How stores deceive customers: experts uncovered the “murky” schemes of retailers

“Even for returning a defective product you can get compensation”

There are more than 9.5 thousand laws in Russia. Obviously, not everyone can get acquainted with such a volume of information, and, unfortunately, unscrupulous sellers take advantage of this. The discrepancy between the cost of the product on the price tag and on the receipt, the lack of discounts on announced promotions, and body kit are already well-known tricks of retailers. How else do stores deceive customers? Experts told MK about this.

Artem Deev, head of the analytical department at AMarkets: “There are several main ways of “relatively fair” deception of customers in grocery stores. Firstly, the body kit is as old as time: the scales may be installed incorrectly, twisted, with a magnet, and so on. Secondly, the packaging: 0.93 ml of milk instead of a liter, 950 grams of flour instead of a kilogram, and even the ever-memorable “nine eggs”. Thirdly, the price tags have a catch: the price may be indicated not for the package (a piece of cheese, a pack of sausages, etc.), but for 100 grams. product; the price may be indicated less than it actually is, because the seller “forgot” to change the price tag to the current one; or a first-class product bears a premium price tag.

In order not to fall for tricks and save your money, you need to be careful. Check the packaging volume, check the price units, and if in doubt, weigh it. If you have any doubts, refuse to purchase. It is also useful to make a shopping list in advance, at home, and subsequently not buy goods that are not on the list: often stores use marketing tricks to push a person into an impulsive purchase.”

Anastasia Chumak, co-head of investor rights protection practice at Intercession: “The buyer must understand that his interests are protected by the Consumer Protection Law. So, when you go into a store, take something at a discounted price, and at the checkout you are faced with the fact that the seller says that they do not have such a promotion, you can demand to sell the product at the stated price. You, together with the seller or store manager, must go through and fix the very price tag that you were counting on. In a store, the price tag for a product is not just a piece of paper, but a public offer, and the store cannot refuse to sell the product at the specified price tag. If a conflict situation arises, you can file a complaint with Rospotrebnadzor and the courts of general jurisdiction. To provide evidence, take photos/videos of price tags and record the stated amount from sellers; you can take a photo of the cash register screen, which displays the cost of the “punched” item.

As for weighing, large retailers either provide the opportunity for the consumer to weigh the goods themselves, or weigh the goods at the checkout. The cashier, as a rule, is not interested in marking someone down. From the legal side, it is possible to attract an unscrupulous seller, but for this you need perfectly working scales, a witness and recording of the difference in weights between the seller and you. You can simply carry hand scales with you, the indicators of which you trust, if this point is important to you.

Small business merchants often operate by accepting cash or card transfers only, without writing a check. By law they are required to provide a receipt. If it is absent, you will not be able to make claims about the quality of the goods if you have them. Therefore, by accepting these payment terms, you also assume the associated risks.”

Ildar Mukhametzyanov, lawyer at the online legal aid service: “It would seem that so much has already been said and written on this topic that people should be aware of all the possible tricks. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. Some retailers continue to abuse the law by taking advantage of gaps in customer knowledge. For example, sellers continue to repeat that technically complex goods – smartphones, laptops, TVs – cannot be returned, and a refund is only possible when the items are faulty. But there is a very important exception: if the same phone was purchased in an online store, then you can return it within one week from the date of delivery, even if you don’t like the color or just change your mind (Clause 4, Article 26.1 of the Law “On the Protection of Rights” consumers”). If the seller does not provide a leaflet along with the product indicating the rules and procedure for returns and exchanges, then 7 days are automatically extended to 3 months. But at the same time, you need to remember the mandatory conditions for return: preservation of the presentation, factory tags and labels, as well as production packaging.

If we talk about returning goods, then when returning goods with a defect, the buyer can legally demand compensation for the difference between the current cost of the goods and the price on the receipt (Clause 4, Article 24 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”). For example, you bought a phone for 28 thousand rubles, but after a month stripes appeared on the screen. The warranty is still valid, you go to the store, they cannot fix the device, so they issue a refund of 28 thousand rubles. But a similar phone now costs 8 thousand rubles more. This means you can demand a refund of 36 thousand rubles. All this is done so that the buyer can purchase a similar product (paragraph 8, paragraph 1, article 18 of the law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”).”