oddajesz AUTO do MECHANIKA? Uważaj na te PUŁAPKI!

Summary

Attorney Łukasz Pawelski presents a step-by-step playbook for handling disputes with an auto repair shop in Poland. The focus is on clarifying the service agreement, documenting decisions, and using formal escalation rather than relying on repeated calls or vague promises. The advice is primarily for consumers hiring a business; rules may differ when the repair is commissioned for business purposes.

Core framework: define the agreement and preserve evidence

• Establish what the shop was hired to do: diagnose a problem, replace a particular part, or achieve a specific repair result. A diagnostic order does not automatically authorize repairs.
• Record the agreed scope, price or pricing method, completion date, and rules for approving extra work.
• Keep the work order, messages, payment records, invoices, photos, and a dated chronology of events.
• Direct requests to the correct business entity—not necessarily the name displayed on the workshop sign. Check the order, invoice, transfer details, and relevant business register.
• Set a clear goal for each communication: finish the repair, return the vehicle, correct a defect, or settle a payment dispute. Avoid messages that make contradictory demands.

Playbooks for common problems

• Missed deadline: Ask for a specific status update: work completed, work remaining, and the reason for delay. If appropriate, set a realistic additional deadline in writing and state that you may withdraw from the contract if it expires without completion. A request to “finish soon” is not as clear as a formal notice.
• No original deadline: Request completion within a reasonable period based on the actual repair. The shop does not have permission to keep the vehicle indefinitely just because no date was written down.
• Repair unlikely to meet the deadline: The speaker discusses Article 635 of the Polish Civil Code as a possible basis for withdrawal without an additional deadline where the facts indicate completion on time is unlikely. Gather evidence of the shop’s progress, parts status, and statements; frustration or suspicion alone may not be sufficient.
• Shop stops responding: Move from calls to written communication. A complaint should identify the vehicle and order, explain what was not done or done incorrectly, and state the remedy sought. Keep proof of delivery.
• Poor or non-compliant work: Describe precisely how the work differs from the agreement and what correction is required. Depending on the circumstances, a reasonable deadline may be set; if the statutory conditions are met and it passes, withdrawal or substitute work at the first contractor’s expense may be possible. Do not assume this applies to every delay.
• Second workshop or correction costs: Before work begins, document the vehicle’s condition, photographs, measurements, and which repairs are needed to correct the first shop’s work. Ask for separate invoice lines for corrective work and any new work you independently order.
• Repair price increases: Ask for a detailed breakdown of labor, parts, and calculations. A fixed, lump-sum price generally cannot be raised unilaterally merely because the work proved less profitable than expected. For additional work, establish whether the customer actually agreed to the expanded scope and price. Separate consent to diagnosis, the original repair, and additional work.
• Defect after collection: Record the date, mileage, symptoms, and circumstances; notify the shop promptly and request an inspection and written explanation. A recurring symptom does not by itself prove the original repair was faulty. Preserve replaced parts where possible and consider an independent expert for significant damage.
• Shop refuses to release the car: Request the legal and contractual basis in writing, plus an itemized account. Distinguish charges you accept from those you dispute. The speaker cautions that ownership alone does not settle every question about possession, payment, or release.
• Collection forms: Do not sign a statement that the repair is satisfactory if it is not. You can confirm receipt of the car while recording specific objections—for example, a continuing warning light or disputed surcharge. Check whether a form also acknowledges a debt or waives claims.
• Negotiated settlement: Make a specific proposal—such as a release date, partial refund, or transport-cost settlement—and define exactly which claims the settlement closes. Do not exchange a broad waiver of claims for an unclear discount.
• Public reviews: Stick to verifiable dates and events, distinguish facts from assumptions, and avoid insults, unsubstantiated criminal accusations, and unnecessary personal information.

Costs, claims, and escalation

• Reimbursement of a replacement car, transport, towing, expert reports, or correction costs may be possible, but the customer needs to show a contractual breach, actual loss, its amount, and a causal link to the breach.
• Explain why expenses were necessary, use reasonable rates and periods, and limit avoidable losses. Tell the shop about the practical consequences of the delay and keep evidence of that notice.
• Lost income requires strong evidence of actual lost work or orders; hypothetical revenue, inconvenience, or lost time alone does not automatically establish a claim.
• A customer cannot impose a daily penalty unilaterally; a contractual penalty must have been agreed.
• For help, the speaker suggests contacting a municipal or district consumer ombudsman or the Trade Inspection. A settlement through an arbitration court requires both parties’ consent; otherwise, a common court may be necessary. Technical disputes may require an expert opinion.
• UOKiK primarily addresses collective consumer interests, not the resolution of an individual claim. Police or prosecutors are relevant where facts may indicate a crime; an unsatisfactory repair or high bill alone is not automatically fraud.
• The speaker notes a 14-day response period for a business to answer a consumer complaint; silence within that period can have legal consequences, but it does not itself enforce a remedy.
• Many claims connected with a contract for specific work have a two-year limitation period, according to the speaker. A standard payment demand does not interrupt the limitation period.
• On ending an unfinished contract, the financial settlement depends on the legal basis. The speaker cautions that ordinary withdrawal under Article 644 may allow the contractor to claim agreed remuneration less costs saved; withdrawal due to the workshop’s breach should therefore be clearly grounded in the facts.

Five things to agree before leaving the vehicle

1. Scope: Diagnosis only, a specific replacement, or removal of a specified cause of failure.
2. Price: Total price including parts, labor, and tax—or the pricing method and a clear spending cap.
3. Deadline: A completion date and an agreed process for updates if parts or other obstacles cause delay.
4. Extra work: No expansion of scope or spending beyond the limit without clear customer approval; requests should state scope, price, and effect on timing.
5. Vehicle condition: Mileage, visible damage, equipment, keys and documents handed over, and photos or video; identify who accepted the vehicle and on behalf of which business.

Commercial note

Pawelski promotes downloadable guidance and editable letter templates as a paid resource, and invites viewers to contact his law firm. He also asks viewers to subscribe, leave a like, and watch ads—examples of the channel’s audience-support and product-promotion approach.

Presenter/source: Attorney Łukasz Pawelski, Prawo i Biznes Mecenasa Pawelskiego.