CLAIM PROCESSING

Many times we acquire a product or a service, and it turns out that we are not satisfied, either because the product was defective or the service was poorly executed; with this in mind the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) created the law 1480 of 2011, also known as “Consumer Statute”, with the objective of “…Protect, promote and guarantee the effectiveness and free exercise of consumer rights”.

This statute has allowed Colombians to defend their rights as consumers before entities that sell products or offer services with which they are not satisfied or have harmed the integrity of the person.

In this case we will talk about the Right to Complaint, stipulated in article 3 of the consumer’s statute, which allows us to “Claim directly before the producer, supplier or provider and obtain full, timely and adequate reparation of all damages suffered…”. If we present any disagreement we can make this request verbally, in writing or electronically stating our case; the entity involved will have 15 working days to respond and 5 days to notify the final decision taken. The response may be issued by the same means by which it was made or a different means if the customer wishes.

If you also prefer, the complaint request can be made to a legal authority that is monitoring the company, such as the SIC, without the need to first go to the commercial entity with which we have the conflict. In turn, we can turn to these legal authorities when we submit a complaint request to the company, and the response offered does not satisfy, is made outside the established time or is not attended. The legal authorities will conduct a proper investigation to resolve the case.

In summary, these petitions can be made before the entity with which the problem exists, as for legal authorities, they can be made before judges of the republic or the SIC, but they can also be made before the mayors of the cities, since they have the same competences and powers of protection in these matters as the SIC.

The mayors may carry out the corresponding investigation of the case and also fine the entity in case it is in favor of the affected person, up to 100 s.m.l.m.v., if the mayor considers that the fine should be higher than this value, he may refer the case to the SIC to take the considerations.

Finally, the right to claim can be made by the same person or through a representative or proxy, if you want to make a claim, in legal service we are ready to advise you in this field, offering recommendations on how to submit the request, to whom to present it and monitor the process, please contact us through our website.