For goods, the seller must repair or replace the item within a reasonable period not exceeding 30 days after the defect is reported. A longer period is permitted only for an objective reason beyond the seller's control. The same cap applies to the period stated in the defect acknowledgement and to remedying a service defect. If the deadline expires without a remedy, the buyer may seek a proportionate price reduction or withdraw from the contract. The supervisory authority may penalise handling failures regardless of whether the defect actually existed.
The old-law answer, “resolve the complaint within thirty days or face consequences”, is now only partly accurate. From 1 July 2024, Act No. 108/2024 Coll. rewrote the liability-for-defects rules in the Civil Code (Act No. 40/1964 Coll.) and moved the procedure for reporting a defect into it from the repealed Act No. 250/2007 Coll. Act No. 310/2025 Coll. then added to the deadlines in two stages, from 1 January 2026 and from 31 July 2026.
Thirty days remain, but the mechanism changed
Former Act No. 250/2007 Coll. provided a single period for “handling a complaint” (Section 18(4)). The current rules work with notification of a defect and two caps. The first concerns the acknowledgement the buyer must receive at the outset:
The seller shall provide the buyer with written acknowledgement of the reported defect without delay after notification. It shall state the period within which the defect will be remedied in accordance with Section 507(1). That period must not exceed 30 days from notification unless a longer period is justified by an objective reason beyond the seller’s control.
— Section 622(3) of the Civil Code (unofficial English translation)
The second cap concerns the remedy itself, repair or replacement. The Act originally contained no such cap for repair and replacement; Act No. 310/2025 Coll. added it with effect from 1 January 2026, and since 31 July 2026 it sits in Section 623(4):
The seller shall repair or replace the item within a reasonable period […] after the buyer reports the defect, free of charge, at the seller’s expense and without significant inconvenience to the buyer, considering the item’s nature and the purpose for which it was required. The period under the first sentence must not exceed 30 days from notification unless a longer period is justified by an objective reason beyond the seller’s control; the seller bears the burden of proving that reason.
— Section 623(4) of the Civil Code (unofficial English translation)
The thirty-day cap therefore applies in both places, and in both it allows an exception for objective reasons, such as a part that genuinely cannot be supplied sooner. Anyone relying on this must prove it and should state it in the initial acknowledgement.
What was added on 31 July 2026
Since 31 July 2026, before remedying a defect the seller must inform the buyer of the right to choose between repair and replacement and that after the first repair the liability period is extended by 12 months (Sections 623(2) and 619(4) of the Civil Code). This does not change the length of the deadlines, but it does change the content of the defect acknowledgement and the records of repairs. Which wording applies to a particular complaint depends on the date the contract was concluded: relationships under contracts concluded before 31 July 2026 are assessed under the wording effective until 30 July 2026 (Section 879aa of the Civil Code).
What happens if the deadline is missed
If the seller does not repair or replace the item in time, Section 624(1) of the Civil Code entitles the buyer to a proportionate price reduction or withdrawal from the sale contract without granting an additional period. After withdrawal, the seller refunds the price within 14 days of the item being returned or proof that the buyer dispatched it (Section 624(7)). The old automatic consequence, a right to withdraw or demand a new product, has therefore become a choice between a price reduction and withdrawal.
Rejection no longer depends on a professional assessment
Under the former rules, a complaint within the first 12 months after purchase could be rejected only on the basis of a professional assessment. Slovak Trade Inspection decision No. P/0015/05/2024 of 19 June 2024 rested on precisely this: an electronics retailer rejected a monitor complaint, but the service centre’s assessment lacked a conclusion and was disregarded, resulting in a EUR 400 fine. The current regime did not retain that assessment mechanism. Instead, a defect appearing within the liability period, normally two years from delivery and 12 months longer after a first repair, is presumed to have existed on delivery unless the seller proves otherwise (Section 620(1) read with Section 619). A seller denying liability must give written reasons; the buyer may rebut them with an expert report or a professional opinion issued by an accredited body and report the defect again (Section 622(4)). The buyer must also report a defect within two months of discovering it (Section 621(3)).
Supervision examines the process, not the defect itself
Whether the defect actually existed is a civil dispute between the parties, which the supervisory authority does not decide (Section 27(4) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll.). Fines concern the process: in decision No. P/0016/02/2024 of 17 June 2024, a furniture retailer was fined EUR 600 for three kitchen complaints handled after the then applicable 30-day period and incomplete records. The new Act applies the same logic to acknowledgements and deadlines. Service defects also have a thirty-day cap: the trader must issue an acknowledgement stating the remedy period without delay (Section 4(1)(j) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll.). Penalties under Section 43 increase with turnover. Defect complaints should not be confused with returning goods without giving a reason, discussed in withdrawal from an online shop contract.
How we can help
We prepare internal procedures, defect acknowledgement templates and customer wording through our complaints policy service and align them with your online shop terms. If you face an inspection or disputed complaint, our e-commerce legal services assess both procedure and arguments.
If your complaint process still relies on professional assessments and the old law’s single deadline, it is time to rewrite it: inspections already follow the new rules.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 22 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
