If you buy a garment and find out that it has a defect or does not fit you when you return home or the pair of shoes is not comfortable, you have the right to return the product within 14 days, on condition that you present the receipt. If the problem is not solved by the seller or the company for which this works, inspectors for consumer rights protection can be notified of this. The Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance Agency last year received almost 2 500 complaints. Over 2 300 of these were dealt with, while the others are being examined.
Contacted by IPN, the Agency’s director Iurie Eremia said most of the complaints were recorded in the second half of the year. A part of the complaints referred to the improper labeling of products, while others to nonconforming products and products with the expired used-by date. When the person files a complaint, this should present the sales slip or the contract for the provision of services so as to show that the product or service was obtained from a particular business entity.
Some of the products cannot be returned after they are purchased. These include the jewels, bed linen and underwear, socks, toothbrushes, combs, hairpins, curlers, tweezers, shavers, perfumes and cosmetics, cotton, wool or silk fabrics, cables, building and finishing materials, dishware and accessories for laying the table or articles for keeping and storing food. The household chemicals, pesticides and agrochemical preparations, articles for the prevention and treatment of diseases in domestic conditions, contact lenses and toys can also not be returned.
Among the products that cannot be returned, but can be repaired if they break down are motor vehicles, bicycles, trailers, agricultural machinery, domestic appliances, radio-electronic devices, computation and multiplication equipment, telephones and cameras, electric musical instruments, etc.
The products that can be returned must be brought back within 14 days of the purchase day together with the sales slip. Garments should have the label on them. The consumer can ask to have the product replaced with another one of the same quality. If this does not like the color, shape or other aspects, he can receive a refund. If a person bought a shirt and later ascertained that it does not match the suit, this can ask for a shirt of another color instead. If the product cannot be replaced, the consumer can claim a refund and the money must be paid when the product is returned.
The consumer can return nonconforming products if these have a defect identified after they were bought or while using them, but this didn’t appear through the consumer’s fault. In the case of products for which a guarantee is issued, the faulty articles can be repaired free and the trader must temporarily provide the consumer with another product during the repair period, within three days. In case of large products, such as washing machines, the trader covers the transportation costs. Penalties in favor of the consumer are imposed if the repair period is not respected.
For goods purchased in installments, the consumer benefits from the same rights as in the case of the other goods. If a person bought a telephone from a business entity in installments, with a loan from a micro-finance company, and the faulty telephone cannot be repaired or replaced, the consumer will be refunded the sum paid in cash.
According to the Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance Agency, some of the representatives of the business community are ready to solve the problem amicably, while others avoid providing an answer within 14 days, waiting for the consumers to give up. If the business entity does not comply with the law, the citizen can submit a complaint to the Agency and can later go to the shop together with an inspector to demand a refund.
