How can I find out the results of consideration of a complaint filed with Rospotrebnadzor?

How to write a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor: where and how to send it, how long to wait for a response. Free online legal assistance.

From time to time, every buyer needs to complain to Rospotrebnadzor about violations by the seller. The reasons may be different: poor-quality services, sale of low-quality goods, refusal of the seller to accept back the sold item, price tag that does not correspond to the price at the checkout, a body kit or shortchange upon purchase, etc. How to write a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor - read below.

Rospotrebnadzor response form

Rospotrebnadzor's response to the complaint is drawn up in writing and signed by an authorized person of the government agency (Clause 3, Article 10 of the Law “On the Procedure for Considering Appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation” dated May 2, 2006 No. 59-FZ, hereinafter referred to as Law No. 59).
This information is current as of 2021. A response to a complaint filed electronically can be sent either on paper or by creating an electronic document (clause 4 of article 10). Depending on the applicant’s wishes regarding the method of sending the response, Rospotrebnadzor sends it either to the email address specified in the text of the appeal, or to the citizen’s postal address.

The response to a written appeal received by Rospotrebnadzor or its territorial division is sent to the postal address specified in the appeal (clause 4.16 of the instructions “On the procedure for considering appeals...”, approved by order of Rospotrebnadzor dated January 20, 2014 No. 28, hereinafter referred to as instruction No. 28 ).

Thus, the response of Rospotrebnadzor is issued in writing, including when the complaint was filed during a personal reception of a citizen at this government agency. At the same time, the law allows for giving an answer orally, but in the presence of a set of conditions (Clause 3, Article 13 of Law No. 59):

• the complaint itself was also stated orally during a personal reception of the citizen;
• the consent of the applicant to receive an oral answer to his question has been obtained;
• the facts and circumstances stated in the oral appeal are obvious and do not require additional verification.

The rules for filing the complaint itself and how to submit it to Rospotrebnadzor are not the subject of this article, so we recommend that you read the information in our material How to write a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor - sample.

What is a Rospotrebnadzor submission?

The Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) is an executive body whose functions include:

1. Development and implementation of state policy in the field of consumer rights protection.

2. Legal regulation in the area under consideration.

3. Formation and approval of SanPiNov and hygienic standards.

4. Carrying out sanitary supervision and state control in the field of protecting consumer interests.

Within the framework of these functions, Rospotrebnadzor exercises the powers defined by the regulations on the Federal Service for Surveillance in the Sphere of Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare, approved. Government Decree No. 322 dated June 30, 2004. Such powers include carrying out inspection activities:

• planned;
• unscheduled;
• documentary;
• away

Based on the results of inspection activities, if any violations or shortcomings are identified, a report or order is issued. The submission is a documentary form of response to identified violations. According to the requirements of Art. 29.13 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses, Rospotrebnadzor employees who conducted the inspection are required to make a report if there are grounds.

Complaint consideration period

The total period for consideration of an application received by Rospotrebnadzor should not exceed 30 days from the date of its registration (Clause 1, Article 12 of Law No. 59).

In exceptional situations, as well as when, for the most complete and objective consideration of the complaint, Rospotrebnadzor needs to request information from other structures, this period can be extended by a maximum of another 30 days. However, the applicant will be notified about this (Clause 2, Article 12 of Law No. 59).

The deadline for registering an appeal is up to 3 days from the moment it is received by the government agency (Clause 2, Article 8 of Law No. 59, Clause 3.5 of Instruction No. 28).

Why do you need to answer?

A response must be given to the received request. When considering how to respond to a claim, remember that there must be enough arguments to:

• maintain relationships with a client or partner;
• avoid trial;
• reduce legal costs, for example, compensation for moral damage;
• eliminate or minimize financial losses;
• avoid complaints to regulatory authorities.

Lack of response means for the applicant:

• agreement with the presented requirements and their consequences - for example, with the suspension of work or shipment of goods under the contract;
• disagreement of the recipient of the complaint with the requirements set out in it and, accordingly, refusal to fulfill them.

The last example is important when the law or contract establishes a mandatory pre-trial procedure. The sender, after the expiration of the period for response established by himself, the contract or the law, should file a claim in court.

IMPORTANT!

You should not ignore statements sent by email; you should respond to them as usual. In civil and arbitration proceedings, such an exchange of documents is possible - Art. 160, 434 Civil Code and part 3 of Art. 64 APK. Electronic correspondence is written evidence in court and is subject to evaluation along with others.

Do I need to agree?

The recipient has no obligation to agree to the complaint. Options:

• send a refusal;
• accept the arguments and acknowledge the essence of the demands;
• agree partially.

Is it possible to track a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor via the Internet?

Unfortunately, Rospotrebnadzor can only submit complaints online - as many as you like and in different ways - but not track them via the Internet. You can only track it by calling the responsible specialist.

For example, you can apply here, in the electronic reception - https://rospotrebnodzor.ru/formrpn. Or here, on the website of the central office of Rospotrebnadzor - https://petition.rospotrebnadzor.ru/petition/.

But there is no tracking service. You can simply wait for the result or “get on the phone.”

How to agree and object

Consent assumes that the applicant’s requirements will be satisfied:

• fully;
• partially.

It's better to agree if:

• the trial is likely to end in favor of the applicant;
• the mistake made (defect, violation, etc.) is accidental and can be quickly corrected;
• admitting guilt will reduce the amount of sanctions or increase the period for correcting the situation.

The applicant's consent will save time and avoid going to court. Include in your response:

• confirmation (full or partial) of agreement with the arguments;
• description of the procedure and deadlines for satisfying requirements;
• if we are talking about deferment of fulfillment of obligations, the response records the date or period for their completion in full;
• a request not to apply penalties or to reduce their size;
• proposed plan for fulfilling its obligations;
• debt repayment schedule.
• an indication of the satisfaction of the client’s (counterparty’s) complaint, if it has been completed by the time of writing.

In case of disagreement, provide a legal position on each of the requirements - prepare objections:

• formulate arguments against unfounded claims, factual circumstances or legal arguments set out in the claim;
• use any type of objection to prove that you are right;
• provide evidence and attach support for your position.

Make the answer clear to the other party. The response should indicate the results of its consideration. A statement of your position, the arguments and evidence presented, a reference to laws and regulations will form the main part of the text of the answer.

RESPONSE TO CLAIM for replacement of goods of inadequate quality

On December 8, 2021, supply agreement No. 130 was concluded between our organizations (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement), in pursuance of which, on December 15, 2021, our organization transferred to your organization the Grinder grinding machine (delivery note dated December 15, 2019 No. 154).

On April 30, 2021, we received a claim (dated April 29, 2020, ref. No. 17) from your organization with a requirement to replace the product due to poor workmanship of the side surfaces.

In response to the complaint, we provide the following.

According to paragraph 2 of Article 475 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the buyer has the right to demand replacement of goods of inadequate quality only in the event of a significant violation of the requirements for the quality of the goods. Such violations include fatal deficiencies, deficiencies that cannot be eliminated without disproportionate costs or time, or are identified repeatedly, or appear again after they have been eliminated, and other similar deficiencies.

The defect indicated in the complaint is not significant, since it can be eliminated by adjusting the grinding functions of the machine.

Thus, your organization cannot demand a replacement for the Grinder machine transferred under the Agreement, and our organization finds no grounds for satisfying the claim dated April 29, 2020, ref. No. 17. We are ready to configure the operation of the equipment transferred to you within a time period agreed upon additionally.

Attachments: copy of claim dated April 29, 2021, ref. No. 17 – on page 2.

M.P.

How to find out about the progress of your appeal

You can obtain information about the registration of the complaint (i.e., the date of its registration and registration number), as well as find out the time frame for preparing the response, the position and name of the person in charge, by calling the appropriate department of Rospotrebnadzor.

You can find out the telephone number of the help desk of a particular territorial branch of Rospotrebnadzor by using its official website.

In addition, if an unusual situation arises during the consideration of the application, Rospotrebnadzor is obliged to notify the applicant in writing.

Thus, the complainant will receive a notice:

• on extending the period for consideration of the complaint (clause 2 of article 12 of law No. 59);
• redirecting his appeal to a government agency whose competence includes consideration of the identified issues (Clause 3, Article 8 of Law No. 59);
• the inability to read an appeal sent in writing by a citizen, if the name and address of such an applicant are still legible (clause 4 of article 11 of law No. 59);
• the groundlessness of sending the appeal (clause 5 of article 11 of law No. 59);
• the inability to respond to a complaint due to the inadmissibility of disclosing information constituting a secret protected by law (clause 6 of article 11);
• inadmissibility of abuse of rights, for example, when sending a complaint, the text of which contains obscene language or threats (clause 4.20.4 of instructions No. 28), etc.

In addition, a citizen, upon written application, can familiarize himself with documents and materials related to the complaint under consideration, if this does not violate the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of other persons, and also if they do not contain information constituting a secret protected by law (clause 4.23 of the instructions No. 28).

Presentation and Prescription - What's the Difference?

The submission is an official document and is drawn up on the official letterhead of Rospotrebnadzor, has a registration number and the date of preparation. The content of the submission indicates:

1. Identified violations.

2. Links to relevant regulatory documents.

3. List of measures necessary to eliminate these violations.

4. The period allocated for eliminating defects.

The submission should not be confused with the prescription - another official document containing the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor. The definition of representation is given in Art. 29.13 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, as prescribed in Art. 17 of the Law “On the Protection of the Rights of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs...” dated December 26, 2008 No. 294-FZ. Based on these definitions, we can conclude that the basic differences between these documents are determined by their purpose:

• the submission is aimed at eliminating conditions that may be the causes of the violation (that is, it is defined as a preventive measure);
• the order is intended to eliminate the consequences of violations (that is, it is a restorative measure).

Summary

To correctly contact Rospotrebnadzor with a complaint, remember:

• first ask the seller for a refund or replacement of the product;
• submit a complaint by mail, in person or through the department’s website;
• specialists will conduct an inspection upon receipt of a complaint if it is drawn up correctly and has evidence of violations of the citizen’s rights;
• consult with an employee for free by calling the hotline;
• The actions of specialists can be appealed to a higher authority, the prosecutor's office or the court.

More…

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4. How to properly return loan insurance at Sovcombank

Application for product repair

The bottom line: the product is defective, the person demands repairs under warranty. We talked about the repair procedure in the article on returning low-quality goods.

Response period: the repair period is agreed upon in a separate agreement or the buyer himself indicates it in the application. The deadline is 45 days, including the time for examination of the breakdown - Art. 20 of the Law.

What to do: if the warranty is valid, the factory defect and repairs have been made, keep the buyer’s statement and the certificate of delivery of the goods.

The consumer is given a copy of the report with information: the date of application, the date of transfer of the goods for repair, a description of the defects, replaced parts, work performed and the date of issue of the goods.

Types of requests

According to the law, you can send different options for appeals to the authorized body. Regardless of the form chosen, you will need to prepare a response within a specified period of time.

How does the on-load tap-changer react?

The procedure for considering complaints is regulated by Law No. 59-FZ.

When a complaint is received, Rospotrebnadzor specialists respond by organizing an unscheduled inspection of the violator, which they are required to report 24 hours in advance.

Organizations selling food or providing catering services are not notified about the event.

The procedure will last up to 20 days. At that time:

• the appearance of the object carrying out economic activity is examined;
• the presence of cash registers is checked;
• documents and certificates are analyzed;
• Depending on the situation, research is carried out and product samples are taken.

Based on the results of the inspection, an act is drawn up, which is sent to the head of the offending enterprise with an order to eliminate all comments on a voluntary basis within a certain time.

Rospotrebnadzor has the right to impose a fine, suspend the organization’s work until violations are eliminated, and refer the case to court in cases of flagrant non-compliance with standards and risks to the environment and wildlife.

Responsibility for violations identified during the inspection may be disciplinary, administrative, civil, or criminal. The most effective and common punishment is a fine ranging from 5-10 minimum wages to 500,000 rubles.

Ten days are given to appeal the act.

Statement of penalty

The point: you had a long argument with a client about the quality of a product or service. Because of this, they violated the deadlines for refunds, repairs, or anything else required by law. For this, the client is entitled to a penalty of 1% of the price of the goods for each day of delay or 3% of the price of the work. But not more than the price of the product. Details are specified in Art. 23 and 28 of the Law.

Response time: the sooner you pay the fine, the better, because the amount is growing every day.

What to do: You can agree with the contact client on a reduction in compensation. If it doesn’t work out, pay a fine and leave a statement.

Statement of claim and court ruling

The bottom line: you received an envelope with the court's address. Inside is a statement of claim describing your dispute with the client and a document called “Determination on acceptance of the statement of claim for proceedings” with the signature of the judge. The date of the preliminary court hearing is written in the ruling or a separate court summons.

What to do: look for a lawyer - the consumer has filed a lawsuit against you. It's important to hurry up. The lawyer will need time to familiarize himself with the case materials and prepare a response to the claim. We talked a little about how to choose a lawyer in the article 5 myths about lawyers. But we really hope that a legal dispute is not your case.

The article is current as of 01/28/2021

Justified and unfounded claims

Not all situations require the company receiving the complaint to take action. There are known situations where claims were used to make a profit. It is also impossible to leave an unlawful claim unattended. The action will lead to litigation or scandals.

Please note: If the applicant's demand is justified, it is necessary not only to give an answer, but also to apologize, saying that all possible measures will be taken to resolve the conflict. If correcting the situation is beyond the scope of authority, the complaint is forwarded to the appropriate authority. The applicant must be notified of this.

What types of checks are there?

Planned

Conducted according to a predetermined schedule. The frequency of inspection is no more than once every 3 years. After you have opened an individual entrepreneur or registered a legal entity, a scheduled inspection will not be scheduled for the first 3 years - this is stated in Federal Law No. 294. In addition, there is a moratorium on scheduled inspections of small businesses until 2021 - it was approved by President Putin. The bans do not affect tax audits: representatives of the Federal Tax Service have the right to come at any time . Scheduled inspections are not relevant to the topic of our article: only unscheduled inspections are carried out based on complaints.

Unscheduled

Can be held anytime. But there needs to be a compelling reason to do so. A customer complaint is just such a basis. But there is more:

• requirement of the prosecutor's office. It works like this: interested parties (clients, representatives of regulatory authorities) contact the prosecutor, and he issues a resolution;
• The regulations from the last inspection have expired. If a couple of months ago firefighters visited you and demanded that you replace your fire extinguishers with new ones, then they may come to check that the requirements have been met without warning. The law allows them to do this;
• requirement of the President or Government of the Russian Federation. This hardly applies to small businesses and usually happens to large ones. But there are also exceptions. For example, the “Winter Cherry” club: a high-profile emergency occurred and the president ordered an unscheduled inspection of the company.

The result is this: if the client complains to the right place, they will come to you with an unscheduled inspection . They may not come, but will simply ask for documents. More details in the next part.

Summary characteristics of the organization of inspections

Application for repeated provision of services, performance of work or elimination of work defects

The bottom line: the consumer believes that the service was provided poorly. But I am ready for correction from the performer. See what the contractor is obliged to do in the article on claims for poor-quality services and work.

Response period: the consumer indicates the period for repair or repetition of the service in the application. Or it is written down in the agreement - Art. 30 of the Law. During this time, an examination is carried out, if it is appropriate.

What to do: after the repair, they save the application and acceptance certificates with the customer’s signature and a note that there are now no complaints.

Possible consequences of late response

If the authorized body ignored a complaint about an employee’s inappropriate behavior, a fine may be imposed on management. The amount of the penalty is reflected in Article 5.59 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. The amount of recovery varies from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles. It will not be possible to avoid providing funds. A person whose rights have been violated can complain to Rospotrebnadzor. Additionally, the law allows citizens to unite and file a collective complaint. Such documents have greater legal force and are satisfied faster. Therefore, it is recommended to consider citizen requests in a timely manner and provide adequate responses.

Submission methods

A complaint can be submitted in the following ways:

1. By personal appearance at one of the territorial offices of the SES.
2. Russian Post . In this case, the applicant sends the document to the SES by registered mail.
3. Through the official website of Rospotrebnadzor . You need to go to the website, in the “Send a Appeal” section, state the essence of the complaint and your contact information.

All of the above paths are absolutely equivalent. The claim is considered regardless of the method of document submission.