November 6, 2015 at 10:39How to eliminate consumer claims to the site
- Tutorial
How to avoid consumer complaints about the quality, completeness and delivery time of goods sold in the online store? Taking into account the jurisprudence, for this it is enough to organize the implementation through the trading platform according to the agent scheme.
The owner of the trading platform, using the agent scheme of working with sellers, acts as an intermediary. Therefore, legislation on consumer protection does not apply to him and he is not responsible for the quality of the goods, their delivery time, etc. These findings apply equally to the provision of services and the execution of work ordered through the Internet exchange.
The seller will be responsible directly for the violation of consumer rights. When considering consumer claims, the court is guided by the terms of the user agreement, offer and other documents posted on the website of the trading platform or seller.
Since relations with consumers and other participants in trading floors are built on the basis of the conditions for the provision of services voluntarily accepted when starting to use the site and / or placing an order, pay attention to their contents.
As an illustration, we give the latest case on consumer protection with the participation of Yandex (see the decision of the Kuntsevsky District Court of Moscow dated 01/27/2015 in case No. 2-587 / 2015 ).
Details of the solution are hidden under the cut.
Based on the above practice, we have developed the minimum necessary package of documents for the trading platform that are suitable for other forms of marketplace organization. For example, in online exchanges with lead generation and payment acceptance through the site, the same set is used.
The package consists of 4 documents:
The document regulates the procedure for concluding an agency agreement with the seller. It is necessary for:
- promotion in the service (catalog, selection, priority, etc.);
- sales to users of goods (services) on behalf of the seller;
- collection of payments and transfers to the seller minus the commission of the service.
The document indicates the procedure for processing orders to conclude transactions and accept payment, the timing and procedure for settlements, reporting (electronic document management), the use of a simple electronic signature to confirm actions using an account and email, and limitation of liability.
The document relates to placing an order with the seller, payment, transfer of goods (provision of services), the use of a simple electronic signature to confirm actions using the account and e-mail of the client and seller, limiting the liability of the agent and seller.
The document governs the general conditions for registration and free use of the functionality of the site of the trading platform, incl. the procedure and consequences of posting content (description of the contractor, product / service, application process), limitation of liability, the procedure for using a simple electronic signature to confirm actions using the user’s account and email.
The document establishes the procedure for processing personal data and information collected automatically. Required by the Federal Law "On Personal Data" for each site on which personal data is collected. It does not require registration with Roskomnadzor and obtaining written consent to the processing of personal data.
The owner of the trading platform, using the agent scheme of working with sellers, acts as an intermediary. Therefore, legislation on consumer protection does not apply to him and he is not responsible for the quality of the goods, their delivery time, etc. These findings apply equally to the provision of services and the execution of work ordered through the Internet exchange.
The seller will be responsible directly for the violation of consumer rights. When considering consumer claims, the court is guided by the terms of the user agreement, offer and other documents posted on the website of the trading platform or seller.
Since relations with consumers and other participants in trading floors are built on the basis of the conditions for the provision of services voluntarily accepted when starting to use the site and / or placing an order, pay attention to their contents.
As an illustration, we give the latest case on consumer protection with the participation of Yandex (see the decision of the Kuntsevsky District Court of Moscow dated 01/27/2015 in case No. 2-587 / 2015 ).
Details of the solution are hidden under the cut.
Court Motivation
- Yandex is not a manufacturer, importer of goods, and also does not perform any work through the Yandex.Market service for the consumer.
- Yandex is not the actual seller of the goods. The preamble of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights enshrines the requirement that the seller of goods (contractor for the provision of services) and the consumer must conclude a sales contract (paid service agreement).
- When providing the Yandex.Market service, including the ability to place an order and pay for it, Yandex does not transfer the thing (product) to the consumer and does not participate in transferring it to the consumer. The transfer of goods to the consumer under the purchase and sale agreement concluded by him with the seller is carried out directly by the seller. The specified provision is reflected in section 4 “Delivery of goods” of the Terms of ordering and payment for goods on the Yandex.Market Service.
- Under the organizations that perform the functions of the seller (manufacturer), we mean the organizations with which the seller (manufacturer) has concluded agreements to perform certain actions to fulfill the obligations of the seller (manufacturer) provided for in Art. 18 of the Law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" on the requirements in connection with shortcomings of goods. An agreement with an online store owned by Ekom LLC does not impose such obligations on Yandex.
- The Yandex.Market service is an information and reference system that contains: reference information about goods, services, advertising materials in the form of product offers of specific sellers (stores), user information about goods / stores (reviews).
- In accordance with the terms of the User Agreement and the Yandex.Market Rules, services to provide access to the reference information of the Yandex.Market service are provided to the consumer free of charge. Payment for Yandex services under an agreement with an online store does not indicate that services are paid to consumers.
- Yandex acts as an advertising distributor, placing an offer to purchase a specific product in a particular advertiser’s store at a specific price specified by the advertiser.
- By virtue of the Terms for stores, Yandex acts as an agent, and the store as a principal. Moreover, all transactions are concluded on behalf of and at the expense of the principal (online store).
- Thus, the law on consumer protection does not apply to the relationship between the user and Yandex regarding any way the user uses the Yandex.Market service.
The necessary package of documents for the site
Based on the above practice, we have developed the minimum necessary package of documents for the trading platform that are suitable for other forms of marketplace organization. For example, in online exchanges with lead generation and payment acceptance through the site, the same set is used.
The package consists of 4 documents:
- Public offer for sellers;
- Rules for the sale of goods / services;
- Terms of use;
- Privacy policy.
1) Public offer for sellers
The document regulates the procedure for concluding an agency agreement with the seller. It is necessary for:
- promotion in the service (catalog, selection, priority, etc.);
- sales to users of goods (services) on behalf of the seller;
- collection of payments and transfers to the seller minus the commission of the service.
The document indicates the procedure for processing orders to conclude transactions and accept payment, the timing and procedure for settlements, reporting (electronic document management), the use of a simple electronic signature to confirm actions using an account and email, and limitation of liability.
2) Rules for the sale of goods (services)
The document relates to placing an order with the seller, payment, transfer of goods (provision of services), the use of a simple electronic signature to confirm actions using the account and e-mail of the client and seller, limiting the liability of the agent and seller.
3) User agreement
The document governs the general conditions for registration and free use of the functionality of the site of the trading platform, incl. the procedure and consequences of posting content (description of the contractor, product / service, application process), limitation of liability, the procedure for using a simple electronic signature to confirm actions using the user’s account and email.
4) Privacy Policy
The document establishes the procedure for processing personal data and information collected automatically. Required by the Federal Law "On Personal Data" for each site on which personal data is collected. It does not require registration with Roskomnadzor and obtaining written consent to the processing of personal data.