Cancelling the provision of a service
The consumer may cancel the provision of a service that has been faultlessly provided prior to its completion, but in this case the company must be paid for the work completed up to that point and compensated for breach of contract.
If a consumer cancels the faultless provision of a service prior to its completion, the company must be paid:
- for the work completed up to that point, according to the agreed prices.
- for the cost of interrupting the work (e.g. the cost of removing a car from a garage or transporting tools and materials).
- for purchases of materials that the company is unable to use elsewhere.
- reasonable compensation for loss of income.
If the consumer has a justifiable reason to assume that the work will not be faultlessly completed, the consumer is entitled to interrupt the work and cancel the contract. The justifiable reason may, for example, be that the work completed up to that point has been done so badly that the end result can also be expected to be seriously defective. In this case, the contract may be cancelled from that point onward and the company must be paid for any work completed faultlessly up to that point.
Complaints and resolving disputes
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If there is a problem with the service, you should always contact the service provider. If you delay reporting the problem, you may lose the right to make any demands.
Often the problem can be resolved when you notify the service provider as soon as possible.
If the service provider does not react as you would like, submit a written complaint to the service provider with a detailed description of the problem and a list of your demands.
Justify your demands and provide evidence to support your claim, if possible. For example, photographs, documents, e-mail correspondence, and other evidence (such as fault diagnoses) may help.
You can use our Complaint Assistant to file a complaint. The Complaint Assistant also provides information about your rights and helps you assess what kind of demands you can make.
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If the opposing party is willing to resolve the issue, try to find a satisfactory solution through negotiation.
Consider carefully whether you can accept the service provider’s proposal. Often there is not just one right solution. However, reconciliation is usually a better and more economical solution than a prolonged dispute.
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If the complaint and the negotiation procedure do not lead to an amicable solution, you can contact the Consumer Advisory Services for instructions.
The processing of your case usually requires information about the opposing party’s view.