Complaints and Warranty: Handling Reklamation Right

A complaint isn’t the end of a customer relationship – it’s a fork in the road. Handle the reklamation quickly, clearly and without going on the defensive, and there’s a good chance the customer ends up more loyal than before the fault appeared. Handle it badly and you risk a sour online review, a complaint to ARN, and a reputation that follows you for years. If you run an electrical, plumbing, building or painting business in Sweden, complaint handling is a craft in its own right. Here’s what the law actually requires – and how to build a routine that protects both the customer and your margin.

Reklamation and garanti are not the same thing

These two get confused in almost every dispute. Reklamation (the right to complain) is the consumer’s statutory right under the Consumer Services Act (konsumenttjänstlagen, 1985:716) and it always applies – whether or not you gave any warranty. A garanti (warranty) is a voluntary promise you choose to make, typically to fix faults that appear within a set period. A warranty can make the customer’s position better than the law, but never worse.

The practical difference during the warranty period is who carries the burden of proof. If you give a warranty and something breaks within that period, it’s on you to show the fault stems from something outside your responsibility – for example the customer’s own misuse. So never promise more in your marketing than you’re prepared to stand behind in the field.

What the law says about time limits

Two deadlines govern almost every complaint, and they’re constantly mixed up:

• How long the customer can complain: a service can be complained about for up to three years after the work was completed. Where the work concerns land, buildings or other fixed property – i.e. most of what a tradesperson does – the limit is ten years.
• How quickly the customer must speak up: the customer must complain within “reasonable time” of discovering the fault. A complaint made within two months is always considered to be in time.

A ten-year limit doesn’t mean you’re liable for a decade of wear and tear – it covers original defects in your workmanship, not normal ageing or how the customer used the result. Rules do change over time, so verify the current position with Hallå konsument (the Swedish Consumer Agency) if a case becomes a matter of principle.

What actually counts as a fault?

A fault in the legal sense is not the same as a dissatisfied customer. The service is defective if the result doesn’t match what you agreed, or if the work isn’t professionally executed (fackmässigt) – sloppy, deficient, or contrary to applicable rules and industry standards. That’s why documentation is your best friend. A clear quote, a confirmed ROT or green-tech specification, before-and-after photos, a signed self-inspection (egenkontroll) and a protocol mean “it’s their word against mine” almost never arises.

In FieldApp, the e-signed quote, field photos, checklists and egenkontroll/protokoll all live on the same job. When a complaint lands three months later, you pull up the entire history in seconds – instead of digging through a folder of paper notes.

The order of remedies – and your right to put it right

This is where many firms go wrong out of pure goodwill and refund money too fast. The law sets out a clear ladder, and the first rung usually favours you:

• Remedy first. If the service is defective, the customer’s primary right is to have the fault corrected at no extra cost. Just as important: you have the right to make that correction yourself before the customer demands anything else. Sending a technician out for an hour is often far cheaper than a price reduction.
• Price reduction or cancellation only comes into play if the fault isn’t remedied within reasonable time, if you refuse, or if a fix isn’t possible.
• Withholding payment. The customer may hold back part of the payment as security while the fault remains.
• Damages may apply if the fault caused the customer an actual loss.

The takeaway is simple: offer a fast fix, document that you did, and keep the door open. That’s both the law’s default position and the smartest business.

A routine that saves the relationship

How the customer feels in the first few hours matters more than the fault itself. Build a simple routine everyone in the company follows:

• Acknowledge immediately. Reply the same day, thank them for flagging it, and give a time for the next update. Silence is what breeds ARN complaints.
• Listen before you defend. Ask for photos and a description. Often the fault is smaller than it sounded – and occasionally bigger.
• Book the fix quickly. A concrete date reassures more than a long apology.
• Put everything in writing. What was complained about, what you agreed, and what was corrected. It protects you if the case escalates anyway.
• Follow up afterwards. A short “did that sort it out for you?” turns a salvaged complaint into a loyal customer.

With push notifications and a customer self-service status page in FieldApp, the customer can see the case moving forward – and that visibility alone often takes the heat out of the situation.

When you can’t agree: ARN

If you still can’t reach agreement, the customer can refer the case to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN), which recommends a solution free of charge. For tradesperson services there’s a value threshold of SEK 3,000 (for cases submitted from 1 August 2025) and a SEK 150 filing fee for the consumer. ARN’s decision is a recommendation, but most serious firms comply – appearing on the list of companies that ignore ARN is bad marketing. Because amounts and fees can change, verify the current thresholds directly with ARN.

The vast majority of cases, though, are settled long before any board is involved. Whoever responds fast, documents clearly and offers a fix almost always wins – both the case and the customer.

Want your quote, self-inspection, photos and customer messages tied together on every job? Try FieldApp free for 14 days and turn complaints into a routine instead of a crisis. You might also like our guide to the ROT deduction and documenting it correctly.