Russian sues marketplace for undelivered tea

Even though the money was previously returned to him

Returning money to the buyer after a purchase and sale agreement has been concluded with him is not a sufficient reason for not fulfilling his obligations under this agreement. This ruling of the Supreme Court greatly disappointed representatives of a well-known marketplace who were suing a resident of the city of Ivanovo, who was not delivered the tea he ordered.

The story began back in February last year, when a resident of the “city of brides” decided to treat himself to tea with lemon balm. He ordered it on the marketplace and paid for the order (89 rubles for 85 g of tea), the goods were supposed to be delivered to the delivery point in 3 days. However, the very next day the company unilaterally terminated the purchase and sale agreement and returned the money: the required tea was not in stock at that moment. Fortunately, in the terms of sale of goods posted on the site, there was a clause that allowed the company to terminate the contract if the goods were out of stock. The man considered himself wounded and went to court.

In his claim, he asked to oblige the defendant to fulfill his obligations under the contract. Collect interest from the marketplace for using its money, for unlawful termination of the contract. Plus, there is a penalty for violating the terms of delivery of goods, compensation for moral damage, a fine for failure to comply with consumer requirements, and reimbursement of expenses for legal and postal services. And finally, please acknowledge the clause in the terms of sale of goods that he did not like.

The court sided with him – the disputed clause was declared invalid. In favor of the Ivanovo resident, compensation for moral damage, a fine and postal expenses were recovered – only 821 rubles. The rest was denied to him.

Representatives of the marketplace did not agree with this decision and tried to appeal it in appeal and cassation, but lost there too. Then they appealed to the Supreme Court with a complaint against the decisions of the lower courts. And they achieved their goal: the decisions of the appeal and cassation courts were overturned. True, not because they are unfair to the company, but because the courts did not require the company to fulfill the purchase and sale agreement. The court rulings have been overturned, and the case will be considered again in the appellate instance.