Home Troubleshooting
Verified 06 August 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Home troubleshooting is a service to quickly resolve urgent problems that may arise in your home, whether it's a water leak, an electrical failure, or a locked lock. Would you like to know what information you need from the professional before starting the work? Here's the information you need to know.
Home Troubleshooting is the work of professionals to repair your domestic equipment such as household appliances, electrical installations, plumbing, locksmithing.
Services provided at home cover the following areas:
- Masonry, plastering
- Heating and air conditioning (except under an after-sales service contract)
- Sweeping
- Insulation
- Carpentry (maintenance of doors, windows and shutters)
- Locksmith'S Shop
- Roof
- Plumbing, sanitation (toilets, septic tank)
- Sealing (maintenance of gutters...)
- Painting
- Glazing
- Wall and floor coverings
- Power.
It all depends on your insurance contract. Some claims may be covered. It is advisable to check the terms of your contract.
Most home insurance contracts include a "water damage" guarantee that covers repair interventions in case of leaks, broken pipes, or infiltrations.
Other common warranties such as ice breakage, electrical failure, fire and explosion may also cover the cost of repairs in the event of a disaster related to these risks.
Some contracts offer optional guarantees, such as the "emergency home repair" guarantee, which covers the costs of repairs for problems of plumbing, locksmith, electricity,...
Therefore, it is strongly recommended to get in touch with your insurer before calling a convenience store.
FYI
Most insurance contracts provide for frankness and a reimbursement limit (the threshold beyond which the insurer no longer covers the cost of troubleshooting).
Before calling a convenience store, it is advisable to check whether the defective part or device is still under warranty (legal guarantee of conformity, legal guarantee of hidden defects for household or electronic appliances, commercial guarantee or manufacturer's warranty).
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The part or device is still under warranty
If the part or appliance is still under warranty, repair or replacement costs may be covered by the manufacturer or seller.
The part or device is out of warranty
For the repair of out-of-warranty appliances (no application or time expired), you must contact the manufacturer's after-sales service to give you the references of the authorized repairers of its brand.
The information differs depending on the situation you are in:
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Home convenience store
The professional must provide you with an estimate of the cost of the intervention before starting the work. This includes the hourly labor rate, travel expenses, and the conditions for invoicing any surcharges (nights, weekends, public holidays)
The trader must also have a fare schedule that must be visible and accessible to you, including on his vehicle if he is traveling.
FYI
the prices charged by the trader are free.
Request for in-home troubleshooting at the professional's facility
The trader must display in a visible and legible the rates of the interventions (hourly rate, travel expenses, current services) in the establishment of the professional.
The professional should inform you orally the estimated cost of the works and the conditions for intervention. However, if you request it, he must provide you with this information in writing.
Internet Home Troubleshooting Request
The trader must clearly display on his website the price of his services, including travel expenses, hourly labor costs, and the rates for current interventions.
Before any validation of the online application, the professional must provide you with all the pre-contractual information, including:
- General conditions of sale
- Terms of payment
- Time limits for completion
- Possibility to use the right of withdrawal (right to reconsider).
The DGCCRF: titleContent has developed a list of practical tips:
Home Troubleshooting: Don't be scammed!
Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF)
Pour en savoir plus
Yes, you need to get a quote before you can troubleshoot at home. However, the information that must be included differs depending on whether it was concluded in store, at a distance or at home.
Before troubleshooting at home, concludes in store, the professional must provide you with a detailed quote. This should include the following information:
- Quote Writing Date
- Name and address of the trader
- Your contact information
- Place of performance of the service
- Nature and price of the service to be provided
- Detailed breakdown, in quantity and price, of each service and products necessary for the planned operation: description, unit price and description of what it applies to (labor hours, linear meter or square meter) and the planned quantity
- Hourly labor rate
- Estimated Time Count Condition
- The total amount you will have to payHT: titleContent and TTC: titleContent with VAT rate
- If applicable, cost of travel
- Duration of validity of the offer
- Date of intervention
The quote can be free or paid, depending on the practices of the professional, but this must be clearly indicated.
Please note
If the trader does not provide you with a quote, he or she may be subject to a administrative fine up to €3,000 for a natural person (sole trader) and €15,000 for a business.
Once you have signed the quotation, you are committed to the work. The same goes for the professional.
It depends on whether it's an emergency or not.
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Emergency Response
For urgent interventions following a water leak or a power outage, for example, you do not have the right of withdrawal.
Other interventions
For non-urgent tasks such as repairing your TV, everything depends on how you entered into your contract.
if you have concluded a distance contract (by telephone, on the internet, at home), you benefit from a withdrawal period of 14 days calendars from the conclusion of the contract.
Please note
However, in case of urgency, if you have expressly requested that the service be performed immediately, even if the contract has been concluded at a distance, and the service is fully performed, then you lose your right of withdrawal.
if you have entered into a contract in a shop, you do not have the right of withdrawal.
Yes, the professional must give you an invoice (or a note) as soon as the service exceeds €25 TTC. This shall contain the following information:
- Date of writing
- Name and address of the trader
- your name
- Date and place of performance
- Detailed breakdown, in quantity and price, of each service and product supplied or sold (name, unit price and its unit, quantity)
- Total amount payable (excluding VAT)
The professional must give you the invoice before asking you to pay the service.
For benefits under €25 Including VAT, the delivery of a note is optional. However, the professional should give you one if you ask.
The trader must guarantee that his/her service is in accordance with the contract and that the repairs are durable. In principle, replaced parts are guaranteed for a minimum of 3 months from the date of intervention. This warranty applies regardless of legal warranties of conformity and hidden defects. It is specifically intended to ensure that the repair performed is durable and that the problem will not recur immediately after the intervention.
The trader is also responsible for hidden defects that may appear after the intervention.
If, for example, a technician steps in to repair a defective boiler, but several days after the failure, the failure recurs, you may find that the problem has not been properly resolved. You then have several possibilities.
Find an amicable solution
You must try to resolve the dispute amicably by contacting the professional directly.
You can also do this via the Signal Conso platform:
Mediation or conciliation
If the dispute persists (refusal to quote, lack of price information...), you can ask a third party to intervene. These may be:
- of a mediator, which may be linked to the trader,
- or a conciliator of justice, which is independent.
Civil justice
If mediation or conciliation has failed, you can take legal action before the competent court.
Who shall I contact
You can also ask for damages for the damage suffered. For example, to get a refund, if the quote does not match the services actually performed.
You can also request a injunction to make if the convenience store has not performed the work requested.
File a complaint
If you feel you are a victim of an offense, you can file a complaint. For example, in case fraud, if the professional led you to believe that he was mandated by the city council or by an electricity supplier.
Abuse of weakness is also punished. For example, if there is abuse of the vulnerability of an elderly person.
On the spot
To file a complaint, you must go to the police station or to the gendarme of your choice.
Police or gendarmerie services are obliged to register your complaint if you are a victim of infringement.
The complaint is then forwarded to the public prosecutor for him to decide on what to do next (investigation, no follow-up classification, etc.).
Online
If you don't know the perpetrator, you can fill out a online complaint :
Depending on what you have declared, you may be contacted by a policeman or gendarme to complete your statement at the police station or gendarmerie.
Your return is processed by an agent. It shall determine whether it qualifies for a complaint report.
If your return is accepted, you are informed that digital copy of the complaint report is uploaded.
Otherwise, you will receive an email with the reason for rejecting your return.
By mail
You can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.
To do this, you must send an email to the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.
Who shall I contact
Your mail should include the following:
- Your marital status and full contact information (address and telephone number)
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Name of the alleged perpetrator if known (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
- Name and address of any witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
- Your proof documents: medical certificates, work stoppages, photographs, videos, miscellaneous invoices, findings, etc.
You can use the following mail template:
File a complaint with the public prosecutor
You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.
You can also file your complaint directly at the courthouse.
In any case, a receipt is given to you as soon as the Public Prosecutor's Office has registered your complaint.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
0809 540 550 DGCCRF - ResponseConso
Having trouble following a purchase? Do you have a question about a point of law before buying or ordering?
You can get an answer from a DGCCRF: titleContent by calling the 0809 540 550.
Opening hours of the service:
No surtax number
- Monday and Tuesday: from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 1:15 pm to 5:15 pm
- Wednesday: 13:15 to 17:15
- Thursday: from 8:30 to 12:30
- Friday: from 8:30 am to 4 pm
- Mediators of consumption
Article L221-10
Invoice required from 25 € VAT included
For all services of repair and maintenance in the building and equipment sector of the house.
Online service
National Institute of Consumer Affairs (INC)
Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF)