How to complain against a faulty service

The Consumer Services Act governs what you can demand.

Firstly: that the company fixes the fault

You can initially demand that the company repairs the fault at no cost to you. You have the right to receive the results that you and the company agreed upon. This means the company must cover all costs associated with fixing the fault, including materials, travel, and labor.

Do you not want to let the company fix the fault?

Just being dissatisfied or having decreased trust in the company is usually not enough for you to deny them the attempt to correct the error. If it's evident that the company lacks the appropriate expertise to rectify the fault, you can instead argue to receive a price reduction or terminate the agreement.

Secondly: that you receive a price reduction

The price reduction should match the defect, such as what it costs to have the defect fixed by another company. Another option is that the fault doesn't need to be fixed, but you receive a price reduction because the result is flawed. This might be relevant, for example, if the result is functional but has cosmetic flaws that don't affect functionality.

Thirdly: that you can revoke the agreement

Revoking the agreement means that the work is discontinued, and that you are not obliged to pay for the service. The company then also has no obligation to complete the work. If the entire contract is revoked, the company is not entitled to payment. However, you may need to return materials if it does not cause significant inconvenience or cost to you.

If you benefit from parts of the work that has been done, the entire contract is not revoked. In that case, you must pay the contractor for the work you benefit from.

How much time you have to file complaint depends on what kind of service you purchased.

3 years for storage services and work on movable property

For storage services and work on movable property, you have up to 3 years to file complaint on faults. Storage services refer, for example, to when you pay a company to store your things. Work on movable property can, among other things, be repair, maintenance and cleaning work. Examples of such work are:

• car service or repair
• car wash
• dishwasher repair
• furniture upholstery

10 years for work on land, buildings and other fixed property

For work on land, buildings and other fixed property, you have a right to file complaint for up to 10 years.

Examples of such work are:

• building renovations
• painting
• floor laying
• drainage
• re-roofing
• drilling of water wells
• fiber burial

File a complaint as soon as you discover the fault

You must file a complaint on the fault within a reasonable amount of time from when you discovered or should have discovered the fault. If you file complaint within 2 months, it always counts as being within a reasonable amount of time.

If you wait too long to file a complaint, you may lose the possibility of demanding that the company correct the fault.

You should not incur any additional costs due to a faulty service. The company should cover the cost of fixing the fault. They should also compensate you if you incur additional expenses.

Examples of additional expenses:

• Loss of income, for example, if you have to take time off work to inspect the fault with the company.
• Cost of an assessment from an inspector or other expert (if needed to prove the fault).

You have the right to withhold payment for the work equivalent to your claim for compensation.

You must be able to prove your costs

To receive compensation, you need to provide evidence of the costs you have incurred. This can be receipts, invoices, or other certificates.

The costs must be reasonable and directly related to the fault. If you want compensation for loss of income, you need to substantiate it, for example, with a certificate from your employer.

You cannot claim compensation for the inconvenience or the time you spend complaining about the fault.

The contractor must remedy the fault within a reasonable time. What is considered reasonable time varies from case to case. It depends, among other things, on the type of fault and your need to have it remedied. In some cases, the fault must be remedied quickly to avoid it worsening or causing other damages. Or the fault may significantly affect your daily life, for example if you cannot use the bathroom.

In other cases, it may be less urgent to remedy the fault. The season may also prevent the fault from being remedied immediately. For example it may be inappropriate to repaint the facade in the winter.

If you feel that it is taking too long for the company to fix the issue, you can continue reading "What if you and the company can't agree?".

According to the Consumer Services Act, you have the right to demand financial compensation from the company if they cause damage in connection with the service being performed. This can involve the object of the service being damaged, such as:

• if the company you engage to change tires on the car scratches the paint.
• if the company you engaged to repair your heat pump drops a tool that causes damage to the floor.

The compensation is intended to cover the damage. You cannot expect to receive compensation for anything that puts you in a better position than before the damage occurred. For example if you have a scratch on the floor, it is not reasonable for you to get the entire floor replaced at no cost.

Sometimes the company that caused the damage has the expertise to remedy it. In that case, you may need to accept that the company fixes the damage instead of providing you with financial compensation

When you discover faults or defects, it is important that you document what is wrong. You need to be able to show the company what you think is wrong and the documentation becomes important if you and the company do not agree on the fault.

How to document the fault

You can document the fault by taking pictures or filming, for example. Remember that the quality needs to be good enough that the fault is clearly visible. Sometimes, you may need to take several pictures to be able to show the fault in a good way. Both close-ups and pictures that show what the fault looks like in relation to the surroundings may be needed.

When it's not possible to document the fault

Some faults may be difficult to capture with for example pictures. In such cases, you can describe the fault when you contact the company to complain.

In some cases, you may need help with an assessment

Is it not possible to show the fault through pictures or similar means? Or are you unsure if the service is faulty? In that case you may need to seek help from an expert to assess the work.

In certain areas, there are inspectors you can contact. For other areas, you might ask another company that deals with the same type of services if they can provide you with an assessment.

After you have discovered a defect, it is important that you contact the company as soon as possible to give them the chance to investigate and fix the defect. It is somewhat common for the company to need to come out and look at the fault to be able to decide what needs to be done. It also might not be clear what caused the defect.

You do not need to know the cause of the fault when you contact the company. What is important is that you point out that you discovered a fault as soon as possible. However, you may be obliged to compensate the company for the inspection if it turns out that the fault was not caused by their work.

If the company has made a mistake, they must fix the error at no cost to you. They should cover all costs to rectify the error – materials, travel, and labor.

Contact the company in writing

It is always good to have written documentation that shows that you contacted the company to file complaint. If possible, it is therefore good to send a text message or email. Then, you can also attach documentation that shows the fault, such as pictures. If you call, it can be helpful to summarize what you discussed after the call and send it in an email to the company.

If the company do not want to fix the fault

You can continue reading the step "What if you and the company can't agree?"

If the service is incorrect, you have the right by law to withhold part or all of the payment as security. This serves as a means of pressure on the company and a security for you.

How much of the payment you can withhold

The payment you withhold should correspond to the defect. Essentially, this means that you can withhold an amount that covers the cost of hiring another company to fix the defect.

Example: If it would cost you 10,000 SEK to fix the defect and the invoice is 20,000 SEK, you pay 10,000 SEK and withhold 10,000 SEK.

If you do not know exactly what it costs to fix the defect, you can withhold an amount with some margin. Sometimes it can help to contact other companies to get a price quote on what it would cost to fix the defect.

When you have a claim for compensation

If you have incurred costs due to the defect, you have the right to withhold as much of the payment as corresponds to your claim for compensation.

Notify the company that you are withholding payment

It is important that you notify the company in writing that you are withholding payment and why. You can send an email or a text message, for example.

If you have received an invoice, you need to dispute it. This means that you declare that you will not pay the invoice and why. Be clear that it is because there are errors in the work and that you are withholding all or part of the payment.

Compensation for damages caused by the company

If the company has caused damage to something else in your home but performed the service correctly, you cannot withhold the corresponding amount on the invoice for the service. Instead, you must submit your compensation claims for the damages as separate claims to the company.

If the company disagrees with you about the fault being due to their work, there are some things you may need to do to move forward.

You need to be able to show that the fault is due to the company's work

In order for you to demand something from the company, you need to be able to prove that the fault is due to their work.

If you cannot clearly show the fault yourself through pictures or similar evidence, you may sometimes need to seek help from an expert in the field to assess the work. Sometimes there may be several possible explanations for why a fault has occurred.

For example, if you have experienced water damage, there may be several reasonable explanations for why it has occurred, even if you believe it is due to the plumber's work. In some cases, more thorough investigations may be required to determine if there are faults, such as suspected deficiencies in moisture barriers or piping. In such cases, you may need to seek assistance from an inspector who can assess the shortcomings.

Make sure to obtain written documentation of all investigations and similar matters and keep them as evidence.

Contact the contractor again

Can you prove that the company made a mistake? Contact the company one more time before proceeding with the matter. If you have, for example, received documentation that proves the defect, you can send a copy to the company. Contact the company in writing, for example via email or SMS.

Does the company still say no, or do they not respond? Read under “If you need guidance” or “If you want to have the matter reviewed.

The company should fix the defect within a reasonable time. What is considered a reasonable time is assessed on a case-by-case basis. It depends, among other things, on the type of defect and your need to have it fixed.

In some cases, the defect must be corrected quickly, for example, to prevent the defect from worsening or causing damage. Or the defect has a significant impact on your daily life.

In other cases, it may be less urgent to fix the defect. For example, the season may make it impossible to fix the defect immediately. It may be inappropriate to repaint the facade in winter, for example. In such cases, you may need to wait until it is suitable to fix the defect.

Option to turn to another company

If the company does not fix the defect within a reasonable time, you can consider turning to another company to fix the defect.

Contact the company in writing, for example via email or SMS. Explain that you need to turn to another company if they cannot fix the defect shortly.

Have you withheld payment due to the defect? Then you can also inform them that you intend to use the amount you withheld to cover the cost of the work.

Have you already paid for the entire job? Then you can inform them that you intend to claim compensation for the cost of hiring another company.

Remember that you always have to pay the new company. You can subsequently claim compensation from the first company.

It is important that you can show that you complained about the delay in fixing the defect before turning to another company.

To proceed with the matter, you need to ensure a few things.

• You have documented the damages You need to be able to prove the damages caused by the company. Make sure you have, for example, pictures that clearly show the damages.
• You have made a claim to the company You need to be able to show that you have made a claim for the company to compensate for the damages. Therefore, contact the company in writing, for example via email or SMS. Can the damages be repaired? Then it can be helpful to show documentation, such as a quote, that shows what it might cost to repair them.

Have you documented the damages and made a claim to the company? Read further under “If you want to have the matter reviewed.”

Do you need help clarifying your rights or want to discuss how to proceed with your case? In that case, you can contact the municipality's consumer guidance or the guidance provided by our national information service.

Municipality's Consumer Guidance

Many municipalities provide consumer guidance where you can seek free information and support. The assistance offered may vary from one municipality to another.

The Swedish Consumer Agency

If you need guidance, you can contact our national information service. We can provide information on your rights and what options you have to make progress. We provide independent guidance and therefore cannot assess your individual matter, resolve disputes or contact companies for you.

Contact us

If you are residing in Sweden and the company you have issues with is registered in another EU country, Norway, Iceland or the United Kingdom, you can receive free advice from ECC Sweden. ECC Sweden is part of a network of consumer offices within the EU. In some cases, ECC Sweden may share the case with a sister office in another country to attempt to reach a solution through mediation.

Contact ECC Sweden

To get assistance with your case, you need to ensure that you have filed a written complaint to the company. To ECC Sweden, you need to submit a description of the problem and documentation showing what has happened. Documentation is necessary if your case is to be shared with any sister office in another country. Remember to keep your originals and only send copies to ECC Sweden.

Send your case via email to: konsumenteuropa@konsumentverket.se

The email should include:

• Your first and last name and the name of the company you purchased from
• A description of the problem and how you want the company to resolve it
• The date you placed the order and the date you received it
• The price of the item/service and how you paid
• Documentation as evidence of your case

Examples of documentation:

• Agreement/terms of agreement
• Screenshots of advertisements
• Invoice/receipts for purchases
• Complaint or right of withdrawal notice

Once you have submitted your case, you will usually receive a response within approximately one month.

ECC Sweden cannot

• Force a company to act according to the law. The work is based on the company being willing to cooperate with the ECC network to reach a resolution.
• Mediate in a case if we cannot identify the seller or if the seller refuses to cooperate with the ECC network.
• Act as legal representation or assist when the consumer has already initiated legal proceedings.
• Assist in purchases between businesses or purchases between individuals.

If you have any questions

ECC Sweden is part of the Swedish Consumer Agency. Do you need help clarifying your rights or want to discuss if and how you can proceed with your case? Then you can contact us at the information service.

Contact us

If you and the company cannot reach an agreement, you can make a complaint to the public authority the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN).

ARN will assess your case and make a recommendation on how to resolve the dispute. Most companies follow ARN’s recommendations.

A normal processing time is approximately six months.

What does it cost to file a complaint with ARN?

It costs SEK 150 to file a complaint with ARN. When you submit your complaint, you can request that the company compensates you for the cost if ARN makes a recommendation in your favor.

Requirements for ARN to consider your case

• The company has either rejected your claims or has not responded within a reasonable time.
• The amount you and the company are in dispute about is more then ARN's value limitations (different value thresholds apply for different fields). You cannot include the application fee to ARN.
• You file the complaint within one year from the first time you complained to the company.

Submit a complaint on ARN's website

If you need help with your complaint

Sometimes, the municipal consumer advisors can assist you in making a complaint to ARN.

If you have gone through the steps in this process but still have a dispute with the company, you can take the dispute to court. In that case, you should contact the district court (tingsrätten). It costs money to file an application with the court.

For a dispute involving a claim of up to 28,650 Swedish kronor (half a price base amount in 2024), known as a simplified litigation or small claim, the application fee is 900 kronor. If the claim exceeds 28,650 kronor, or if the dispute does not concern a specific amount, the application fee is 2,800 kronor.

If you lose the dispute, you may be required to pay both your and the company's legal costs. However, in small claims, the costs you may have to pay are limited.

Learn how a lawsuit is handled in the district court on the website of the Swedish Courts