Oleg Solntsev, the host of NashPotrebNadzor on NTV, answered the most pressing customer questions.
Oleg, can the delay be returned? For example, sausage “with a smell”.
Not just possible, but necessary! The less often we, due to upbringing or modesty, complain and defend our rights, the more often expired goods appear on the shelves, dented cans of canned food, the contents of which are not expired, but can be dangerous. The procedure should be as follows:
1. You can contact the cashier or invite the manager of the sales area of the store, present a receipt, low-quality goods and demand a refund or replacement of goods.
2. You can (or in case of refusal under paragraph 1) write a claim to the store (in free form). There are tons of examples on the Internet – it’s easy. You just need to try it once – and then you will not be stopped!
3. It is possible to make an entry in the complaint book, but this “document” is not legally binding and only works in networks where the responsible management has an interest in correcting deficiencies by responding to customer advice and complaints. Such, alas, are in the minority, but there are.
4. On the website of your territorial office of Rospotrebnadzor, you can write an application in electronic form. Very comfortably. Attach a photo of the check, describe the problem – and the flywheel of justice begins to swing. And although it sways very slowly, in the end, if the controllers react, then the store will not seem a little. Over the past year, large retail chains have received multimillion-dollar fines with enviable regularity.
5. You can also write to our editorial office, and to me personally on the official pages on social networks @nashpotrebnadzor и @osolntsev. There are a lot of messages. Often it is they who become the reason for large investigations, which generate a wave of popular indignation and result in a decrease in the proceeds of the guilty characters, as well as an acceleration of the reaction of the regulatory supervisory authorities, which greatly value our team.
Do I have to pay if I drop and break something in the supermarket?
If deliberately and shouting “For the Airborne Forces!” or “Oleg Solntsev said that there is no need to pay,” then you will have to fork out. And if you accidentally hit it with a trolley or could not disperse with other customers in thick down jackets on a narrow alley in the store, then no. Everything that is not paid at the checkout is, roughly speaking, the property of the store. It is beneficial for the store that you touch the product, study it, be able to impulsively and quickly throw it into the cart, but they must provide that the product is stable on the counter. And if you accidentally break something with, then:
do not download your license, but politely explain to the staff that you do not consider yourself to be guilty and you did not have any malicious intent to turn cognac into shards for 20 rubles;
calmly and politely explain your version of what happened;
do not try to pay for goods that were broken by accident. If the store staff insists, then call the police and record your conversation on video / audio, having previously politely warned all participants in the conversation about this intention;
do not leave with the staff in the back rooms. Stay visible.
How do they disguise a counterfeit as a quality product and can it be distinguished “by eye”?
There is professional “cosmetics” for fish: special drops drip into dim eyes, and gills are tinted. On fake cans of condensed milk, the date of manufacture is not squeezed out on the upper surface, but is printed in ink. If you have cinnamon in front of you, then the country of manufacture can only be Sri Lanka or India. And if China or Southeast Asia, then this is not cinnamon, but its distant relative – cassia, which is less aromatic and poisonous (if you overdo it). But hundreds of times cheaper. And there are thousands of such examples.
Products we overpay for – are there any analogues of unreasonably expensive products?
Do not overpay for “hypoallergenic” and “farm” products, the prefixes “eco”, “bio” – there are no such terms in Russian legislation yet, which means there are no standards for the production of such goods. Often these are ordinary ordinary products for which a marketing margin has been made. Don’t overpay for drinking water, toothpaste, sugar and salt. These are the products with the largest advertising component, they are all safe, and the shades of their quality are not so important.
“Non-refundable” – what really can’t be returned?
You can return it! The store staff wants Russian laws not to work on their territory, but the store is not even private property. The same gift cards in each store appeared precisely on the basis that the client would not have time to use them or would not be able to fully use up everything to a penny and he could be told that gift cards cannot be returned. But this is not the case! It is worth writing a claim and sending it by registered mail to the address of the organization – you must return the money. Promotional goods are no different from others – this is another bike. Such goods are subject to the rules of the law, like all others.
I am a journalist and also a customer. You just need to know your rights! Then we will make our stores more honest, the dining table is cheaper and more appetizing, and in general life will be more convenient and safe.