What is the deadline for eliminating product defects?

Cases when satisfaction from a purchase is overshadowed by a complete breakdown of the product or a defect that was not immediately detected are not uncommon. When trying to return a product for repair free of charge, certain difficulties may arise. For example, the period for eliminating defects in the product is greatly delayed, or the seller refuses to accept the application altogether, explaining the presence of the defect as careless operation. Knowledge of the provisions of current legislation will help achieve a fair result.

lead time

Warranty period, in accordance with Art. 20 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, last no more than 45 days. This fact is indicated in a written agreement concluded between the participants. It is not at all necessary to carry out repair work all 45 days; according to the law, as little time as possible should be allocated for restoration.

ATTENTION! When the organization finds out that it will not be possible to carry out this repair within the set period, the participants sign a new agreement indicating a different period for eliminating the defects.

If the craftsmen do not have suitable tools at the time of repair, this should not affect the completion time of the work. The buyer may demand compensation for each day of delay.

What jurisdiction is provided?

Before filing an application, you should determine which court deals with such cases. To do this, you should refer to the amount of the claim.

Claims whose amount does not exceed 50 thousand rubles are considered by the magistrate court. If the amount of the application exceeds the specified amount, then you should contact the city (district) court. The plaintiff has the right to appeal to the court located at the location of both the plaintiff and the defendant.

The application is submitted to the office according to the number of persons participating in the process. Supporting documents must be attached to each copy of the application.

In accordance with the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the district court considers the case materials within 2 months from the date of filing the application. The magistrate court is obliged to schedule a hearing within one month from the date of the application.

Special cases

Sometimes you may notice a product that has neither an expiration date nor a warranty period. In this case, you, as a consumer, can come with a claim. To do this, you have 2 years from the date of purchase.

ATTENTION! When the warranty was issued for less than two years, and defects were found after the warranty period had expired, the responsibility will lie with the seller.

In this situation, you need to prove that there were defects in the product even before you bought it (Article 477 of the Civil Code of Russia). This is not always possible to do, so it is better to think through everything in advance.

Repair work can vary greatly. It all depends on the product itself and the type of fault. Usually the work period is set by specialists.

How and by whom it is exhibited

The period for repair work in organizations and services is established voluntarily (Article 5 of the Federal Law-2300-1).
For consumers, the warranty period is considered a kind of confirmation that their rights will be officially respected.
In general, the warranty period is determined by the manufacturer of the product. In the event that the warranty period is not written anywhere, the sellers of the goods can set their own period for warranty service.

And also, the seller can determine an auxiliary warranty period, which may be longer in duration than what the manufacturer indicated. Therefore, before purchasing, you can discuss general questions with the store seller.

How to return a product after warranty repair?

To return a product after warranty repair, the consumer must take a number of consistent steps. Let's analyze the algorithm of actions.

Step 1 – Making a complaint about the presence of defects

If a defect is detected in the product, the buyer must contact the store with an application for warranty repair.

The appeal contains the following information:

Name of the selling organization, its address and telephone number;
Client's full name, residential address and contact telephone number;
Description of the purchased product;
Date of purchase;
The amount paid for the product;
List of shortcomings;
Please make warranty repairs.

At the end of the document there is a date and signature.

Step 2 – Submitting a complaint to the seller

If a citizen files a claim on his own, care should be taken to ensure that it is received by the seller.

The following options for sending documents are possible:

In person when visiting a store;
By mail by sending registered mail;
Online through the official website of the seller.

The buyer must have proof of delivery of the application. For example, an incoming stamp on the second copy, a notification of delivery of a letter, a printout from the store’s website.

We must remember! In addition to the application, documents substantiating the citizen’s demands are sent to the seller. For example, a sales contract, a warranty card, a payment receipt.

Step 3 – Transfer of goods for warranty repair

After receiving the complaint, the store will offer the customer to transfer the product for warranty repair. It is necessary to ensure that the seller draws up a transfer and acceptance certificate with information about the deficiencies that need to be eliminated.

The act must indicate the following information:

Information about the buyer and seller;
Date of preparation;
Name and description of the product;
A detailed description of the identified deficiencies;
Information about the integrity of factory seals;
Signatures of the parties.

The act is drawn up in two copies, one is given to the seller, the second remains with the buyer.

Step 4 – Inspection of the product after warranty repair

After warranty repairs, you should carefully inspect the product and check its functionality. If it turns out that the repair was carried out poorly, it is necessary to draw up a diagnostic report describing the remaining faults.

Advice! In practice, the store draws up a report on the restoration repairs carried out. There is no need to rush to sign it, since the seller draws up the document in his favor. It is advisable to include in the document all defects that persisted and appeared after warranty service.

Step 5 – Completing a refund application

To return funds, a citizen must submit a written application to the seller . After receiving documents from the consumer, the store is obliged to return the money within 10 days .

It is important to follow the entire sequence of actions so that the buyer has evidence that he applied for warranty repairs in a timely manner. However, it was carried out poorly or not in full due to the fault of the seller.

Technically complex products

Separately, it is necessary to consider the warranty period for technically complex products. Their list can be found in Decree of the Government of Russia No. 924 of November 10, 2011.

Such goods include:

Aircraft equipped with an electric motor (simple airplanes, helicopters);
vehicles designed to travel on roads and equipped with an engine (passenger cars, motorcycles, mopeds, etc.);
agricultural equipment (tractors, cultivators);
transport for passing through snowy areas (snowmobiles);
transport designed for movement on water and equipped with an engine (boats, small boats, yachts);
high-quality devices for navigation and satellite communications;
PCs and laptops of any year;
printers, scanners and much more;
game television set-top boxes;
photo and video equipment of various types;
TVs;
household appliances for various purposes.

Before purchasing, you need to ask a store employee to show the product and make sure that its main options work properly. If you do not check the product on time, you may buy a defective product.

What to do if the repair deadline is exceeded

There are often cases when an organization does not comply with the deadlines for warranty repair work. According to Article 23 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, the client can ask for compensation for the penalty.

To receive a penalty, you need to file a claim with the service center; if this does not help and the amount is huge, then we advise you to go to court. And if the period of warranty repair work is delayed, the client has the right to ask for a return or exchange of a product with a detected defect.

IMPORTANT! This order is in Art. 18 of the above-mentioned law. The client can exercise this right thirty days from the date of transfer of the product to the service, since he cannot use the product for a long time.

This article applies to all goods and products, including technically complex ones. If the repair work deadlines are violated, the client can apply to the court to protect his rights. The client has submitted the product for repair, and the service center must carry out repairs within the time limits established by law.

Acceptable deadlines for detecting deficiencies

You can demand the seller to carry out free repairs in the following cases:

The product was sold with a specified warranty period. The intermediary (or the manufacturer directly) is obliged to be responsible for the appropriate level of quality throughout the entire period.
The product was sold with an unspecified warranty period. This circumstance does not relieve the seller or manufacturer from liability for defects that appear. The buyer has the right to request their removal within a two-year period from the date of purchase of the product. In this situation, you must provide evidence that the defect appeared before the product was used.
If the warranty period is less than two years, but defects are discovered during this period, free repairs must be made, but with the provision of appropriate evidence by the consumer.
During a period exceeding two years, a significant defect was identified, as a result of which the use of the product for its intended purpose became impossible. In this case, the buyer can use the repair service free of charge, but with evidence that the breakdown occurred due to reasons that arose before the goods were transferred to the consumer.
The same requirements can be imposed on the intermediary or the manufacturer if the fatal defect arose during the valid service life (or 10 years if it is not specified).

The main evidence of the occurrence of defects that arose before the transfer of the goods to the final consumer is the conclusion of an independent organization carrying out expert activities.

Buyers' rights

Many people are interested in the question of what rights the client has when increasing the warranty repair period:

receive compensation for late service when the contract has not been terminated;
ask to replace the faulty product with another one;
reduce the price of the product;
terminate the agreement and get your money back.

If the seller violated the warranty period, and this situation suits the buyer of a complex product in which defects were found. Such goods can be returned only in the presence of the circumstances prescribed in Art. 18 of the Law “On ZPP”.

In addition, when the warranty restoration period is exceeded, this may indicate the presence of serious defects. Which in turn allows the client to refuse to purchase the product.

How to properly file a claim

The complaint should state the essence of the conflict correctly and in detail. The more evidence of consumer rights violations included in the complaint, the more likely it is that the seller will satisfy the claim.

The claim must be made in writing.

It is important to indicate the following in your complaint:

buyer data (full name, address, contact details);
seller data (name of legal entity, address of retail outlet);
circumstances preceding this claim (when the product was purchased, indicate its brand and model, how the defect was identified, when the customer contacted the service center, etc.);
then you should correctly and reasonably state your requirements. The amounts in the claim should be written not only in numbers, but also in words;
Supporting documents should be listed at the bottom of the claim in list form.

In this form, the claim is sent to the seller. This can be done during a personal visit to the store or sent by mail.

The seller is obliged to consider the claim within 10 days from the date of receipt.

ATTENTION! View the completed sample claim for violation of the warranty repair period:

Attention! Calculator for calculating penalties under the Consumer Rights Law (Article 23, 23.1).

What needs to be attached to the document

Supporting documents must be attached to the claim:

cash receipt;
certificate of examination;
a document issued by the service center after the product was transferred for repair;
copy of the warranty card (if available).

There may also be additional evidence (photos, copies of agreements, etc.).

How to submit claims

The success of satisfying them depends on the correctness and timeliness of the client’s statements of demands combined with a violation of the GR deadline, especially when applying to the court.

First of all, you must send by mail or bring to the seller a written claim with personal requirements. At what point should this be done: when the deadline is still running, despite the fact that 45 days have already passed, or after the completion of the process?

ATTENTION! It is best to wait until the repair work is completed and file a claim for an official penalty. In this case, you can still claim compensation for moral damages and a penalty. To correctly draw up an application, you can contact a professional lawyer.

If the written requirements (except for penalties) are submitted after acceptance of the product returned from repair and a certain period of its use, they will not be satisfied. In this case, long-term use of the product after repair exceeding its maximum period will be perceived as the consumer’s agreement with such a method of eliminating defects and its terms.

The consumer can make claims either to the seller or to a specific importing organization. It all depends on the personal choice of the consumer, but it is better to sue the organization.

Appeal to a judicial authority

If, after receiving the claim, the seller refuses to fulfill the proposed conditions, the buyer has the right to defend his interests in court. In this case, it is necessary to draw up a statement of claim.

Attention! The statement of claim must indicate:

in the upper right corner the name of the judicial authority to which the application is sent;
applicant details (full name, residential address, contact information);
details of the defendant (name of the legal entity, office address, full name of the general director, contact telephone number);
the main part sets out the circumstances of the case, indicating dates and amounts, as well as references to articles of the law confirming the fact of violation of consumer rights, and provides evidence of the validity of the requirements;
if during the settlement of the conflict additional costs associated with conducting an independent examination arose, then this should also be stated in the application;
the reasoning part indicates the plaintiff’s demands, the amount of the claim and the deadlines for fulfilling the demands;
a list of documents confirming the requirements is drawn up as a list at the bottom of the document;
plaintiff's signature and date of application.

When going to court in cases related to the protection of consumer rights, payment of state fees will not be required.

ATTENTION! Look at the completed sample claim for the recovery of a penalty: