Scammers deceived you on the Internet: how to get your money back

Online shopping. How to easily return money for a product you are not satisfied with

Recently, shopping in online stores has become commonplace, especially before the holidays. This saves time, and prices are usually lower there. On the other hand, a virtual purchase is akin to a pig in a poke - the buyer sees the product in person only after payment. We offer answers to typical consumer questions.

Alexey Bobrov , head of the legal department of the Moscow Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights 1. My husband and I often order goods on the Internet - groceries, clothes and even equipment. Our purchases are usually delivered to our home by couriers. Do they have to give us cash receipts or is a copy of the payment receipt sufficient? If there is no receipt, can I make a claim against the product? Since the courier accepts cash as payment, he must give you a cash receipt (Clause 1, Article 2 of Federal Law No. 54-FZ dated May 22, 2003 “On the use of cash register equipment when making cash payments and payments using payment cards” ).
For these purposes, there are special portable CCP models. However, the absence of a cash receipt does not deprive you of the right to make claims against the store. As proof of the purchase, you can refer to any document confirming this fact (for example, a sales receipt, a payment receipt given to you by the courier), and even to witness testimony (clause 5 of article 18 of the Federal Law of 02/07/92 No. 2300 -1 “On the protection of consumer rights." 2. I ordered clothes for my husband from an online catalog. Some of them didn’t fit him in size, and a week after receiving the goods I called this store to ask how to return the goods and get it back money. I was told that I had already missed the deadline for returning. Allegedly, when purchasing online, it is not two weeks, but one. Is this really true?

This is not entirely true. Especially for distance selling (including via the Internet), a rule has been established according to which you can return any product within seven days after receiving it (Clause 4, Article 26.1 of Law No. 2300-1). But, firstly, this only applies to returns without explanation, that is, when you simply changed your mind about the purchase. Secondly, if along with the product you were not given written information about the product, the procedure and terms for returning it, you can return it within three months, not a week. In addition, there is the possibility of returning a product specifically due to the fact that it does not fit in size, style or color. According to Article 25 of Law No. 2300-1, such returns, regardless of the method of purchase, are possible within 14 days after receipt of the goods. However, in this case, you cannot immediately demand a refund. First, you need to ask to exchange the product for a similar one, but of the desired size, color, etc. And only if on the day you contact the store with a complaint there is no suitable product on sale, you can refuse the product and demand a refund. 3. I ordered an expensive toy for my child as a New Year's gift. When the courier brought her, it turned out that “in real life” she did not look as attractive as in the photo. I wanted to refuse the purchase, but the courier said that after placing an order on the website, I was already obliged to accept and pay for the goods. This is true? No, you can refuse an online purchase at any time before the transfer of the goods (Clause 4, Article 26.1 of Law No. 2300-1). Even if the website of the virtual store says that after placing an order it cannot be canceled or can only be canceled for a limited period of time, these conditions do not apply, since they infringe on the rights of consumers (Clause 1, Article 16 of Law No. 2300-1). Therefore, you could not accept or pay for the goods. True, in such a situation, the failed buyer must reimburse the seller for the necessary expenses incurred in connection with the implementation of actions to fulfill the contract (clause 4 of Article 497 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In other words, pay for shipping. Since you finally took the goods and paid for them, now you can return them without explanation and demand your money back minus the shipping costs. Of course, if the period established in Article 26.1 of Law No. 2300-1 has not expired. 4. I ordered a cell phone through an online store. Payment was via mail - cash on delivery. If, upon opening the parcel, I discover that they sent me the wrong model or the wrong color, can I demand the post office return my money and send the phone back to the seller at his expense? You can demand a refund from the online store, but not from the post office. The post office only provides services for forwarding postal items and subsequent money transfers. The essence of cash on delivery is that the post office issues the parcel to the addressee only after payment and transfers the received amount to the sender (clause 2 of the Rules for the provision of postal services, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 15, 2005 No. 221). That is, you will not even be able to open the parcel to check the contents until you pay for it. By sending a phone in a color other than the one you ordered, the seller violates the condition on the assortment of goods (clause 1 of Article 467 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Of course, if the color you need was noted in your order. In this case, you can refuse the goods and payment for them (clause 1 of Article 468 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The seller must be informed about this within a reasonable time (clause 4 of Article 468 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In our opinion, in this case, by analogy, one can rely on a 14-day period for an application for the exchange of goods that do not match the color or model (Article 25 of Law No. 2300-1). By sending a phone in a color other than the one you ordered, the seller violates your right to receive goods that correspond to the description (Clause 4, Article 4 of Law No. 2300-1). Therefore, both when exchanging and returning goods, you can also demand compensation for losses (Clause 2, Article 13 of Law No. 2300-1). In particular, compensation for postal services for delivery of goods to you, as well as for delivery of returned goods to the seller. 5. I bought a digital camera through an online store. A week later he broke down (I suspect it was a defect). I want to change it or get my money back, but I don’t have the store address - only a phone number that is always busy. But I found the address of the Russian representative office of the manufacturing company. Can I file a complaint there? Due to defects in the product, you have the right to exchange or refuse it with a refund from both the seller and the manufacturer (clause 2, clause 3 of Article 18 of Law No. 2300-1). But the representative office accepts consumer claims only if the parent organization has vested it with such powers. If the functions of the Russian representative office of a foreign manufacturer are limited only to marketing, then they cannot accept any consumer claims on behalf of the parent company. But there is such a thing as an “authorized organization”. This is a company with which the seller or manufacturer of goods has entered into an agreement to perform certain functions, in particular, to accept and satisfy consumer complaints in connection with the purchase of low-quality goods. If the manufacturer of your camera or the online store has such an authorized organization, then its name and address must be indicated among the information about the product that is transferred to the buyer simultaneously with the product itself (clause 2 of article 10 of law No. 2300-1) . You can present any demands to the authorized organization in connection with the purchase of low-quality goods, including refusal of the goods and return of money (Clause 2 of Article 18 of Law No. 2300-1). If you do not have information about the authorized organization, you can contact the importer of the goods, that is, the organization that imported it into the territory of Russia for sale (clause 3 of Article 18 of Law No. 2300-1). The name and address of this organization are also indicated as part of the product information. 6. I bought a laptop through a virtual store. Literally immediately the marriage appeared. The store manager agreed by phone to return my money, but only for the product itself, without taking into account the cost of delivery by courier (it is indicated separately in the invoice). This is right? It depends on what grounds you want to return the laptop. If it is due to defects, then in addition to the money paid for the product, the store must also compensate you for losses caused as a result of purchasing a product of inadequate quality (Clause 1, Article 18 of Law No. 2300-1). As compensation for damages, you can demand compensation for your expenses in the form of payment for delivery of goods. If you return the laptop without specifying the reasons (based on Article 26.1 of Law No. 2300-1), then the store must return only the money you paid for the product. But despite this, returning the product for no reason may be a better option than rejecting it due to defects. The fact is that the seller can check the quality of the goods and, if a dispute arises about the causes of defects, order an examination (Clause 5, Article 18 of Law No. 2300-1). There is no guarantee that the result will be in your favor. If the experts come to the conclusion that the defects of the product arose after you received it due to improper use, then the money will not be returned to you, and you will also have to reimburse the cost of the examination or challenge its results in court (Clause 5, Article 18 of Law No. 2300-1). 7. Two months ago I placed an order for the purchase of computer parts and paid for the order by bank transfer. The website says that the goods are delivered by courier within three days after the money is received in the account. However, I still haven’t received the goods, and on the phone they tell me: “The goods are out of stock, it’s unknown when they will be, wait.” What can I demand in such a situation? You can, at your choice, request a refund of the advance payment or transfer of the goods within a time period that you specify. Moreover, in any case, you are due a penalty in the amount of 0.5 percent of the amount of the transferred payment for each day of delay (Article 23.1 of Law No. 2300-1). If you require a refund, then interest is calculated from the day the goods should have been delivered to you until the day the payment amount is received. If you request the transfer of the goods, interest is calculated from the same date until the day you receive the goods. The maximum amount of interest you can claim is limited by the amount of advance payment for the goods. That is, the maximum that you can get from an online store is your double payment (if you require a refund) or the product and the amount of payment for it (if you require the product). In your case, the day the goods were supposed to be delivered to you depends on the date the money was credited to the online store account. To calculate interest, you can find out when your money arrived in the store's account by making a request to trace the payment from the bank through which you paid. 8. I bought a dress, but it didn’t suit me, and I decided to return it. But when I contacted the online store, they told me that they would accept the dress back, but they would not give me the money, but would credit it to my personal account in their store, and I could order something else for that amount. It is legal? No, it's not legal.
In any case, when the buyer has the right to refuse the goods, the seller must return the money, and not force the buyer to make a new purchase for this amount. If you refuse the goods without specifying a reason (in accordance with Article 26.1 of Law No. 2300-1), then the money must be returned to you within 10 days from the date of presentation of such a demand. And if you return a dress because the size, style or color did not suit you, then the money must be returned to you within three days from the date of return of the goods.

Contacting the police and prosecutor's office

Next, you need to file complaints with law enforcement agencies - the Police and the Prosecutor's Office. This can be done online or by visiting a branch in person. A fraud complaint is filed against the person who received your money. If the recipient’s region is known (registration, registration, address), you need to indicate it in the “place of event” item, this item is available when filing an online complaint on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website. The complaint itself is written in free form - you describe in detail the essence of the situation, indicating dates, phone numbers, accounts and amounts. If possible, attach screenshots confirming your words.

Unfortunately, the detection rate for cybercrimes is quite low. The whole difficulty lies in the “smart” actions of scammers who have learned to properly cover their tracks and hide their real names. Today's Internet allows you to do a lot:

• left-handed electronic wallets and virtual cards issued with gray numbers are used;
• one-day payment systems registered abroad are used to accept transfers;
• transfers are made to organizations registered in Cyprus or Gibraltar;
• schemes are being created in which the fraudster can prove that he “received money for the service provided to clients” (we wrote above about paid subscriptions).

An example of a police report against an online store:

An example of a police report about fraud in an online store