SUBJECT TO RETURN!

Quite often one comes across in shops, kiosks and even chemist's shops the laconic and dogmatic notice on the door or even at the check-out: "Purchased goods cannot be returned or exchanged." Although on the competitive market when, it would seem, retailers go out of their way to make a good impression on the buyer, this message seems, at least, to send out the wrong signals. The trouble is that it is not only the buyers, but also the sellers themselves, who do not always have full information about the rights of the consumer, and if they do, then, for understandable reasons, they are in no hurry to make it clear. And the point here is that it is not just the fact that an item can indeed be returned. There are many other little subtleties here regarding different categories of goods, whether it is food, office equipment or medicines.

Knowledge of the law

This is what our heroes said about their knowledge of consumers' rights.

Taxi-driver Aliyar from the village of Buzovna has never heard that goods can be returned. "In our chemist's shop it says 'Purchased goods may not be returned'", he says, "which means I have been warned." "Say I buy something and it turns out it is not the right medicine, so, of course, I will be able to return it. Nothing more needs to be said. Just to return something without a reason would be wrong; here everyone knows one another so they wouldn't take it that way."

Here is Aygun, an accountant from Baku, who is always visiting dress shops: "I have never seen this sort of notice in expensive shops because they worry about their reputation, but in your average shop, yes it sometimes happens," she says. "Someone says that goods can't be returned, sometimes there is a notice saying you can return or exchange goods within three days. If it is a shop with a good reputation, then they should take back an item if it is not the right quality. And not just that, shoes, too, if they are too tight. I remember once I bought a pair of shoes that had been widely advertised in a shop where the main slogan was: 'Guaranteed for a week.' I purchased the shoes, and on the sixth day they were useless. In the shop I was not exactly welcomed with open arms; this was probably not the first time, and they literally counted the time by the minute to see whether it was too late for them to still be under guarantee. They refused to return the money for the purchase so I had to exchange the shoes. I was very sorry that I didn't know the law."

Anar, 30, an engineer, has a different story: "I had this netbook which was damaged and I had such trouble trying to prove at customer services that it wasn't my fault, but the manufacturer's," he says. "I spent ages with customer services, almost a month. They kept my netbook, waiting for the parts they ordered to arrive. I don't know what the law is, and so I have no idea whether this month should be recouped from the term of the guarantee."

Where are the guarantees?

So, what kind of goods, for how long and for what reason can be taken back? First of all, you can exchange or return any item (at your own discretion) within 14 days, not counting the date of purchase. The only exceptions are items with a shelf-life expiry date which can only be returned if this date has not expired. Second, some categories of goods have, so to speak, additional bonuses to the benefit of the purchaser.

These bonuses usually apply when purchasing technical equipment. For example, if you find an inherent defect in a television set (or any other type of equipment) you have purchased, then irrespective of the period of the guarantee, and even if there isn't one, you have the right to return the item within three years.

Furthermore, few people are aware that the time of discovery of the defective equipment under repair guarantee does not come within the warranty period. In other words, if a tablet which you have just purchased suddenly becomes defective and then spends a whole month with customer services, then your guarantee service period is increased by that month. But if you exchange a defective item for a new one, the warranty period is calculated from the time of exchange. Moreover, if the purchased item is too heavy (say, a washing machine) and it suddenly becomes defective, then the repair process is carried out at the expense of the shop or (at your request) an official representative of the manufacturing company.  It is not only customers but at times shop staff who are not aware of all this. 

As far as foodstuffs and medicines are concerned, then for obvious reasons you can only return these before the sell-by date expires.

First of all, demand and keep a receipt. With the aid of a receipt you can prove the time of purchase of an item. Accordingly, never buy goods in shops where there is no cash till. There are fewer and fewer such shops but some still exist. This particularly applies to Chinese household equipment which has a tendency to malfunction not in the shop, where the kind-hearted assistant "checks" to see if it is working or not, but, say, in a week's time.

Second, remember your rights. You are entitled to return any item of goods within two weeks of purchase.

Third, food and manufactured goods have a different specification. You can't break open a bottle of wine with your friends and then try and prove to the shop that it was of poor quality. Don't forget the sell-by date. If the matter concerns foodstuffs, in order to prove you are right you must be more vigilant and on-the-ball.

It cuts both ways

World Consumer Rights Day is marked on 15 March. It was on that day in 1962 that US President John Kennedy signed a law to this effect for the first time in history. In Azerbaijan the law "On consumers' rights" was signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on 19 September 1995. But in Europe it has reached the point where a special term "consumer extremism" has emerged. It basically means that the consumer often manipulates the law, resorting to all kinds of tricks and wiles, not always honest, in order to reap the maximum benefit. The so-called "Coffee Cup Case" - Stella Liebeck versus McDonald's in 1992 - is often used to illustrate this term. The elderly American received third-degree burns to the skin of her hips, buttocks and groin as a result of excessively hot coffee sold to her in one of McDonald's restaurants. The company at first refused to pay for her medical operations but eventually after legal wrangling it paid her compensation of $460,000.

Today the USA and Russia can boast of the staunchest laws in relation to consumers. And it is there that "consumer extremism" is a specific problem. In 2006, for example, the damage incurred by American companies from this kind of thing amounted to $230bn. That same year in Russia business suffered to the tune of $158bn. So far in Azerbaijan this kind of problem is unknown.