The buyer raised 1 million rubles in the Techout online equipment store

A man bought a pre-assembled PC in a store for 400 thousand rubles on November 1, 2023, but the goods were not delivered before the New Year. The seller agreed to return 22 thousand rubles, but the buyer never received the remaining 367 thousand rubles, according to the court decision, read by RB.RU.

In March 2024, in response to a buyer’s complaint, an individual entrepreneur complained that fraudulent actions had been committed against the seller, “expressed in the insufficient delivery of the paid goods to the warehouse by the supplier”. The entrepreneur filed an application to initiate criminal proceedings for fraud and does not refuse to supply the goods. However, the court held that the supplier’s fraud could not be considered a fortuitous event.

“The seller refers to force majeure circumstances – fraud on the part of the supplier, which means that he cannot deliver the goods and return the money. We cannot agree with this argument. First of all, business activity is a commercial risk. The impossibility of fulfilling a contract due to rain, hurricane, revolution or epidemic does not constitute fraud on the part of the supplier. The seller and the buyer bear this risk. That is, in a specific situation there are no emergency signals,” explained Boris Feldman, legal director of DestraLegal.ru.

The court stated that, by law, the seller is exempt from liability only if he proves that his failure to fulfill his obligations was due to force majeure, which was not proven. The refusal to return money to buyers in this case amounts to unjust enrichment on the part of the seller. The Consumer Rights Protection Act provides for a rather serious set of tools that protect the consumer as the weaker party of the contract, the law firm explained.

The court ordered the seller to return the cost of the goods in the amount of 367 thousand rubles, compensate for moral damage in the amount of 10 thousand rubles, pay the buyer a penalty for late delivery of the goods in the amount of 286 thousand rubles, a fine of 332 thousand rubles, and also reimburse the costs of legal services in the amount of 17 thousand rubles. The total amount awarded to the buyer amounted to 1 million rubles.

DestraLegal said it has been receiving numerous complaints and is collecting them to file a class action lawsuit against the Techout store. The first court decision in favor of the buyer may set a precedent for other claims, the company believes. Lawyers believe that such proceedings may also be grounds for toughening up the legislation regarding online stores.

Earlier, the Mash Telegram channel reported that Techout’s debt to customers exceeded 30 million rubles, leaving about 400 people without property.