Consumer rights

A service's content, the way it is carried out and its result must correspond to what was agreed.

The personal expectations of an individual consumer are not considered in the assessment of defects. Instead, assessment is based on general standards. In assessing defects, the business's actions in providing advice and information to the consumer are taken into consideration.

A service is defective e.g. when

• work is not done professionally and diligently
• the consumer's interest has not been sufficiently taken into consideration
• the durability and other attributes of work or materials do not meet normal quality standards
• the work done does not comply with the requirements stipulated by law, decrees or authorities, such as regulations on electrical and fire safety.
• the work does not correspond with the information provided in advance
• the service provider does not provide sufficient information on the most sensible implementation of the job or other significant aspect related to the job

Professionalism includes e.g. the business being able to locate a defect in an appliance and, based on that, accurately indicate what the contents of the service to be ordered are. The business must also be able to choose an appropriate method for undertaking the work. For instance, they must be able to determine whether to repair a defective part or to replace it with a new one.

Diligence includes e.g. bringing the necessary equipment for locating and repairing the defect when visiting a consumer's home. Diligence also covers asking the right questions to get necessary information from the customer regarding the job and to confirm that repairing the defect is feasible.

Taking the consumer's interest into consideration refers to e.g. businesses taking steps to avoid incurring unnecessary costs to the consumer.

The result of the job must meet normal quality standards. In the case of renovating an apartment, for example, this would mean that groundwork such as the cleaning and smoothing of surfaces is properly done before painting and wallpapering.  If the materials used are purchased by the consumer from a third party, the business must also assess whether those materials are appropriate for their purpose.

Information given in advance refers to all information regarding the service that affect the consumer's decision-making, including information provided in marketing, at the time of concluding the agreement and during delivery of the service.

The service provider must disclose to the buyer if, for instance, the result of the work will suffer from excessively early use. A business must contact the consumer without delay if

• the requested work/repair job is not worth doing
• it is uncertain whether repairs will be successful or the appliance might only be operational for a short while
• the work will be considerably more expensive than earlier indicated

More information

There are several options for claiming compensation for defects
Compensation for damages may be claimed based on financial loss