Options in disputes
If you have filed a complaint with a company but the service provider denies the claim of the service being defective and refuses to offer compensation, you can try to prove the defect by some other means and then claim compensation.
- Contact the Consumer Advisory Services, which can give a preliminary assessment of the defectiveness of the service based on the information you provide, for example a verbal description or photographs. However, the Consumer Advisory Services do not make customer visits to determine if a service was defective.
- You can find an impartial expert to determine if the work performance was defective. If an expert examines the work and finds it defective, you can demand rectification. The vendor has the right to rectify the defect if they offer to do so without delay.The buyer has the right to refuse to accept this if it would cause significant inconvenience, the company is unable to rectify the defect quickly enough, or the company’s professional skills are clearly inadequate.If the vendor does not exercise their right to rectify the defect, you can demand a price reduction. The price reduction must be equal to the defect, for example cover the estimated repair costs. In addition to repairs or a price reduction, the company must reimburse the costs of investigating the defect, including the costs of an expert examination.
- You can have the defect repaired by some other service provider and later claim the costs of rectifying or redoing the work from the original vendor. You should ask the company that carried out the repairs to provide a written report to show that the work was defective.
When can the Consumer Advisory Services help?
When you have a problem, you can contact the Consumer Advisory Services if you agreed on the provision of the service as a private individual with a company.
You should note that renovations ordered by a housing company from a renovation company or other services ordered by the housing company are not contracts on consumer goods. For example, you cannot address claims based on renovations commissioned by the housing company directly to the contractor, as there is no contract between you and the contractor.
If you have agreed directly with the contractor on additional work or alterations which are carried out in connection with renovations commissioned by the housing company and pay for this work to the contractor yourself, this is a contract between the consumer and a trader, and you may contact the Consumer Advisory Services about a dispute if necessary.