Law No. 5672 regulates the provision of technical services within the City of Buenos Aires.
Law No. 5672 was published in the Official Gazette of the City of Buenos Aires on December 13, 2016. It regulates and establishes new obligations to be complied with by those companies that provide technical services within the framework of the statutory or conventional guarantees. This law entered into force on December 21, 2016 and will be of immediate application to the existing guarantees given to consumers.
The innovations introduced by this law are the following:
i) Repair time: it is established that the maximum repair time should not exceed 30 days; however, the law provides that the term can be extended by the supplier provided that the consumer is duly informed by means of a quotation form.
ii) Provision of substitute products: technical service providers are obliged to provide the consumer with a replacement product of similar characteristics to that which is being repaired, in order to satisfy the needs of the consumer during the repair period.
iii) Opening hours and modes of operation: this law remits to Law No. 2,962 which came into force in January 2009, and that states that technical service companies must keep the following opening hours for the general public: Monday to Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. In addition, those companies must ensure setting a date for the consumer within 72 hours after the request for repair, in a time slot that cannot exceed 3 hours.
iv) Preliminary repair quotation: at the first visit the supplier must provide a preliminary repair quotation containing (a) the date of the request for repair; (b) the date of visit; and if necessary (c) the tentative date the product will be transferred to the workshop. With respect to this latter obligation, it is established that the charges for the transfer must be described in detail in the quotation when they run on behalf of the consumer, who, in addition, will be entitled to make the transfer on his or her own account.
v) Certificate of repair: the certificate of repair to be issued by the service providers must include: (a) the nature of the repair; (b) the parts repaired or replaced, indicating whether the replaced part is new, used or rebuilt; (c) the date of the first visit; and (d) the date of return of the product to the consumer.
vi) Repair guarantee: the repairs carried out under this law will enjoy a 90-day guarantee from the delivery of the repaired product, notwithstanding that the repaired parts will maintain the statutory guarantee of 6 months provided by Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Law No 24,240.
This local regulation introduces new important and costly obligations for the technical service companies that provide services in the City of Buenos Aires, and also impacts on the scope of the extended guarantees and insurance contracts that exist in the subject matter. We do not rule out that the increase in the costs associated with the service could bring litigation against the validity of this law.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
