of residence of the plaintiff;
- at the place of conclusion or execution of the contract.
Right to product quality
The right to quality ensures that the consumer extracts the declared consumer properties from the product (work, service).
Any product or service must comply with the stated characteristics. If the purchased goods, work, or service do not have a clear description, then they must be suitable for the purposes for which they are usually used (Article 4 of the Law of 02/07/1992 N 2300-1).
The presence of unspecified defects in the goods is the basis for returning the goods and submitting the following demands to the seller (manufacturer, authorized organization or authorized individual entrepreneur, importer) within the established time frame: compensation for losses caused as a result of the purchase of goods of inadequate quality, compensation for moral damages, and also pay a penalty.
What to do if the quality of utility services is inadequate?
In this case, the recalculation is carried out according to 354 of the Resolution on the recalculation of low-quality services. The first step is to contact your utility provider directly. A quality violation message must be immediately registered by the emergency dispatch service.
From this moment, within two hours, the organization’s employees are required to conduct an inspection of the premises and record the results in a standard report. Along with the act, the owner fills out an application for recalculation for poorly provided utility services.
If the supplier refuses to issue the document, residents can do it themselves. In this case, the act is signed by two consumers, the chairman of the board of the apartment building and transferred to the management company.
Important! The report is drawn up separately for each day of provision of poor-quality services.
If the claim is legitimate, recalculation must be made no later than 5 working days. The results appear on the next month's pay stub.
Service agreement with a real estate agency
According to the provisions of the law protecting the consumer (Article 28 of the Federal Law), in the event of poor-quality provision of services by a realtor, the customer has the right:
- set a different deadline for performing the service;
- entrust its provision to a third party for an acceptable price and demand compensation from the culprit for the expenses incurred;
- demand a price reduction;
- refuse to fulfill the contract.
The considered consumer requirements are not subject to satisfaction if the realtor proves that he violated the terms due to force majeure or the consumer is guilty of this (Clause 6 of Article 28 of the Federal Law).
If the consumer does not want to fulfill the contract, the realtor cannot demand compensation for his expenses incurred in providing the service, as well as payment for the service provided, except if the consumer accepted the service provided (clause 4 of article 28 of the Federal Law).
Keep in mind! In case of poor-quality provision of services by a realtor, in terms of violation of the established terms for their provision, the consumer for each day of delay is paid a penalty in the amount of 3% of the price of the service.
In addition to failure to meet deadlines, consumers often suffer from inadequate quality of services from real estate companies, resulting in the provision of false information. The legislator provides for responsibility for this.
Cancellation of a contract for poor quality services provided by realtors is carried out according to generally accepted rules for terminating agreements.
Important point! By a resolution of the RF Supreme Court, the practice of agencies charging penalties for unilateral refusal of a service was declared illegal (09/07/2010 No. A64-7196/08-23).
The court's decision is obvious and merely duplicates existing legislative norms.
A real estate agent, if the contract is unilaterally terminated by his customer, will be able to receive compensation only for those expenses that he actually incurred. The inclusion of provisions on the payment of a penalty in a service contract is a restriction of a party’s right to unilaterally refuse to perform the contract, contrary to the provisions of civil law.
Protecting your legal rights is not a simple process, and at times it can be lengthy. Legally competent communication with the organization, correctly drawn up and executed documents - all this is the key to a successful resolution of the problem that has arisen. The chances of success are higher if a legal specialist deals with this issue.
How to write a complaint to a law firm?
Of course, the claim must be made in writing, justifying the reasons for termination and return of funds paid (including penalties, fines) and attaching relevant supporting documents.
It must be sent exclusively by registered mail with a description of the attachment (notification is not necessary, so you can track receipt on the Russian Post website), otherwise you will not be able to prove what exactly you sent.
USEFUL : more tips on filing a claim at the link, and also watch the video
