The entrepreneur donated her Hyundai Starex minivan for repair to a private service, which she used for work and transported souvenirs in it. The woman asked for the engine to be repaired and a few parts replaced. On the recommendation of a car mechanic, she bought new parts for 75,490 rubles. He repaired the car, took 107,000 rubles for repair and gave a warranty for it, writes Pravo.ru.
After the repair, the car fell off while driving and would not start again. The woman returned the car to the garage and demanded a free repair, but the owner refused because some old parts still had to be replaced.
In the end she bought a battery, an air mass sensor and a turbine. She paid 27,050 rubles for everything and 8,000 rubles for additional repairs. But even after replacing the part, the car would not start.
At another service, they made minor repairs to her and explained that the engine was yet to be repaired, but no such services were provided there. The car owner again went to the old service, where they again took money from her, 46,000 rubles. for new parts and the engine, but the car continued to run.
The investigation revealed that the repair had been poorly executed. The entrepreneur filed a claim with the service, demanding: to return to her 248,537 rubles. for repairs, parts and services of a tow truck, 40,000 rubles. for research, to pay 20,000 rubles. compensation for non-material damage, reimbursed 5000 RUB. for legal services. Another woman demanded that the service repair her minibus.
It was not possible to agree, and she filed a lawsuit, asking to get back about 600,000 rubles from the defendant. She pointed out that because of the bad work she could not use the car for her work and suffered losses.
The owner of the service objected on the grounds that she bought parts from third parties and he cannot be held responsible for their quality. In addition, she is illegally trying to claim a fine, compensation for moral damages and a fine under the “Protection of Consumer Rights” law. Since she did not use the car for personal, but for commercial purposes.
Court decisions
A new investigation has been launched at the court, which has shown that errors were indeed made during the repair. The court partially satisfied the car owner’s demands, since the mechanic was not allowed to reimburse the costs of spare parts and repairs in other car services, and awarded the plaintiff 429,350 rubles.
The defendant appealed the decision to the Samara Regional Court, where they noted that fines, compensation for non-pecuniary damages and a fine are governed by the Consumer Rights Protection Act, and that the car owner uses a minibus for his work. Therefore, in its favor, only the costs of poor repairs, expertise, legal services and tow truck services can be recovered. Total 178,200 rubles.
The appeal and cassation bodies confirmed this decision and the car owner appealed to the Supreme Court.
Under the “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” law, a consumer is a person who uses a product for personal and household needs, the Supreme Court noted. And she used the car for her work, the woman is even registered as a self-employed person. In the lawsuit, she admitted that she needed the car for work. Now that the claimant has not demonstrated that the car was used exclusively for personal purposes, the Supreme Court has confirmed the decisions of the appeal and cassation bodies.
Expert opinion
For example, if a woman presented evidence that she had a large family that required such a car, or invited witnesses to confirm that the car was only used for personal purposes, the case could turn out differently, lawyers say.