A man bought ceramic tiles for 38,526 hryvnias at Epicenter and noticed defects, leading him to take legal action.

A man purchased ceramic tiles at Epicenter for 38,526 hryvnias. However, he later noticed defects on the surface of the product. He is demanding 62,206 hryvnias from the hypermarket for restoration repairs. This was stated in the decision of the Khmelnytskyi city district court, published on December 30, 2024.

On July 1, 2022, the man bought ceramic tiles at the "Epicenter" store for 38,526 hryvnias. In October 2022, the tiles were installed in his apartment. When he and his family moved into the apartment in July 2023, they discovered defects on the surface of the tiles. After contacting Epicenter regarding the defective product, he was informed that he needed to reach out to an independent expert organization to determine the cause of the tile damage. According to the expert's conclusion, there are damages to the ceramic tile flooring in the apartment, specifically chips of the glaze layer with a diameter of 4-6 mm on the surface of some tiles installed in rooms No. 1 "hallway," No. 4 "kitchen," and No. 5 "bathroom." The cause of the damage to the ceramic tile flooring in the apartment is defects in the glaze layer of the used ceramic tiles. The cost of restoring the damaged ceramic tile flooring, based on prices as of April 25, 2024, is 62,206 hryvnias. A copy of the conclusion was sent to the seller on April 30, 2024, but a response has yet to be received.

"The plaintiff did not prove that he received a product of inadequate quality, and therefore there are no grounds for applying the consequences provided by the Law of Ukraine 'On Consumer Protection'," Epicenter stated.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the man's claim. He did not provide evidence that the product defects occurred before the transfer of the ceramic tiles to him; moreover, he claims that the defects appeared after the repairs in the apartment and after a long period of vacancy.

"The conclusion does not establish the cause of the glaze layer defects: whether it was due to manufacturing defects or mechanical damage during operation, and the request for an examination to determine compliance with technological procedures by the manufacturer during the production of the product was not submitted by the plaintiff," emphasized the court.