The current legislation establishes the procedure for the provision of services, requirements for performers, as well as consumer rights. However, many citizens do not dare to defend their interests in the provision of low-quality services.
Consumers , as a rule, simply do not believe that justice can be achieved. Meanwhile, there are many cases in judicial practice when unscrupulous perpetrators are held accountable.
What are services?
As part of the civil turnover, a huge number of transactions are made. Providing a service is also a deal. The difference between it and the sale of goods is that the consumer does not receive any thing.
The result of the service cannot be called an object in the classical sense. When a consumer visits a dentist or hairdresser, he sees the result of the work. That is, there is a change in the appearance or condition of the oral cavity. If we talk about services, then determining their outcome is somewhat more difficult. Let's turn to the dictionary.
A service in the classical sense is an activity that benefits the recipient. The service may be tangible or intangible. In the latter case, we are talking about such activities, as a result of which the material object is absent, and the value (benefit) is contained directly in the actions of the performer. An example is the appointment with a therapist.
Material service is such a service, after which the consumer has some kind of material object, for example, after receiving a prosthetist, a person has a crown on his tooth.
The provision of low-quality services
Anyone wants to buy quality goods and receive quality services. The legislation spells out requirements for performers, which are mandatory for compliance. Meanwhile, not all organizations and specialists want to implement them. This leads to the provision of low-quality services .
Assessment of compliance with legal requirements, as well as consumer needs, can be carried out according to the result. If it meets the needs, then the service can be considered quality. To do this, the contractor should be guided not by subjective criteria, but by universally recognized standards.
Properties and quality parameters should be reflected in the contract. Information about the service should be accessible and understandable to the consumer. If the customer has doubts about the quality of services, he has the right to make a complaint to the contractor.
Relevance of the issue
Citizens are faced with the provision of low-quality services in a variety of areas. In some cases this does not have negative consequences, and in others it can pose a threat to health or life. For example, the poor quality of medical services poses a particular danger. For example, a person needs an expensive operation. If the surgeon shows negligence, ignores the basic rules of hygiene, the patient may have an infectious infection, which, in turn, may require additional treatment.
Negative consequences can arise with poor-quality legal services . For example, a citizen turned to a lawyer to represent his interests in court. If the specialist is unskilled or inexperienced, the case will be lost. Accordingly, the applicant will, at best, lose time and money, and at worst will be forced to compensate for the additional costs of the defendant.
Contract
Due to the fact that the sphere of public relations is constantly evolving, activities related to the provision of services are also being improved, and consumers are becoming legally literate. There are a number of rules, without which the provision of services is currently not allowed.
One of the requirements of the law is the mandatory conclusion of an agreement between the customer of the service and its executor. This requirement is fully justified. In the case of the provision of low-quality services, the contract will become the basis for going to court.
Interest in concluding an agreement should be, first of all, with the customer. The more detailed the content of the contract, the more likely it is to assert their rights if the contractor commits a violation.
The agreement provides a list of services, criteria for assessing their quality, cost, deadline, rules for resolving disputes.
Normative base
The customer may submit claims for poor-quality rendering of services to the contractor on the basis of the provisions of Article 29 of the Federal Law No. 2300-1.
The law allows sending a claim at the stage of receiving the service, at the end of its provision, as well as during the warranty period and before the expiration of 2 years from the date of receipt of the service. If the contractor’s activities were related to an immovable property, the statute of limitations shall be increased to 5 years.
It is worth saying that not all services have a warranty period. In this case, it will be more difficult to prove the fact of violation by the contractor. When filing a complaint about the poor quality of services, the customer will have to provide evidence that the deficiencies arose before the service was accepted.
The legislation, however, provides for a number of cases in which the performer may be exempted from liability. This is possible if he proves that the shortcomings arose due to the fault of the user of the service, in connection with the intervention of other persons, due to force majeure.
Sample claim for poor quality services
If the consumer was provided with low-quality service, he has the right to make a claim and send it to the performer. It is necessary with all responsibility to approach the design of this document.
The claim shall indicate:
- Specific violations committed by the contractor.
- Signs of poor quality service.
- Requirements for the contractor.
- References to regulations.
- Deadline for rectifying deficiencies.
Emotional phrases, threats, etc. should not be used in the text. The claim must be made up in a business language.
You can send a document in many ways. One of the most common is sending by registered mail. It is advisable to make a copy of the document, which should be left to yourself. A letter must be sent with a receipt of receipt. It will be confirmation of acceptance of the claim by the executor.
Send a claim to the address specified in the contract, or to which the service was provided. Sometimes they match.
Requirements
In article 29 of the Federal Law No. 2300-1, several options for consumer actions are provided. He may present to the contractor any of the following requirements:
- Fix deficiencies for free.
- Reimburse expenses incurred as a result of the provision of low-quality services.
- Free re-provision of the service.
The nuances of judicial practice
One of the common causes of conflict between the consumer and the contractor is the lack of sufficient information about the service and its quality parameters. Simply put, the customer did not receive the full amount of information about the shortcomings and advantages.
When considering disputes, courts should proceed from the assumption that the consumer cannot possess all the necessary knowledge about the characteristics and properties of the service when contacting the contractor. Accordingly, the obligation of the latter is to provide the customer with the information in full. In case of evasion of this requirement, the contractor will be liable.
In the event that the consumer's requirements for the gratuitous elimination of the deficiencies that have arisen or the re-provision of the service are satisfied, the supplier is not exempted from the obligation to reimburse the penalty for violation of the deadlines.
Going to court
Many performers, not wanting to bring the case to trial, seek to eliminate the violations as soon as possible. However, it also happens that the customer is denied satisfaction of his claims. In such cases, the consumer has the right to appeal to the court for protection.
When contacting the authority, it is necessary to be guided by the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code. The lawsuit can be filed at the place:
- Finding an enterprise.
- Living defendant (if he is SP).
- Stay / residence of the applicant.
- Execution of the contract or fulfillment of its conditions.
The lawsuit must specify:
- The name of the court to which the appeal is directed.
- F. I.O., address, contact numbers of the plaintiff and defendant.
- Information about the contract (date, place of registration).
- Short description of the service.
- The list of disadvantages.
- Circumstances confirming the poor quality of service.
- Requirements.
If necessary, to confirm his arguments, the applicant can contact the expert organization to conduct the study. The expert opinion can be attached to the claim.