Today, after a purchase, you can often see that the product turned out to be defective. Of course, due to certain manufacturing defects, I immediately want to return it back and, naturally, get my money. Fortunately, the legislator can provide such a chance. So, there is a specific mechanism that describes return of defective goods. How does it work? Answers to this and other equally interesting questions can be found in the process of reading the article.
Refund Requirement
It is unlikely that anyone will argue that today the requirement for a refund is the most common demand from consumers and, accordingly, the most unpleasant for the seller. In the case when the second purposefully does not want to give up without a fight and goes ahead, he begins to act consumer rights Protection. Defective goods - this is a solved business. For the competent implementation of the intended buyer just need to know their own rights and, of course, be able to apply them in practice. Then the negligent seller will certainly be powerless in the face of such strong pressure.
How to return a defective item? What are the stages of the procedure? Why is it necessary to fight to the end? In subsequent chapters, it will be advisable to consider all stages of the operation. By the way, they will also help answer the above questions.
Stage one: proof procedure
How to return a defective item? First you need to fix the flaw, in other words, to carry out the procedure of proof. For example, by looking at the contents of the package directly in the presence of the seller and thus discovering a certain flaw, you can safely declare the need to replace the goods. When opening the packaging outside the outlet and the subsequent detection of a defect, it should be fixed as soon as possible. How to make such a multi-valued procedure?
As a rule, individual individuals achieve their goals by photographing on absolutely any medium, be it a professional camera or a regular mobile phone. Later they make up Act. Defective goodsthus confirmed by official means. It is important to add that the act must be signed by witnesses, who can act as members of the consumer's family, as well as strangers (by the way, this is very convenient, isn't it !?). Having secured the support and testimony of these persons, the consumer must be sure that, one way or another, if necessary, they will confirm their own testimony in the judicial authorities (you never know, it suddenly comes to that).
Why are seemingly so minor precautions so important? The fact is that without them it is impossible to prove that the consumer acquired it defective goods. This provision applies in particular to mechanical defects.
Warranty period and its meaning
Analyzing the proof procedure, it would be advisable to recall the warranty period. Under such an interesting concept, one should consider the period of time during which, upon detection of a defect in a product, the seller undertakes to fully satisfy consumer requirements. By the way, the government authorities released Defective Product Act, where a similar provision is clearly stated.However, the formation of a guarantee is primarily the right of the seller or the manufacturer, and not a mandatory measure! In other words, the presence or absence of a specific warranty period has an effect solely on the distribution with respect to the burden of proof between seller and consumer.
If there is a warranty period, the examination is carried out directly by the seller at his own expense. When there is no guarantee, such unpleasant operations fall on the shoulders of the consumer. That is why, in the absence of a warranty period for the purchased goods, before starting the execution of the next paragraph, the consumer agrees to carry out an examination. This procedure allows you to determine exactly what the disadvantage is and why it arose. If after passing the examination it is established that the consumer has acquired defective goods due to a manufacturing shortage, it would be advisable to proceed with the second stage. If the cause of the defect was certain consumer operations, then referring to the seller does not make sense. Such actions, as a rule, include mechanical damage or an improper attitude on the part of the consumer to operating conditions.
It is important to supplement that implementing defective goods store may agree to voluntarily return the funds. Therefore, often consumers do not resort to the help of experts. It is best to do this appeal orally, since in the case of a negative mood of the seller, the claim, written in writing, with the exception of the proving procedure (it refers to situations where the warranty has expired or is not installed), will somehow give the seller a good reason for refusing.
Second stage: making a claim
As it turned out, in order to prevent fraud and protect their rights, you need to know consumer rights. Defective goods refunded if all operations described in the article are correctly performed. So, immediately after collecting all the necessary documents that confirm the presence of a defect in the product or service, and obtaining witness testimony, you must contact the contractor (seller) with a specific requirement in the form of a written claim. Before making such a claim, it is necessary to check whether the seller is a competent legal entity.
It is important that he does not arrive in the reorganization or liquidation process. This operation can be carried out on the official resource of the Federal Tax Service, indicating the PSRN or TIN. In addition, it is possible to register the name of the legal entity itself. If the organization is in the process of liquidation or reorganization, the buyer has the right to subsequently act as a creditor of this legal entity, while standing in the line of claimants. On the official website of the Bulletin of State Registration today it is possible to find out the address, as well as lines of this kind of message.
Third stage: expectation and quality control
As it turned out, return of defective goods - the procedure is not easy. Thus, depending on the type of requirement that was presented to the seller, through the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, specific terms are formed directly to meet these requirements. Among them are the following items:
- It is advisable to consider the requirement for a refund or a decrease in the cost of the product within ten calendar days immediately after the presentation of a written claim. That is why the moment of delivery of the claim is so important, and it is possible to prove it only by marking the seller about the receipt of this claim or by postal receipt and corresponding notice.
- Replacing defective goods must be carried out upon presentation of a specific requirement within seven days. If the seller decides to conduct a quality control or examination, then the period for consideration of this claim must be changed from seven to twenty days. So, taking into account the given terms, it is advisable to contact the seller solely with a request for a refund in writing. Verbally, you can only agree to replace the goods.
- If write-off of defective goods irrelevant, the consumer should be required to repair the goods and eliminate the identified deficiencies. It is satisfied within the time period stipulated directly by the agreement drawn up in writing. It is important to add that this period should not be more than forty-five days. By the way, in practice, service centers or individual sellers are not eager to indicate a deadline in writing, alluding to the same forty-five days. Nevertheless, in the absence of a corresponding written mark, the defect in relation to the goods must be eliminated immediately, that is, in the shortest possible time objectively necessary for this operation, taking into account the commonly used method. From such a vague wording, it can be seen that the definition of the minimum period is very estimated. In one way or another, this gives the seller the indirect right (service center) to repair the goods indefinitely. That is why when handing over goods for repair, you should try very hard to ensure that the deadline is noted in writing.
additional information
You have identified defective goods? What to do in this case? The main thing here is not to panic, because with a detailed knowledge of all the nuances and skillful application of them in practice, resolving this situation for the consumer will not be a particular problem, there would be a desire. Immediately after making a claim to the seller, the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights speaks of his obligation to accept this product and, if necessary, conduct a quality check. In practice, the concept of “quality control” is often replaced by “diagnostics”. If, based on the results of this audit, a dispute over a shortage between the buyer and the seller remains relevant, the seller undertakes to conduct an examination. By the way, the consumer is endowed with the absolute right of presence both during the process of checking the quality of the goods and during the examination.
It is important to add that the procedures under consideration with respect to the product do not give the seller extra time to study the materials of the claim. On the contrary, the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights states that the examination and verification of the quality of the goods are carried out in terms that are allotted directly to the consideration of the consumer’s claim.
Fourth stage
Then, when the consumer acquired defective goods, it is advisable to correctly implement a number of activities described in stages in this article. So, the fourth stage, which is appropriate immediately after the completion of the period for the consideration of the claim, has two scenarios.
In the first case, the consumer’s requirements are fully satisfied, that is, one way or another, money is returned to him in exchange for a low-quality product. In the second case, the refusal in terms of satisfying consumer requirements is relevant. It is then that you do not have to give up and purposefully give the seller own money, leaving defective goods yourself, because there remains a great opportunity to turn the situation in their own direction.
Fifth stage: complaint
The fifth stage of satisfying consumer needs means contacting the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being (Rospotrebnadzor) with a written complaint. It is important to add that this kind of event can be combined directly with the delivery of the seller’s own claim to the seller (often consumers do just that).This option is advisable when the consumer realizes that the seller is most likely to refuse, or when the latter’s labor activity shows obvious violations, for example, of certain norms and standards.
After receiving the application document of the consumer, the Federal Service is obliged to organize an on-site inspection of an unscheduled nature together with the prosecutor's office (it is important to agree on a specific time between the subjects of the event). In the process of direct verification, Rospotrebnadzor, as a rule, inspects measures by the seller to comply with legislation on the protection of consumer rights, requires him to provide certain documentation necessary for the implementation of the procedure, and also asks to explain the reason for the complaint received from the consumer.
It is very unpleasant for the seller that the result of the audit may even serve as his administrative liability. As a rule, this is the imposition of a certain amount of money in the form of a fine on the seller, as well as forcing him to satisfy consumer requirements.
It is important to know that the obligation to satisfy them is not the responsibility of the Federal Service under any circumstances. She can only organize some assistance within the framework of advisory activities in the process of pre-trial settlement of the dispute. By the way, the answer to the consumer from the Federal State Service should come within thirty days immediately from the moment of appeal. This fact, of course, must be taken into account in the process of calculating the time spent on the product of the whole procedure.
Sixth stage: going to court
The final stage in the proceedings regarding the consumer's purchase of a defective product is an appeal to the judiciary. It is important to recall that this measure serves as an extreme measure, so it is considered very important how competently everything is organized in the previous stages and, of course, provided in real time. It is not very pleasant today for the relevant state structures that, with the development of society's literacy in the field of law, especially in the field of consumer rights protection, for most people turning to the judicial authorities with similar claims has turned into a hobby. Although, this is not at all surprising, because the vast majority of such claims are one way or another satisfied by the courts.
Extra revenue or tricky consumers
It is interesting that many consumers, who are called “extremist consumers” among business entities, are considering the development of the events described in the previous chapter as an additional source of income. Why? The fact is that along with the return of a certain amount of money that the consumer paid for the defective goods, the judicial authorities, as a rule, award a penalty in the consumer, of course, benefit. In addition, it is relevant today in case of going to court and further resolving the dispute in consumer favor and compensation for the moral damage and losses incurred, as well as a fine (usually its amount is fifty percent of the total amount that is awarded by the judicial authorities directly in favor of the consumer )
It is important to remember: if the consumer nevertheless overcame all of the above steps and came to the final, then you should not be afraid to contact the judicial authorities. By the way, when the money for the purchased defective goods still cannot be returned through the usual reference to its poor quality and the presence of certain shortcomings, it is imperative to try another option.What is his main idea? To implement an interesting method, you should primarily refer to the provision by the seller of inappropriate information about the product, its manufacturer, and so on. However, when choosing the path described in the article for one hundred percent achievement of a positive result for the consumer, it is imperative to get the advice of a professional lawyer in the relevant field.