Consumer extremism article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Consumer extremism: nature, forms of manifestation and countermeasures

- the behavior of consumers of goods and services, with the aim of obtaining a certain benefit and income, manipulating the legislation on consumer rights for personal gain.

But is it true for Russian realities?

Practice shows that it is impossible to sue compensation in the amount of $160,000 for a cup of coffee spilled on yourself in our country. Offenses in the sphere of trade and services in terms of their significance, based on the scarcity of the amounts awarded and despite the public rhetoric of some officials, they are rated extremely low. Which gives reason to believe that the consumer in Russia is not as important an entity (and therefore not as protected) as in other countries where such compensation is possible. Hence, consumer extremism in our country cannot cause the same popularity of quality.

In Russia, often, consumer extremism means (more precisely, this is how trade employees are trying to impose on us) a manifestation of their activity by a citizen that has long been trampled into the ground. At the suggestion of sellers, performers and their associations (and sometimes some public figures and public organizations) through the media, there is a deliberate distortion of this concept.

Probably the main example is the demand for payment of a penalty. The amount of penalties can easily exceed the value of the disputed item, or approach it. This is a common practice. P try to present such a demand to a car dealer or developer and see his reaction - these gentlemen, who have (and are) allowing such violations, will accuse you of wanting to get rich at their expense. Even taking into account the reduction in the size of the penalty by the court, the amounts awarded can be quite impressive. And such "consumer extremism", by which the consumer protects his legal rights and expects no more than what is written in the law or the contract, and has nothing to do with the desire to receive compensation from the upper measures, is presented as something shameful. It is clear that there are exceptions, but to get rich on them will not work out much.

You can certainly think that the intention is to sue more money(compared to the cost of goods, work or services) is dishonorable. But what was it originally called for? The actions of the guilty party that violated the terms of the contract, the rights of the consumer, forcing the consumer to spend additional time, effort, nerves and funds to protect their rights. But it has become a practice that the proportionality of the amounts awarded for causing harm to health, property of consumers, violation of their other rights, is assessed unfairly. The seller (executor) must be aware of and bear the risks and consequences for dishonest activity, but the current legislation and established practice does not strongly force him to do this. Sometimes, breaking the law brings more benefits than compliance.

Below is an example of real consumer extremism in my practice.

One girl bought a fur coat worth 100 tr.
She brought it home, took off the label (apparently it interferes with thinking and measuring), and began to think, measure, think again, measure again, in the end she thought up and measured - she doesn’t like the fur coat, it doesn’t fit, she wants another.

The girl carried a fur coat to the store for a return, they say 2 weeks and all that. But the seller refused her:
- Your seal on the label is broken. But we are ready to meet you and exchange, but we will not return the money.
- Yes, how is it? - the girl was indignant - I do not need an exchange, but I need MY money!
- As you wish, - the seller finished the conversation.

The girl came home, began to think, wonder what to do. Called me.
I began to think how to return the fur coat. And here it should be clarified - the girl is a friend. No matter how ignoble her intentions towards the seller (within reasonable limits, of course), but how can you not help out by acquaintance?).

#1 Refer, they say, the label is not a factory one, but a deed done by the seller! And in article 25 of the RFZPP it is said only about the safety of factory labels. Alas, the factory label turned out to be. Yes, and navryatli the court would become obsessed with the origin of labels.
#2 Look into the nearest workshop, and pay how much they will ask for the restoration of the seal! Alas - "impossible" - said the master during the inspection.
#3 Get the same seal and hang it instead of the broken one! Alas, the seal turned out to be branded, factory, with an engraving of an individual manufacturer.
#4 The seller said something about replacing it with another product of his own free will ...! And here is the way out. After all, another label with a seal will hang on a new fur coat - complete. And it doesn’t really matter which new coat to change to, anyway, get rid of it later (and in case it doesn’t work out for some reason, it’s better to pick up a suitable new coat just in case), the main thing is to in the cash or sales receipt, the amount and article corresponded. And then the second fur coat, after a couple of days, meeting the same 14-day period, and incur for a refund.
And here, a citizen who knows the law on the protection of consumer rights should definitely notice - and after all, the law gives the consumer the right to initially demand a refund for goods of good quality (with the exception of distance selling, failure to provide mandatory information about the product, and sales by samples in certain cases). Yes, and the period of 14 days is the exchange period, not the return period.
That's right, the consumer has no such right to demand money right away. Only through the impossibility of exchange.
And how to create the impossibility of exchange? It is not difficult - to study the seller's product range in advance, and even ask for an exchange for a product of such a color / size / style / configuration, which, as the consumer already knows in advance, is not available from the seller on the day the exchange request is submitted. Well, then, with a calm soul and without a twinge of conscience, in writing to demand a refund due to the fact that there is nothing to change for.
The seller, of course, can remember that the exchange of the first fur coat did not take place according to the law, but according to the good will of the seller, to which part 2 of article 25 of the RFP does not apply. Yes, but the seller will hardly realize to reflect his good will in writing (and if he does, will it have legal force? - Not a fact), and the consumer, no matter how hard he tried, "could not remember" that before that he had changed some kind of fur coat from the seller, who was still with a broken seal. And even if he remembered, it is not forbidden to change things at least 100 times within a 14-day period. And the fact that the first fur coat was with a broken seal, so it seemed to the seller, or he violated it himself, or slips the wrong fur coat.
But what was described did not materialize, the seller's good will did not turn against him. The girl did not carry the fur coat to the seller according to the planned scenario. It's for the best. This means that the seller will not be burned on his generosity, which means that another needy consumer will meet in the future.

Consumer extremism

consumer racketeers" or " consumer extremists do not pay stamp duty. are absent in the law.

Forms of extremist activity

Based on the forms of manifestation of extremist activity, the following types can be distinguished.

Defensive measures

1. Precautions:

1.1. The organization of preventive activities through the establishment of work with dissatisfied consumers will, if not prevent, then at least reduce the risk of the emergence of extremist "individuals" with the goal of moral satisfaction.

Systematization and analysis of information on the development of consumer extremism and various forms its manifestation is also a necessary measure of successful counteraction.

1.2. Creation of a unified information base, which will contain information about all manifestations of the activity of extremist consumers. The formation of the base can be carried out at the expense of information provided by retail market participants and manufacturers. Such a base will allow you to quickly identify an extremist and take adequate measures to counter him. In addition, in the course of work, extremists make many mistakes. If they are systematized, it will allow to collect a weighty evidence base to bring such extremists to justice.

2. Organization of effective opposition to extremist attacks.

As a defensive measure and counteract "extreme" behavior of the consumer, the entrepreneur must implement:

collection of evidence of the wrongness of the consumer;

contesting in court unfair expert opinions provided by the consumer, but questionable by the entrepreneur;

proving that the cost of legal services is not proportionate to adequate prices for similar services and reducing the amount of recoverable expenses.

The activity of some organized subjects of consumer extremism is expressed precisely in the recovery from the object of attack of the cost of their legal expenses rendered to dummy consumers. If the firm successfully proves the disproportionate cost, the extremist may simply lose interest in attacks on the relevant object.

3. Lobbying for amendments to the legislation in the field of consumer protection, which will allow to establish an acceptable balance of interests of the participants in these relations.

The most significant and massive example of activity related to consumer extremism is the activity of some public organizations for the protection of consumer rights. The purpose of these organizations is not to protect the rights of consumers, but to make a profit. And this goal is achieved, among other things, by protecting the rights of dummy consumers and recovering the cost of quasi-legal services.

The powers of such consumer protection organizations are enshrined in Art. 45 of the Consumer Protection Act. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 45 of the Law, one of the rights of such organizations is the right to apply to the courts with applications to protect the rights of consumers and the legitimate interests of individual consumers (a group, an indefinite circle of those). In other words, public organizations are empowered to protect the interests of an individual consumer, as well as an indefinite group of consumers.

At the same time, the law contains restrictions that do not allow a public organization to receive income in the form of payment for legal services rendered by it when using such a mechanism provided for by law as the protection of an indefinite circle of persons. And this is connected with the use by unscrupulous public organizations for the protection of consumer rights of the following scheme.

If the protection of the rights of an individual consumer is carried out by a public organization, then the latter can receive income in the form of payment for the cost of its services. In this way, unscrupulous public organizations deliberately avoid the legal mechanism of work on consumer protection (i.e. filing a claim for the protection of an indefinite circle of persons) and, using the mechanism of protection of an individual consumer, enrich themselves by recovering the costs of legal services provided by this organization.

Such a scheme does not require a complex internal structure, so sometimes one person acts as its organizer and executor. Given the simplicity of litigation and the presumption of the seller's guilt, informally proclaimed by many courts, this scheme does not require deep legal knowledge and professional skills, which makes its implementation a rather mass phenomenon.

Such illegal activity reaches its climax when the consumer, in whose protection a public organization addresses, is the head of this public organization. Unfortunately, even in such cases, the courts sometimes do not pay attention to the obvious abuse of the right by these persons and satisfy such requirements. And in this regard, it seems appropriate to introduce restrictions into the Law that do not allow the use of methods for protecting the rights of individual consumers by members of public organizations for the protection of data rights.

In addition, it seems necessary to introduce an article into the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation that would allow defining some cases of manifestation of the activities of individual consumers and public organizations for the protection of consumer rights as a violation of the rights of third parties - objects of encroachment and bringing these persons to administrative responsibility.

Since consumer extremism has various criminal legal manifestations, it is not advisable to introduce a separate article into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Offensive activities

Of course, the best means of defense is an attack. Since the scheme of work of consumer extremists is extremely simple and does not require professional legal skills, these subjects will not be ready for active opposition from the objects of attack and, most likely, will prefer not to attack such an object at all.

The following offensive actions can be distinguished:

1. Initiating an audit of the activities of extremists and bringing them to justice.

To initiate an audit of the activities of extremists, it is necessary to collect and systematize information relating to the activities of these subjects in order to identify violations in it. Thus, by requiring the organization to pay a compensation in exchange for not sending information about violations committed by the organization in the field of consumer rights to the control and supervisory authorities, the extremist risks being prosecuted under Art. 163 "Extortion" or Art. 204 "Commercial bribery" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

If there are not enough grounds for criminal liability, another mechanism can be used. According to the Federal Law of May 19, 1995 "On Public Associations" (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Public Associations), as well as the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and the Federal Registration Service of the Russian Federation supervise the observance of laws by public associations.

In accordance with Art. 44 of the Law on Public Associations, the grounds for the liquidation of such an association are repeated or gross violations public association Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws or other normative legal acts or the systematic implementation by a public association of activities that contradict its statutory goals. In this regard, when it is established that there are violations of the current legislation in the actions of organized consumer extremists (even if they are not directly related to the attack on the relevant organization), it is possible to initiate an audit of the activities of such an extremist organization and its liquidation.

2. Insider activities.

The purpose of insider activity is to transfer the confrontation to the territory of the enemy. The form in which such activities are carried out depends on the particular case.

Consumer extremism

As practice shows, the vast majority of company executives are ready to pay "extremist" clients instead of defending their rights in court. The author of the article, analyzing the concept, content and causes of consumer extremism, talks about effective ways combat this phenomenon.

Over the past year, many have suffered from consumer blackmailers Russian manufacturers, although Russia is still far from the United States in terms of the number of lawsuits. According to public information, in 2006 the damage caused to American companies by such activities amounted to 230 billion US dollars. Consumer protection is an area in which the legislator is obliged to take maximum care of potentially weaker subjects of economic relations - consumers. A vivid embodiment of state policy in this area is the Law of the Russian Federation of December 7, 1992 "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" (hereinafter referred to as the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, the Law).

Having undergone several editions, the Law became very effective tool consumer market regulation and dispute resolution. On the one hand, it clearly regulates the procedure for the provision of services and the sale of goods, on the other hand, it ensures reliable protection of the interests of consumers. The effectiveness of the Law is evidenced even by the fact that a number of international experts recognized it as the best among Russian legislative acts. At the same time, the Russian Consumer Rights Protection Law is considered the most loyal in the world after the American one: only in our country and in the USA the consumer has such extensive rights.

Naturally, this creates the prerequisites for manipulating the norms of the Law.

Giving consumers special rights, the legislator could not but count on the appropriate legality and order in society, the lawful behavior of people in this area of ​​social relations. It is known that legality implies the strict implementation of the prescriptions of legal norms by all participants in public relations, including consumers. The legislator directly established that the reasonableness of actions and the good faith of consumers, as well as other participants in civil legal relations, are assumed "by default" (clause 3, article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Legal mechanisms in the area under consideration, designed, according to the legislator, to protect violated consumer rights, are the subject of numerous abuses by special participants in these relations, which are called " consumer racketeers" or " consumer extremists". Note that the judicial procedure does not threaten any financial losses for such plaintiffs: unlike the defendants, they do not pay stamp duty. Moreover, the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights does not provide for liability for unfounded claims; even the term "consumer extremism" itself or any other concept or wording that is similar in meaning to it (i.e. meaning, in fact, consumer fraud), are absent in the law.

There are many such examples in the West, as we constantly learn from newspapers and television. There is an impression that everyone is suing everyone there. Dying smokers are with cigarette manufacturers: they say they were badly warned about the dangers of smoking. Those suffering from excess weight - with the owners of fast foods: they say, they did not report the number of calories in this food. And the notorious "case of a cup of coffee" in the early 1990s. spread not only throughout America, where this story happened, but, it seems, the whole world. Then an elderly resident of New Mexico sued a well-known restaurant chain fast food because of a cup of hot coffee that fell on her knees - and she sued no less than 640 thousand US dollars.

Whole organizations (quite large) operate in large cities, the scope of which is precisely such extremism. Almost anyone can create a public organization supposedly engaged in consumer protection. The scheme is usually as follows: 3-4 people gather, come up with a consonant name for the organization and begin to act. They allegedly come with a check of this or that enterprise (firm), and after discovering inconsistencies with the law, they threaten the court and offer to pay off so that the case does not reach this court.

The saddest thing here is that the vast majority of company executives, instead of fighting this phenomenon, are willing to pay "extremist" clients so as not to run around the courts and not waste their money and time for an uncertain result.

According to experts, the era of consumer extremism in Russia will come, judging by the forecasts for the development of the consumer market, in the next few years. And we need to prepare for this today.

The concept, content and causes of consumer extremism as an illegal act

As already mentioned, in Russian legislation there is no legal definition of consumer extremism; besides, this term has literary, but not legal character. However, from the point of view of Art. 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in conjunction with Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it can be concluded that consumer extremism, based on the meaning invested in it, should be understood as:

1) actions of consumers carried out solely with the intent to cause harm to the entrepreneur, as well as abuse of their right in other forms;

2) abuse by consumers of their special position in the market of goods, works, services;

3) unfair behavior of consumers;

4) intentional illegal acts of consumers (their accomplices) committed with the aim of converting the property of entrepreneurs in their favor by deceiving or abusing their special attitude towards consumers * (1). It is well known that in any phenomenon there are pluses and minuses. Let's consider them in relation to the subject of the article.

discipline of entrepreneurs;

improving the quality of products sold in connection with the refusal to sell products that do not meet quality standards.

damage to the image of bona fide companies;

financial losses, loss of customers;

growth of "permissiveness" of consumers.

An analysis of activities in the field of consumer extremism allows us to identify the following reasons for the emergence of this phenomenon:

1) extremely unbalanced legislation on consumer protection, allowing for the possibility of abuse of rights;

2) the presumption of guilt of sellers and manufacturers when considering a case in court;

3) the absence of the need for professional skills and any significant capital to organize extremist activities in the field of consumer protection;

4) the unwillingness of the targets of attacks to make public the violations identified by extremist consumers, the unwillingness to allow the conflict to escalate.

Elements of consumer extremism

Like any offense, consumer extremism consists of the following basic and optional elements:

objective side;

subjective side;

subject. Subjects extremist activities can be:

1) individuals (individual entities);

2) public organizations for the protection of consumer rights (organized entities). Such a division of subjects makes it possible to identify the motives of extremist activity. In particular, the motives of individual subjects can be both moral and material satisfaction from their activities. The first subspecies often has some psychological characteristics, which leads to a special approach in dealing with it.

Consider other elements:

1) objects extremist activities are social relations in the sphere of consumption of goods and services;

2) objective side extremist activity is a socially dangerous action associated with the abuse of consumer rights, entailing negative consequences;

3) subjective side extremist activity - direct intent, selfish motives and purpose. Subject of extremist activity

In this situation, the subject coincides with the victim of consumer extremism. Based on the content of the norms of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, the subject of encroachment may be:

1) the seller, or an authorized organization, or an authorized individual entrepreneur;

2) the importer of the goods;

3) the manufacturer of the goods;

4) performer (a person performing work or providing services). We will simply call them objects of attack or victims.

Most often, the victim of extremist activity is the seller (executor) due to its greater accessibility for extremists.

According to statistics, approximately 5-7% of Russian consumers who apply today for the protection of their interests to the courts (or threaten to do so) are the so-called "consumer extremists". These are people who are trying to use the law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" for personal gain.

Today, extremists can be conditionally divided into two or three groups. The first includes citizens who view consumer extremism as a business. Secondly, consumers with low legal literacy or a low level of culture, who do not know the laws, but believe that the buyer is always right. And finally, we can distinguish a conditional third group, which includes lawyers, as well as public organizations with a deformed idea of ​​​​business turnover, ready to protect consumer rights in any way.

How to taste vodka for free

Until now, there is an opinion that we do not have such a phenomenon as consumer extremism. Many do not understand it quite correctly, they believe that it is rather the desire of individual directors and entrepreneurs to hide the shortcomings of their activities, and to shift the problems associated with this onto the shoulders of ordinary consumers:

Every phenomenon has two sides. I do not see anything wrong with the fact that the consumer has become more active today in defending their rights. I think that the concept of "buyer extremism" was invented by the sellers, trying to protect their rights, - says Ivan Karnaukh, head of the ITAR-TASS-Ural psychological center. - Any buyer has his own profession, that is, he is also in some field of activity. What kind of people are those who are not averse to " grappling" with the seller? Psychologists have their own view on this matter. We all once witnessed the scene of a duel between a buyer and a seller and did not know which side to take. The buyer defending his rights, as a rule, spoke loudly, demandingly and looked like a brawler, which we did not like. In this case, we were on the side of the "insulted" seller. And when the seller came across with a "tinned throat", then, of course, we felt sorry for the buyer. Not every one of us, having brought home expired yogurt, will go back to the store to exchange it: is it worth it to go because of such a trifle, and it’s not customary, because we expect rudeness from the seller. Only the most courageous and principled go. And, thank God, they do it: someone must have active position and "keep in shape" trade workers, otherwise the trade will "get fat".

Entrepreneurs often mean by consumer extremism the maximum requirements that a consumer has the right to make, based on the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”. By law, the consumer can demand free repairs, a reduction in the purchase price, replacement of the thing with a new one (if defects are found in it), replacement of the thing with another new one with a recalculation or refund of the amount paid, and refusal to fulfill the retail sale contract. Moreover, the law is drafted in such a way that the consumer has the right to declare any of these requirements to the entrepreneur, and the latter is obliged to fulfill the stated. But not all entrepreneurs are ready to meet the needs of the consumer, and sometimes some perceive completely legitimate demands as extremist. But there is also true extremism, when the consumer demands what is not provided for by law, warns Andrey Artemiev, chairman of the Yekaterinburg administration's consumer protection committee.

Example: A person bought shoes that had a defect. Without warning the seller, he first went to an expert organization. She issued a conclusion that marriage was originally laid in the shoes. And already with the expert's opinion, he turned to the store, where he was immediately offered to return the money for the shoes and the examination. But the consumer did not calm down on this: “And for moral harm?”.

According to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights", in the event of a dispute about the causes of defects in the goods (during the warranty period), the seller is obliged to conduct an examination of the goods at his own expense, and the consumer has the right to challenge the conclusion of such an examination in court. If, as a result of the examination of the goods, it is established that its defects have arisen due to circumstances for which the seller (manufacturer) is not responsible, the consumer is obliged to reimburse the seller (manufacturer) for the costs of conducting the examination, as well as the costs associated with its implementation for storage and transportation of goods.

By law, the presence of a defect in the product does not give rise to the obligation of the seller to compensate for any non-pecuniary damage. The seller did not manufacture this product himself. In addition, moral damage on the part of the seller can only be generated by a refusal to fulfill the legitimate requirements of the consumer, and in the case described, everything was just the opposite. Moreover, the buyer was offered even more than what is required by law. When he turned to the Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights, we tried to explain this to him. But this man insisted that we help him file a lawsuit. And what? In court, the seller stated that the buyer did not warn about the upcoming examination, and the lack of shoes was so obvious that the store would have returned the money or replaced the shoes without talking. And the court decided that in this case the seller is not obliged to pay for the examination, which the buyer performed without notice. trade organization. Moreover, the examination was destructive, and, in accordance with the law, the seller can keep the defective product for himself. The seller said that before the examination, this thing could still be repaired and sold at a discount, and now the shoes are hopelessly damaged. And the court decided that the entrepreneur now owes nothing to the buyer, since the examination completely destroyed the thing. Well, at the end of everything, the seller asked a logical question: “And what kind of moral harm did we inflict on the buyer if we immediately agreed to return the money for the shoes and for the examination to him”? As a result, the brawler got nothing.

Or another case. Once, one of the leaders of the Alkona company addressed us to the Committee in connection with the fact that they received an invitation to the court. The consumer wrote a well-formed appeal, which said something like this: “In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, each manufacturer of new products, at the request of the consumer, is obliged to provide it for testing. But Alcona refuses me this, no matter how much I applied. Therefore, I demand to oblige me to pay compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Due to the heavy workload in such courts, I cannot attend the hearing and ask that the case be considered in my absence.” The appeal was written correctly in form, and the court was obliged to consider it. I explained to the head of Alkona that the court could not make such an adventurous decision, because no legal grounds for this no. Of course, the court dismissed the claim. But time and nerves were wasted, the company's lawyer came to court. Imagine that at least 10% of the claims of this citizen are satisfied by the court - and he writes a lot of them, since he himself writes that he is busy in the courts ... He sits at home and receives money. This is pure extremism. The Consumer Protection Committee never supports such a thing. Any extremist demands lead to losses for the entrepreneur. And the latter has only two ways to cover them: reduce the quality of services or increase the price. And in these cases, many more consumers will suffer. We only support legitimate claims. True, it happens when the consumer deliberately misleads us. But a more detailed investigation of the case in court still helps in most cases to make the right decision. 80-85% of those who contact us solve their problems voluntarily, without trial. The rest are in court. According to the Regional Court, 95% of cases are decided in favor of the consumer. The remaining 5% are most likely just cases of consumer extremism. And from the point of view of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, such acts can be considered as fraud. These are premeditated actions for the purpose of obtaining illegal income. Therefore, I think it is not necessary to be led by extremists, but to turn to law enforcement agencies, - Andrey Artemyev advises.

A young man named Ivan was billed for 900 rubles in a nightclub. It turned out that the waiter cheated him for 160 rubles. He was very dissatisfied with this and demanded compensation for moral damage in the amount of ... 10 thousand rubles.

Ivan called the consumer phone “Konteev answers”, expressed his dissatisfaction and complained about the shortfall. The Committee for Public Services of the Administration of Yekaterinburg conducted an investigation, as a result of which the waiter and the administrator of the club were fired. The management of the disco not only admitted his guilt and apologized to the young man, but also paid him the required amount - 10 thousand. But he was dissatisfied with this, and the next day he again came to this institution to make a fuss ...

Another case:

Two students earned their living quite original way. They went to supermarkets and specifically looked for yoghurts and cheeses that were at least a day expired among many goods, bought these products, took a check, and then came to the supermarket with a complaint, threatening to file a lawsuit in court. The management of the store, in order to avoid problems, was forced to pay them monetary compensation…

In accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", the consumer has the right to ensure that the product is safe for life and health. The law prohibits the sale of goods after the expiration date. In addition, the Federal Law of January 2, 2000 "On the quality and safety food products» limits the defense capability of foodstuffs, materials and products if they do not meet the requirements normative documents, have obvious signs of poor quality, do not have certificates of quality and safety, documents of the manufacturer, supplier, confirming their origin, established expiration dates or expiration dates of which have expired. Such food products, materials and products are recognized as low-quality and dangerous and are not subject to sale - they are disposed of or destroyed. The sale of such goods primarily threatens the health and life of the consumer.

Modern Russian legislation provides different kinds responsibility for the illegal sale of such products, including criminal liability. At the same time, no expert research is required for these food products, since they have already been recognized by the legislator as low-quality and dangerous. In this case, it is not necessary to wait until the consequences in the form of harm to the health of consumers occur. It will be quite enough to detect low-quality and dangerous food products in trade, including those with an expired shelf life. The seller can be held liable, demand compensation not only for damage caused due to defects in the goods, but also compensation for moral damage (physical and moral suffering of the consumer). All this can entail quite substantial monetary compensation and expenses for the seller. In addition, according to the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", the court collects from the seller a fine in the amount of fifty percent of the amount awarded by the court in favor of the consumer. In addition, negative advertising, “tarnished” reputation, checks and inspections by the authorities and government controlled etc. put the entrepreneur in a difficult position.

All this creates favorable conditions for the so-called consumer extremism. The amount of voluntary claims and compensations in this case depends on the "appetites" of consumers.

One decent-looking woman bought Moldavian cognac in our store and then brought the half-empty bottle back, confidently declaring that it was not cognac. The stamps were in place, we showed her all the certificates, but she still demanded to return the money to her. I myself tried this cognac - quite decent. They gave her the money back. But the matter did not end there - the story with cognac was repeated twice more, and the main character was the same, and she always returned half-drunk bottles to us ... - such a story was told by Natalia SHTINA, director of the Tatishchev supermarket. - I also remember one old woman who repeatedly dined at our expense. He buys dumplings, cooks half a pack, and then brings us the rest, saying: “Are these dumplings? It's dough! Where is the meat here? Yes, indeed, dumplings were not the most expensive, economy class, but she knew what she was buying and did it more than once.

Catch up and overtake America

Often, extremist buyers are “inspired to exploits” by America. A resident of the United States scalded hot coffee at McDonald's - the court recovered a million dollars from the fast food chain in her favor!

In Moscow, a follower of the American was immediately found, who tried to repeat the experience. But it didn’t work, a warning was printed on the Moscow cup: “Beware, it’s hot!” To the plaintiff's objection that the inscription was typed too small print The court did not respond. As a result, the claim was denied. The culture of consumption is growing and our consumers are now very literate. They know the laws, understand their rights and, most importantly, are ready to fight for them.

Consumer extremism is just beginning to make itself known, but I think it will develop in the future. As you know, Western innovations do not reach us immediately, and consumer extremism is no exception. The root of the problem lies in the fact that our consumer protection law is very broad, and today in most cases it is on the side of the consumer. Therefore, it gives great opportunities to citizens who deliberately try to use it for their own selfish purposes, - says Oleg ZEMTSOV, press secretary of Yekaterinburg Vice Mayor V. Konteev.

The Russian law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" is practically no different from its Western counterparts. Is it based on a UN General Assembly resolution? 39/248, adopted unanimously in 1985. It is called "Guiding principles for the protection of consumer interests." In all countries of the civilized world, consumer protection legislation is written on its basis. Of course, each country has its own peculiarities of legislation - for example, in the law on the STD of Ukraine it is written that consumers are ... only citizens of Ukraine.

Remember the case when a Frenchwoman began to dry her lapdog in a microwave oven... The instructions said that a microwave oven can be used for drying, but there was no note that you can not dry a living one. It cost the manufacturer 50 million francs. Do not forget that it is necessary to proceed from the position that the consumer has no special knowledge. The level of education and intelligence is very different for everyone. When a resident of the USA scalded her coffee and won a million dollars, this is not at all absurd, but simply a different understanding of value. human life in another society. Stress destroys nerve cells. For what money are you ready to lose part of your intellect, part of your knowledge? Thus, the damage caused cannot be fully compensated. The American court says - one million, Russian - ten thousand ... This is a different degree of damage assessment by the judicial system of different countries. But in the US, a million is an isolated precedent. As a result of such a precedent, the rest begin to understand that the punishment will be inevitable. And everything is possible with us, but somehow ... Remember our sayings: "For every law there is a lawmaker" and "The law that draws: where you turned, it went there." There are no such sayings in any language of the world, - says the chairman of the Yekaterinburg Administration Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights.

In recent years, travel agencies have often encountered tourist extremism, which also came to us from the West. Some travelers, upon returning from a trip, fill up companies with complaints and claims, demanding to pay damages for an unsuccessful vacation. As a rule, consumers of the cheapest vouchers remain dissatisfied for the most part. Tellingly, in the company's office, even before the trip, they agree to all the conditions: they are satisfied with a two-star hotel located half an hour's walk from the sea, and a varied menu. But upon arrival at the resort, for some reason they are disappointed and begin to write complaints, collect signatures, take pictures of their unfashionable hotel room. In their native land, with all these materials, they begin to make claims to the company that allegedly spoiled their vacation, and demand compensation. Some long-established firms are abandoning the practice of providing cheap hotels in order not to deal with extremists. But this is not the way out. Complete failure there will be no cheap offers anyway. Travel agencies during the period of reduced demand are forced to offer "last minute" tours.

According to civil law, the travel agency must have information about the conditions under which the consumer's vacation will take place, transfer and fix these conditions as much as possible in a written agreement concluded with the consumer. By these actions, the contractor warns the consumer in advance about the quality and conditions of the services provided, and the latter loses grounds for making claims on the quality of the services provided. At the same time, according to the law, the performer is released from liability for failure to fulfill obligations or for improper fulfillment of obligations, if he proves that this happened due to force majeure (force majeure), as well as on other grounds provided for by law.

Among the clients of car dealerships there are also extremists, and what kind! Here is an example.

The girl expressed her wish that her new Japanese car should be the color of her pink blouse, exactly this shade - and no other. The seller placed an order and after some time received a paint sample from the manufacturer, which the client did not like. It was not possible to convince the lady that the “live” color would be exactly the same as that of her blouse. The story with the selection of colors lasted quite a long time, until the seller decided to give a good discount. The color of the sent sample immediately satisfied the buyer.

The seller must warn the buyer in advance of both obvious and hidden defects of the goods, if they are known to him. Or, in case of detection of defects within the warranty period, prove that these defects arose after the transfer of the goods to the buyer for reasons for which the seller is not responsible (violation by the buyer of the rules for using the goods or their storage, or arising from the actions of third parties, or force majeure).

An eleventh grade graduate bought a famous brand suit in an expensive boutique, and looked chic at the school party. Two days later, he brought the jacket and trousers back to the store - the color, they say, does not fit. The boutique administrator gave the suit for examination - it turned out that the suit had been dry-cleaned, which means it was in use.

Such troubles can expect sellers of anything. With the onset of cold weather, as a rule, sales of heaters increase. And with the end of the cold weather ... A certain buyer purchased a heater, which, as expected, was checked in the store for serviceability, and on the very first day of the thaw returned it, saying that "it smokes." The store accepted the goods for verification - the heater worked fine for several days. Examination also did not reveal any marriage. After that, the sellers realized that they were dealing with nothing more than a manifestation of ordinary consumer extremism. The cold is over - the heater is no longer needed.

Forewarned is forearmed

Legislation in the field of consumer protection does not prevent an entrepreneur from competently protecting himself, for example, by prescribing a certain algorithm of actions for his employees when working with consumers. The consumer has become a dock in legal matters. Businessmen joke: it's time to introduce protection of sellers from buyers. Others have gone further and talk about creating blacklists of "extremists" like those that exist in casinos. It’s hard to say how feasible this is, but, as they say, if you press it, you won’t think of it. Meanwhile, the situation continues to deteriorate. According to experts, sellers of goods and services are well aware that regardless of someone's rightness, suing a consumer is to their own detriment.

In order not to get hooked by an extremist, you need to remember a few rules of conduct that are based on strict observance of the law. Because this is the only way to truly protect your rights. If you have an extremist consumer in front of you, then you can be advised to respond only to his written claims. In addition to saving you the hassle of talking, explaining, and possibly making a lot of noise, a written complaint makes communication with the customer more organized. Firstly, the claim must clearly state the requirement of the consumer in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 18 of the Law. The absence of such a requirement deprives the claim of justification. Secondly, the consumer clearly exercises his right to make a claim about the quality of the goods.

The applicant will be able to change it only after 7-20 (depending on the requirement) days. Thirdly, the absence of a commodity (cash) receipt in the documents attached to the claim, and for goods for which warranty periods are established, of a passport or other document replacing it, can already serve as a basis for refusing to consider the consumer’s claim (paragraph 5 of article 18 Law). The absence of a check does not deprive the consumer of the right to prove the fact of concluding a contract of sale in court, but it makes your refusal to consider the consumer’s claim legal, and, therefore, there can be no question of collecting a penalty for refusing to satisfy the consumer’s claim. It is recommended to respond to consumer claims, no matter how unfounded they may seem to you, advises Viktor KARTEL, a member of the Lunev and Partners law office.

If the consumer claims compensation for non-pecuniary damage, you can safely not comply with this requirement, because determining the amount of compensation is the prerogative of the court (Article 15 of the Law). If the consumer asks for a replacement quality goods in accordance with Art. 25 of the Law, it is necessary to establish whether the presentation of the purchase is preserved, while the smallest scratch can cause your legal decision not to change the product. After all, the exchange of goods on this basis implies that the goods can be sold a second time. And since your guilty behavior is absent, the court will most likely be on your side. In addition, this product can be included in a rather impressive list of non-food products of good quality that cannot be returned or exchanged (the List was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 19, 1998 N 55 with an addendum of October 20, 1998). The list includes goods for the prevention and treatment of diseases at home, personal hygiene items, perfumes and cosmetics, cable products, construction and Decoration Materials, textile goods. The same list includes garments and knitwear, household chemicals, precious metal products, civilian weapons, animals, plants and much more.

Having received a claim from the consumer, you have the right to conduct an examination of the quality of the goods in order to detect a defect and the reasons for its occurrence (clause 5, article 18 of the Law). If the consumer refuses to pay for an examination that established his fault or the fault of third parties in the occurrence of a defect, then you have the full right to retain the goods up to the compensation of your expenses, including the costs of transportation and storage. This is based on Art. 359 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

If the supply of goods is terminated, then your obligation to satisfy the consumer's demand for the replacement of goods is terminated by the impossibility of performance (Article 416 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

If the case has gone to court, then you must first find out whether the applicant is a consumer in the sense of the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", that is, whether the applicant uses the product for the purpose of making a profit. For example, if a claim was received for the quality of an electric drill, and a request to the registration chamber showed that the applicant is a citizen - an entrepreneur in the provision of repair services, then the court cannot be guided by the norms of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights". And this means that the applicant should apply only to the court at the location of the defendant, and when applying to the court, pay the state duty. If the consumer has filed a claim for the recovery of moral damages, then its amount must be justified (and proven), and we can only talk about physical and moral suffering (Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), and a clear causal relationship must be traced between the behavior of the seller and these sufferings. investigative connection (Article 15 of the Law). It’s just that the consumer’s feelings about the fact that he was not spoken to the way he would like are not suffering, which means that they cannot be the basis for the recovery of moral harm, says Victor KARTEL.

International experts recognized the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" as the best of Russian legislative acts. At the same time, having become a reliable support for buyers, the law does not protect the rights of entrepreneurs at all. On the contrary, the latter turned out to be practically defenseless against the arbitrariness of consumers, the legislation only provides for minimal mechanisms for protecting and guaranteeing the observance of the rights of entrepreneurs. So sellers need to know the laws and learn to resist the onslaught of determined extremist buyers who want to get the goods for nothing.

The number of references to cases of consumer extremism and the frequency of appeals to lawyers about dissatisfaction with the quality of medical services or errors in the preparation of medical documentation suggests a real epidemic of patients (clients) fighting for their rights. What is "consumer extremism" and "consumer trolling" in the field of medical services and how a clinic can protect itself - read the article.

Consumer extremism: features and difference from consumer trolling

Consumer extremism and trolling are very similar and at the same time very different concepts. So, consumer extremism- a way to get rich unreasonably at the expense of a clinic that provides medical services, thanks to the use of loopholes in the law and clinic errors in the preparation of medical records.

Consumer trolling- formally legal actions, but they are aimed at destabilizing the work of the clinic or individual units, or individual workers or to harm her.

The possibility of the existence of such a phenomenon as consumer extremism in the medical field lies in the specifics of the legislation regulating the provision of paid medical services and the legislation protecting the rights of consumers.

The possibility of the existence of such a phenomenon as consumer trolling in the provision of medical services lies in the absence of legal mechanisms to counter it.

The scale of the phenomena is not known for certain, but almost any medical organization faced unfounded claims, complaints to regulatory authorities, thorough checks of medical documentation, and sometimes lengthy lawsuits involving the press and television.

What is the purpose of consumer terrorism

Consumer terrorism is always an abuse of consumer rights. The requirements of all "consumer-terrorists" are more or less the same:

• demanding a refund for allegedly “poorly” provided medical services;
• demanding payment for similar but more expensive medical services;
• claiming compensation for the costs of “eliminating shortcomings” of “poor quality service”;
• claiming compensation for violation of the terms for the provision of medical services;
• Claim for compensation for non-pecuniary damage:
• for not providing full information about the service (for example, this is possible when making medical documentation with errors);
• violation of the patient's right to information about the state of his health;
• for "disclosure" of medical secrets;
• for poor quality medical records.

What unites these requirements of consumer terrorism in medicine is always one thing - harm to health or moral harm was caused solely in the imagination of an unscrupulous consumer of medical services. Or the harm to health is so insignificant that the consumer receives money from the clinic and does not continue treatment.

Unfortunately, the chances of such "professional patients" to receive compensation from the clinic are very high. And that's why:

• the procedure for the provision of medical services and the very execution of medical documentation are regulated to the extreme;
• the rights of everyone, including professional patients, are protected by the Civil Code, the Law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", the Law "On Health Protection", "On the Protection of Personal Data", etc.;
• a contract for the provision of medical services is a public contract, a clinic or salon is required to conclude it with everyone who applies. It is impossible to refuse a patient (customer of medical services) to issue this type of medical documentation;
• a significant part of the medical community is very skeptical about the advice of lawyers who do not have a medical education;
• the courts quite often take the side of patients, because the clinics themselves give a reason for this;
• one of the reasons for the emergence of consumer terrorism is the imperfection of the legislation to which clinics are forced to obey.

Extremism of patients: what you can earn on

Patient extremism is usually justified by a number of requirements. In cases of consumer extremism, clinics are most often required to compensate for the following reasons:

• making claims about the quality of the services provided;
• demanding compensation for harm caused to health;
• demanding compensation for non-pecuniary damage, including those caused due to the disclosure of medical confidentiality, the lack of reliable information about the course of treatment, the performance of interventions for which informed consent was not given, the occurrence of errors in the preparation of medical documentation.

How patient extremism works

The scheme of consumer extremism of patients is approximately always the same:

• first, a “professional patient” goes to the clinic, receives a service, finds imaginary or real shortcomings, perhaps even errors in the preparation of medical documentation, as a rule, minor ones, and makes exaggerated claims. If the claims of extremist consumers are not satisfied immediately, complaints to Rospotrebnadzor and Roszdravnadzor follow. Based on the results of inspections, which primarily relate to the preparation of medical documentation, the clinic is sued;
• sometimes such stories have variants - a professional patient addresses a problem to an economy-class clinic, receives treatment, and then “corrects the shortcomings” in a premium-class clinic, and even from the capital region. The difference in the cost of treatment, payment for flights and the cost of living for a professional patient is billed to the first clinic.

Why patient extremism is possible

Why do extremist consumers succeed in fooling the clinic? Because most often the clinics themselves allow the opportunity to earn money on themselves.

Reason one

Rarely, but it happens that a doctor, offended by the management of the clinic, deliberately makes a mistake in the preparation of medical documentation, carrying out expensive treatment of the patient. As a rule, there is no harm to health, but it is quite possible to receive significant compensation in the form of the cost of treatment and moral damage, as well as compensation for treatment elsewhere.

Taking into account the fact that such a professional patient gave a doctor a bribe in the amount of no less than two salaries, he will calmly give one in compensation for material damage for an error in the preparation of medical documentation in accordance with Article 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Reason two

In judicial practice, I had to deal with a case of consumer extremism, in which the clinic approached the fact of the publicity of a medical contract more than literally - by posting the contract on the website as a public offer. For this they were fined for this by Rospotrebnadzor. After that, professional patients appeared who demanded compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

The most common causes of consumer extremism are:

• illiterate contract for the provision of medical services;
• reduced or overly extended informed voluntary consent;
• careless attitude to medical documentation;
• errors in the preparation of medical records.

CASE OF CONSUMER EXTREMISM

I happened to read the appellate ruling in the case of recovery from medical center the cost of treatment. Former patients of the clinic demanded the return of money for treatment, recovery of moral damages for poor-quality treatment, harm to health caused by poor-quality treatment, reimbursement of treatment costs in another clinic and, of course, reimbursement of lawyers' expenses.

Patients came with complaints about the disease, passed tests, and based on the results of the tests, the clinic employee prescribed treatment. After the first course of treatment, the patients were tested elsewhere and the disease they were treating was not found. Clients demanded termination of the contract, filled up the clinic with complaints, complained to Rospotrebnadzor.

During the audit, it turned out that the clinic did not have an agreement with the analysis laboratory, the analyzes were checked in the form of a private “personal opinion”. Subsequently, at the trial, several respected luminaries confirmed, after checking the execution of medical records, that during the analyzes the correct conclusion was made about the presence of the disease and the correct treatment was prescribed. However, the court considered that the absence of an agreement with the laboratory and the conduct of analyzes “unofficially” cannot be considered proper fulfillment of the terms of the agreement, that is, the rights of patients are violated. Money was recovered from the clinic for the treatment of an extremist consumer, moral damages and lawyers' expenses were reimbursed. The analysis cost the patient 650 rubles. A professional patient cost the clinic 200,000 rubles.

Systemic errors in the preparation of medical records are most often found where there is a large flow of clients. It seems that the simpler the procedures when taking a patient, the better and less expensive. But this ease is deceptive, and it becomes very easy to become a victim of consumer terrorism in medicine.

EXAMPLE

Took my daughter to the dentist. The lady at the reception desk looked at the CHI policy and sent us to the doctor on duty, who examined the child and sent us to the surgeon. The surgeon gave an anesthetic injection and sent us to the corridor. Then he removed my daughter's bad teeth, and only at that moment I was given to sign the IDS and consent to the processing of personal data. The contract for paid anesthesia was not given to me to sign.

The doctor did everything quickly and efficiently, I had no reason to complain. However, I could refuse to sign medical documentation and just leave, and then use the existing knowledge and skills and “earn” about 100,000 rubles out of the blue - just because they allegedly caused moral harm to me without informing about the possible consequences and pulled out the child’s teeth without obtaining my consent to the medical intervention.

Reason three

Contract not signed only once, informed voluntary consent not signed by the patient, treatment plan not signed by the patient, incomplete medical documentation, incorrectly formalized relationship with the laboratory in which patient tests are examined, lack of a written explanation of the diet and taking tests and the frequency of appointments with the doctor, and and so on - and the clinic is in a hopeless situation.

Most of the cases of consumer extremism that I was told about in the legal community are connected with just such a manifestation of the “law of meanness”.

EXAMPLE

The owner of a dental clinic offered a friend, a very respected person, to put premium-class crowns at a significant discount.

The clinic held a campaign: they put outwardly similar veneers, of different quality - economy, comfort and premium. To launch word of mouth, invited famous people, even hatted acquaintances, to provide medical services. The procedures were carried out without too much formalism, only receipts for payment for the procedure were issued.

After some time, one of the patients called the clinic and said that he wanted a large part of the money back. Because he did not ask him to put such expensive veneers, since the clinic puts cheaper ones for the rest. The dentists did not need a lawsuit and a scandal. The issue was closed out of court. The patient moved into the category of consumer extremists.

Consumer trolling in healthcare

Consumer trolling, unlike consumer terrorism on the Internet, does not have the goal of direct enrichment for those who engage in it. The purpose of trolling is to harm, destabilize, stain the reputation, quarrel the team, in extreme cases, to put the clinic out of business. There are various ways to achieve these goals. Most of them do not require financial costs and are completely legal.

Introduction

Over the past year, many Russian manufacturers have suffered from blackmail consumers, although Russia is still far from the United States in terms of the number of lawsuits. In particular, according to public information in 2006, the damage from such activities incurred American companies amounted to 230 billion dollars. Russia's budget in the same year amounted to 158 billion dollars. That is, Russia's budget for 2006 amounted to 68% of the amount of losses suffered by American companies in the same year.

The Russians are learning large-scale extortion. Having read stories about receiving huge compensations from manufacturing companies for damage to health and psyche, residents of the Russian Federation also decided to look for easy opportunities to earn money.

Consumer protection is an area in which the legislator is obliged to take maximum care of potentially weaker subjects of economic relations - consumers. A striking embodiment of the state policy in the field of consumer protection is the Law on Consumer Rights Protection.

Having undergone several revisions, the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" has become an extremely effective tool for regulating the consumer market and resolving disputes on it. On the one hand, it clearly regulates the procedure for the provision of services and the sale of goods, on the other hand, it ensures reliable protection of the interests of consumers. The effectiveness of the Law is at least evidenced by the fact that a number of international experts recognized it as the best among Russian legislative acts. At the same time, he is considered the most loyal in the world after the American one - only in Russia and in the USA the consumer has such extensive rights.
Naturally, this creates the prerequisites for manipulating the norms of the Law.

Giving consumers special rights, the legislator could not but count on the appropriate legality and order in society, the lawful behavior of people in this area of ​​social relations. It is known that legality implies the strict implementation of the prescriptions of legal norms by all participants in public relations, including consumers. The legislator directly established that the reasonableness of actions and the good faith of consumers, as well as other participants in civil legal relations, are assumed (clause 3, article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Legal mechanisms in the field of consumer protection, which, according to the legislator, are designed to protect violated consumer rights, are the subject of numerous abuses by special participants in these relations, called "consumer racketeers" or "consumer extremists". This state of affairs led to the emergence of a special category of people who, using various kinds of tricks, or even simply realizing that judges are also people who are ready to feel sympathy for the “injured” consumer and stop being impassive, began to use the Law for their own selfish purposes. Moreover, the court procedure does not threaten such plaintiffs - they do not pay the state duty, unlike the defendants.

Moreover, this Law does not provide for any liability rules for making unfounded claims, and even the term “consumer extremism” itself or any other concept or wording that corresponds to it in meaning (i.e., reflecting, in fact, consumer fraud), is absent. .

The principle of the need to protect consumer rights is also followed by the courts. Unconditional and sometimes even blind obedience by the courts to this principle ensures the protection of even absolutely unfounded claims.

Courts across Russia are currently hearing many cases brought by extremist consumers. As a rule, the object of consumer blackmail is large companies, whose products are very popular among Russians. Such companies value their reputation and good name. It is on this basis that the blackmailers demand unheard-of compensation in exchange for their silence. After all, even an unproven fact will still negatively affect the image of the manufacturer.

Such examples, as we constantly learn from newspapers and television, are full in the West. It seemed like everyone was suing everyone. Dying smokers - with cigarette manufacturers, they say, were badly warned about the dangers of smoking. Fat people suffering from excess weight - with the owners of fast foods, they say, did not report the number of calories in this food. And the infamous “Coffee Cup Case” in the early nineties spread not only throughout America, where this story happened, but, it seems, the whole world. Then a resident of the state of New Mexico sued a well-known chain of fast food restaurants because of a cup of hot coffee overturned on her lap. And she sued no less than 640 thousand dollars.

Right now in major cities Entire organizations have been created, quite large, whose sphere of activity is just such extremism. Almost anyone can create a public organization supposedly engaged in consumer protection. The scheme of action is usually as follows: 3-4 people gather, create such an organization with a sonorous name and begin to act. They allegedly come with a check of this or that enterprise, firm. After discovering inconsistencies with the law, companies threaten to sue and offer to pay off so that the case does not go to this very court.

The saddest thing is that the vast majority of company executives are ready to pay "extremist" clients, just not to run around the courts and not waste their time and money for an uncertain result, instead of fighting this phenomenon.

According to various experts, the era of consumer extremism in Russia will come, judging by the forecasts for the development of the consumer market, in the next few years, but we need to prepare for it today.

The concept, content and causes of consumer extremism as an illegal act.

There is no legal definition of consumer extremism in Russian legislation. Besides, this term is literary, not legal.

However, within the meaning of Art. 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in conjunction with Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, we can conclude that consumer extremism, based on the meaning invested in it, should be understood as:

1) actions of consumers carried out solely with the intent to cause harm to the entrepreneur, as well as abuse of their right in other forms;

2) abuse by consumers of their special position in the market of goods, works, services;

3) unfair behavior of consumers;

4) intentional unlawful acts of consumers (their accomplices) committed with the aim of converting the property of entrepreneurs in their favor by deceiving or abusing a special attitude towards consumers.

In any phenomenon there are pluses and minuses, even in the most seemingly negative. Let's highlight them in our case.

Pros:

discipline of entrepreneurs

improving the quality of products sold in connection with the refusal to sell products that do not meet quality standards

Minuses:

damage to the image of honest companies

financial loss and loss of customers

growth of "permissiveness" of consumers

Based on the analysis of activities in the field of consumer extremism, the following reasons for the emergence of such a phenomenon as consumer extremism can be distinguished.

1. Extremely unbalanced consumer protection legislation, allowing for the possibility of abuse of rights;

2. Presumption of guilt of sellers and manufacturers when considering a case in court;

3. No need for professional skills and any significant capital to organize extremist activities in the field of consumer protection;

4. The unwillingness of the targets of the attacks to make public the violations identified by the extremist consumers, the unwillingness to allow the conflict to escalate.

Elements of consumer extremism:

Like any offense, consumer extremism consists of the following basic and optional elements.

Subject

An object

objective side

Subjective side

Subject

Subjects of extremist activity:

1. Individuals(individual subjects);

2. Public organizations for the protection of consumer rights (organized entities).

This division of subjects makes it possible to identify the motives of extremist activity.

In particular, the motives of individual subjects can be both moral and material satisfaction from their activities. The first subspecies often has some psychological characteristics, which leads to a special approach in dealing with it.

Objects of extremist activity:

Public relations in the sphere of consumption of goods and services.

The objective side of extremist activity:

A socially dangerous act associated with the abuse of consumer rights, entailing socially dangerous consequences.

The subjective side of extremist activity:

Direct intent, selfish motives and purpose.

Subject of extremist activity:

In this situation, the subject of consumer extremism coincides with the victim. Based on the content of the norms of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, the subject of encroachment may be:

1. The seller or an authorized organization or an authorized individual entrepreneur

2. Importer of goods

3. Manufacturer of goods

4. Contractor (person performing work or providing services)

We will simply call them objects of attack or victims.

The most often victims of extremist activity are the seller (performer) due to its greater accessibility for extremists.

Forms of extremist activity:

Based on the forms of manifestation of extremist activity, the following types can be distinguished.

Blackmail

Blackmail as a form of consumer extremism is expressed in threats from extremists addressed to the objects of attack.

Blackmail is carried out when representatives of a public organization, having identified grounds for bringing to administrative responsibility or for presenting property (recovery of the cost of goods, compensation for expenses) and non-property claims (moral damage, claims in defense of an indefinite circle of consumers), in court offer the object of attack to pay a certain amount for not taking action to attract this person to responsibility.

In particular, violation established rules trade is the basis for bringing to administrative responsibility in the amount of 1 to 40 thousand rubles.

In this regard, it is much easier for the seller to immediately pay off a much smaller amount and avoid problems associated with communication with employees. oversight bodies, litigation and the application of various financial sanctions. Such victim behavior of the object of attack provokes repeated attacks.

Initiation of various inspections of the activity of the object of attack by the control and supervisory state bodies

Usually this form of manifestation of consumer extremism is a tool of this activity. As an independent type of extremist activity, this form usually occurs if the subject of this activity is an individual consumer whose motive is only moral satisfaction.

Initiation of litigation related to the recovery of funds from the object of the attack

With regard to property claims presented in court, their feature usually there is an inadequate balance between the principal amount of the claim and the costs claimed for reimbursement. For example, if a consumer seeks help from a public organization, then the amount of the claim may consist of the cost of the goods purchased by the consumer (10 rubles), the costs of conducting an examination (from 2 to 20 thousand rubles), the costs of legal services (on average in Russia - from 300 to 15,000 rubles), non-pecuniary damage (there are no boundaries at all), a fine for voluntary non-fulfillment of consumer requirements 50% of the amount recovered). Thus, a situation is possible when, with the principal amount of the claim of 10 rubles, the amount recovered (excluding the amount of non-pecuniary damage) will be, for example, 52,500 rubles.

Everyone also hears the story of how a certain granny won an unimaginable amount by suing McDonald's for burning herself with hot coffee. Since then, the cups have been labeled “Caution! Hot coffee! ”, And in the instructions for microwave ovens -“ Attention! Do not dry animals in the microwave!”…

Mechanisms to counter consumer extremism:

Consumer extremism has some common features with corporate blackmail. Both acts are related to the abuse of rights granted by participants in certain public legal relations.

As in the case of protection against corporate blackmail, mechanisms for countering consumer extremism can be expressed in the implementation of defensive measures and in the implementation of response actions.

As defensive measures, preventive measures should be used, including the establishment of work with dissatisfied consumers, which will at least reduce the risk of the emergence of individual extremists whose goal is moral satisfaction.

Systematization and analysis of information about the development of consumer extremism and its various forms of manifestation is also a necessary measure of successful counteraction.

In addition, in the event of a dispute, it is necessary not to yield to extremists and not allow easy punishment for them, but to organize the most problematic trial for them by analyzing the evidence presented, challenging the conclusions of the experts involved, presenting a competent position in court and counter-evidence.

The activity of some subjects of consumer extremism - public organizations for the protection of consumer rights, is expressed precisely in the recovery from the object of the attack of the cost of their legal expenses rendered to dummy consumers.

In the event of a serious opposition, the extremist may simply lose interest in attacking the corresponding object.

An important measure is the initiation of changes in legislation towards establishing a balanced balance of interests of the parties and the creation of legal mechanisms that complicate the work of individual subjects of consumer extremism.

Of course, the best means of defense is an attack. Due to the fact that the scheme of work of consumer extremists is extremely simple and does not require professional legal skills, these subjects will not be ready for active opposition from the objects of attack and, most likely, will prefer not to attack this object.

As publicly available measures, it is possible to single out the initiation of verification of these organizations based on the statements of the affected companies by law enforcement and control and supervisory authorities.

In particular, in accordance with the Law on Public Associations, as well as the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and the Federal Registration Service of the Russian Federation supervise the observance of laws by public associations.

In accordance with Art. 44 of the Law of May 19, 1995 “On Public Associations”, the grounds for liquidating a public association are repeated or gross violations by a public association of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws or other regulatory legal acts, or the systematic implementation by a public association of activities that contradict its statutory purposes.

In this regard, if the actions of organized consumer extremists - public organizations for the protection of consumer rights - are found to contain violations of the current legislation, even if they are not directly related to the attack on the relevant organization, it is possible to initiate an audit of the activities of this organization and its liquidation.

Conditions for the successful implementation of mechanisms to counter consumer extremists:

Refusal of concessions to the actions of extremists

As already noted, when the object of the attack begins to pay off the attacks of extremists, he thus encourages their activities and provides them with income.

Of course, the refusal to make concessions will provoke the implementation of all possible tools for this activity. However, a consistent struggle will lead to the fact that the extremist will rather retreat from attacks on this object, since this will not allow him to receive the necessary profit and he will begin to look for other, more accessible victims.

Attracting highly qualified lawyers

Due to the fact that the protection of consumer rights does not require deep professional knowledge and skills of persons carrying out this activity, often do not differ in special legal professionalism. In this regard, the involvement of highly qualified lawyers will make it possible to oppose the activities of these entities with adequate opposition.

Thus, consumer extremism is a complex legal phenomenon that is gaining momentum along with the development of the market.

The study of this phenomenon and the development of countermeasures is necessary condition normal functioning of the organization in the consumer market.

The implementation of these measures requires the involvement of qualified specialists in the relevant field and the development of joint mechanisms to counter this phenomenon of modern reality.

"Consumer extremism: how not to run into it", magazine "Landlord", January-February, 2006

Tseher, G. Ya. Consumer extremism: Nature, forms of manifestation and countermeasures /G. J. Tseher.//Business, management and law. -2003. - No. 2. - S. 115 - 121.