What to do if the store sells expired goods

The state guards the lives and health of citizens and provides them with quality goods. Therefore, legislation is aimed at protecting the population from bad products and goods that do not meet safety requirements.

Art. 503 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes the rights of the buyer; the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” regulates the relations of the manufacturer, seller and buyer, the rights and obligations of the parties.

“Trade Rules” regulate the storage, transportation, sale of goods and informing customers about them, the relationship of the retail outlet with consumers, professional ethics and responsibility for non-compliance with laws.

Legal regulation

Store requirements

The store cannot sell expired items. Based on part 2 of article 3 of Federal Law No. 29 of 2000 “On the quality and safety of food products,” food products with an expired expiration date cannot be in circulation, as they are considered to be of poor quality and dangerous. A similar requirement to prohibit the sale of expired goods is specified in Part 5 of Article 5 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.

A conscientious seller must regularly monitor the expiration dates of goods and remove the product from sale before its expiration date expires. Expired goods are subject to disposal or destruction (in accordance with Part 6 of Article 15 of Federal Law No. 52 of 1999 “On the sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population”).

Expired goods include not only products with expired expiration dates, but also those that do not indicate expiration dates or are in contact with products and materials that have hazardous properties. Products must have production dates and an expiration date after which the product is prohibited from being consumed (according to Article 10 of the RF Law of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”). Dates should be legible.

The container containing loose candies should contain information with the date of manufacture and expiration date. If there is no such information, the candies can be considered expired.

Milk and cakes should be kept refrigerated, and raw meat should not be stored near baked goods.

How does the law protect the buyer?

Remember these articles. They will help you argue your position in disputes with a store selling expired goods:

✅It is prohibited to sell expired goods - Part 5 of Article 5 of the 1992 Law of the Russian Federation No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.

✅The buyer has the right to purchase high-quality and safe goods - Article 7 of the Russian Federation Law of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.

✅The buyer can return the money for an expired product or demand its replacement - Part 1 of Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.

✅The absence of a receipt from the buyer is not a basis for refusing to fulfill his requirements - Part 5 of Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.

✅The buyer can refer to the testimony of witnesses if he does not have a receipt - according to Article 25 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.

Can the buyer return expired goods?

The answer to the question of whether it is possible to return expired goods to the store is in Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights.” In accordance with this legal norm, the consumer, in the event of detection of defects in the product (and an expired shelf life is an obvious defect), has the right to demand:

replace the product with the same one with an unexpired shelf life;
replace the product with a similar one if the desired product is not available and recalculate the price (the buyer will have to pay extra or the store will refund the difference);
demand a refund for expired goods.

Features of drawing up an act on drawing up discrepancies in quality and quantity

Documentary registration of acceptance of goods is prescribed in the “Methodological recommendations for accounting and registration of operations of acceptance, storage and release of goods in trade organizations” (approved by letter of Roskomtorg dated July 10, 1996 N 1-794/32-5).
The report is drawn up by the commission at the time the defect is detected. It includes representatives of the supplier and buyer. If the goods were transferred by a transport company, then its employee must also be a member of the commission.

The act is drawn up in accordance with the established form of TORG No. 2. An organization can develop its own form, including as an annex to the contract.

Attention! For imported goods, the unified TORG form No. 3 is filled out in five copies.

Where to complain about expired goods

Contacting the store administration

A buyer who has purchased an expired product should initially contact a store representative with a request for a refund or replacement of the product. You must have the low-quality product and the receipt with you.

Even if you just find an expired product, ask the administration to remove it from the counter to protect other customers from low-quality products.

In accordance with Part 5 of Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights,” the absence of a receipt is not grounds for refusal to satisfy the buyer’s requirements. But the purchase of an expired item in this particular store without a receipt will have to be proven. The fact of purchase can be confirmed, for example, by recordings from CCTV cameras, data from a retail chain’s mobile application with purchase history, or witness testimony.

Typically, stores accommodate the buyer, replace expired goods or return money for them, because they are afraid of publicity and complaints to regulatory authorities. But if this does not happen, the buyer can continue to assert his rights.

Complaint in the Book of Complaints and Suggestions

The buyer can leave a note that the store sells expired goods in the book of complaints and suggestions. A book of complaints and suggestions should be in all stores and is used to evaluate the quality of services provided by the store.

There are no special requirements for filing a complaint: it must be readable, written in Russian and not contain insults. If the consumer wants the complaint to be answered, he must indicate his full name and contact information for communication.

When preparing a complaint, the buyer must provide the following information:

date and time;
description of the problem: sale of expired goods;
demands: return money, replace goods;
signature.

The buyer is required to provide a response based on the results of the request left in the Book of Complaints within 10 days.

Complaint to the store

If the store refuses to return the money or exchange the expired product, the buyer should write a complaint in writing to the store administration.

Although the claim is prepared in a free format, it must be clear from it who is seeking compensation (replacement), for what product and for what reason.

A complaint to a store for expired goods must contain the following information:

document name: claim;
information about the destination store: name of the outlet (legal entity or individual entrepreneur), address and details;
information about the buyer: full name, contact phone number and address;
information about the product: name of the product, its cost, date of purchase and expiration date of the product from the packaging;
the nature of the claims;
requirements for the seller;
Full name, signature of the applicant and date.

In the claim, the buyer has the right to declare one of the following requirements to choose from (enshrined in Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”):

compensate losses in the amount of the cost of the goods;
replace the product with the same one;
replace the product with an analogue and recalculate the price.

The buyer may also demand compensation for losses caused by poisoning with low-quality goods. The amount of damage must be documented: receipts for medicines, an agreement for the provision of paid medical services, etc.

The claim is accompanied by a photograph of the product, a cash receipt or sales receipt and other information relevant to the consideration of the buyer’s request.

The complaint is submitted personally to the store administration. One copy with an acceptance mark should be kept for yourself, the second should be given to the seller. The acceptance mark will serve as confirmation of receipt of the claim by the store and must contain the signature of the person who accepted it, with a transcript, as well as the seal of the legal entity.

If the store prevents you from receiving the claim, then it can be sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. The legal address for sending correspondence can be clarified in the Buyer's Corner.

The store is obliged to satisfy the buyer’s monetary demands within 10 days (based on Article 22 of the RF Law of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”).

The seller cannot reduce the amount payable to the buyer by the cost of the goods due to loss of its marketable appearance, partial use, etc. (based on Part 5 of Article 503 of the Civil Code). That is, the buyer opened the product and tried it, and only then paid attention to the expiration date - the seller will still have to compensate the full cost.

If the buyer demands to replace the product, then the store has from 7 to 30 days (based on Part 1 of Article 21 of the RF Law of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”), depending on whether there is whether this product is in stock or not.

The store may refuse to satisfy the buyer's demands. But such a refusal must be justified: the reasons for refusing a refund or exchange of goods cannot be: absence of a receipt, rupture of packaging or signs of partial use.

Complaint to Rospotrebnadzor

Rospotrebnadzor must monitor the quality of goods sold in stores. It is to this organization that you should complain about the delay. You can tell about expired products to Rospotrebnadzor at the location of the store.

A complaint to Rospotrebnadzor can be submitted in the following ways:

In person to the local authority office.
By registered mail.
Through the official website remotely (to do this, you need to fill out an online form on the official website of the department).
Call the hotline 8-800-100-0004.

The complaint must contain information about the sender. Anonymous requests will not be considered.

The complaint to Rospotrebnadzor must reflect:

full name of the store;
address of the outlet;
personal data of the buyer: full name, telephone number, postal and email address ( anonymous complaints will not be considered );
the essence of the appeal: when and where the violation of sanitary rules was committed;
links to regulations;
demands to eliminate violations and bring perpetrators to justice;
signature of the originator and date of preparation.

The complaint must be accompanied by evidence of the sale of expired products: take photos and videos (optimally if there is a date on the photo), draw up a report with the participation of other buyers, attach a receipt, etc.

If a customer complaint is received, Rospotrebnadzor will organize an on-site inspection of the store. Based on the results of the inspection, expired products are confiscated, and the store may be brought to administrative liability . The results of the Rospotrebnadzor inspection may also become the basis for a criminal case for selling expired products.

An inspection of the store is carried out only if the buyer previously contacted the violator with a claim, and the store refused to satisfy it (clause “c” of Part 2 of Article 10 of Federal Law No. 294 of 2008 “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs...” ). Therefore, the complaint must be accompanied by a copy of the complaint with an acceptance mark or the response received from the store.

Complaint to the prosecutor's office or police

It is advisable to send complaints about delays to Rospotrebnadzor. But if there is no permanent representative office in the consumer’s region of residence and the buyer does not have the opportunity to send a complaint online, then if he purchases an expired product, he can contact the prosecutor’s office to restore the violated rights.

The complaint to the prosecutor's office must correspond in form and content to that submitted to Rospotrebnadzor.

Statement of claim to court

If the store does not respond to the complaint, the buyer has the right to go to court. The statement of claim is submitted to the location of the store or to the buyer’s place of residence. The buyer can choose a convenient place to go to court.

At a price of up to 100 thousand rubles. the statement of claim must be submitted to the magistrate's court, over 100 thousand rubles. – to the district court (based on clause 5, part 1, article 23 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The statement of claim to the court consists of the following parts:

The header of the document contains information about the plaintiff and defendant, including their contact information.
Name of the document: statement of claim for the protection of consumer rights.
The descriptive part contains an indication of the circumstances of the incident and what rights were violated by the buyer.
The operative part contains the requirements that the consumer places on the store.

The state duty in cases of consumer rights protection is not paid if the cost of the claim does not exceed 1,000,000 rubles. (based on Part 3 of Article 333.36 of the Tax Code).

When going to court, a consumer can expect to recover:

cost of expired goods;
compensation for moral damage;
compensation for material damage (for example, costs of treatment, examination and examination in case of poisoning with a low-quality product);
a penalty of 1% for each day of delay in satisfying the buyer’s legal requirements;
additional payments: a fine for refusal to voluntarily fulfill the buyer’s demands under Part 6 of Article 13 of the RF Law of 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”).

The buyer must state all of these requirements in a statement of claim. With the exception of the fine: it is collected by the court, regardless of whether the plaintiff demanded it or not (clause 46 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 28, 2012 No. 17). Collection of a fine remains at the discretion of the court and is not its responsibility.

The amount of compensation for moral damage does not depend on the amount of compensation for property damage and is determined by the court taking into account the physical and moral suffering that the buyer had to endure.

attached to the statement of claim :

a copy of the receipt (alternative proof of purchase in this store);
the store’s response to the complaint or documents confirming the sending of the complaint (if the store ignored the buyer’s demands);
a copy of payment documents confirming the costs of treatment caused by the use of low-quality products.

Store responsibility

Administrative responsibility

Selling expired products entails strict administrative liability. A fine for the sale of expired goods is imposed on the basis of Article 14.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Sale of low-quality goods.” This article provides for the following fines depending on the category of the offender:

for citizens – 1-2 thousand rubles;
for officials – 3-10 thousand rubles;
for individual entrepreneurs – 10-20 thousand rubles;
for legal entities – 20-30 thousand rubles.

If a store is caught selling overdue goods again , then the fines for it increase (under Part 2 of Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code):

for citizens – up to 2-5 thousand rubles;
for officials – 7-15 thousand rubles. (with the possibility of disqualification for up to a year);
for individual entrepreneurs – 15-30 thousand rubles;
for legal entities – 30-50 thousand rubles.

Fines for the store are issued by Rospotrebnadzor or law enforcement agencies based on the results of an unscheduled inspection , which regulatory authorities initiate after receiving customer complaints. Also, food products with an expired expiration date may be discovered as part of a scheduled inspection by Rospotrebnadzor or as a result of a test purchase.

The fines paid by the store do not go into the pocket of the buyer who complained about the delay, but into the budget. True, legislators came up with a proposal to pay 50% of the fine in favor of buyers in order to encourage them to complain more often about expired goods, and to force stores to be more responsible about the quality of goods on the counter. But for now the proposal remains at the initiative stage.

If the store misled customers about the quality of the goods (for example, they re-added stickers with expiration dates and sold expired goods under the guise of normal goods), then they face a more significant punishment. In accordance with Part 2 of Article 14.7 of the Administrative Code, misleading the buyer is subject to fines in the amount of:

for citizens – 3-5 thousand rubles;
for officials – 12-20 thousand rubles;
for legal entities – 100-500 thousand rubles.

Criminal liability

Selling late is also a criminal offense.

If the products sold turn out to be dangerous to human life, then their sale falls under a criminal offense. In accordance with Article 238 of the Criminal Code, the minimum punishment for the seller is a fine of 300 thousand rubles. (or in the amount of income for a period of up to 2 years). A criminal who trades late may face the following charges under this article:

compulsory work - up to 360 hours;
forced labor - up to 2 years;
restriction/imprisonment for up to 2 years.

The following circumstances are considered to aggravate the guilt

sale of expired goods to children under 6 years of age;
committing illegal actions by prior conspiracy;
causing serious harm to health or death of the buyer.

It is worth considering that in case of deliberate sale of low-quality goods, which resulted in death, the crime will be classified under other articles: murder (Article 105 of the Criminal Code) or causing grievous bodily harm (under Article 111 of the Criminal Code).

FAQ

Is it possible to return an expired product if it was purchased at a discount?

Yes, the presence of a discount does not in any way affect the buyer’s rights to return money for expired goods.

Is it possible to pick up expired goods from the store for free?

Some stores have a promotion where you can get an expired product free of charge (for example, in Perekrestok). This is beneficial for the store: the buyer does not contact the police and the store avoids a fine, which is many times higher than the cost of food. But such promotional offers are introduced at the discretion of the store. The law does not oblige a retail outlet to give away expired goods for free, and a refund occurs only after the expired goods are handed over to the store.

What if an expired product was purchased on the market?

Markets are subject to all provisions of the Consumer Protection Law. Each trading place on the market is assigned to a specific legal entity or individual entrepreneur. You must contact them with a written claim to receive monetary compensation or exchange of goods. You can also complain about an overdue seller to the market administration.

What if the label indicated a normal expiration date, but the product is clearly inedible?

If the product is damaged while the expiration date has not expired, this allows the buyer to return the money. Often goods spoil ahead of schedule if the store violates storage conditions.

Underwater rocks

The following nuances must be taken into account:

The return certificate must be certified by the supplier and the buyer. Either managers or company representatives can sign if they have the appropriate power of attorney.
When a consumer discovers an expired product, he makes a claim directly to the retail outlet. The store must dispose of the products or issue a return to the supplier, if this was specified in the contract. In the latter case, the destruction of the products occurs at the expense of the seller.
When drawing up a statement of claim, it is necessary to indicate the grounds for the claims. Sometimes additional examination will be required. Its cost may be paid by the defendant, like other legal expenses, if the court rules in favor of the plaintiff.

Step-by-step instructions for a buyer who bought an expired product

To summarize: what should a buyer do if he bought an expired product on the market:

An expired product is a product of inadequate quality . When purchasing expired products, the buyer has the right to demand a refund of the cost of the product, replace it with a similar one or the same one with a normal expiration date.
The first step is to contact the store administration with one of the listed requirements. To receive compensation for delay, the buyer must provide the expired goods to the seller (even if the packaging is broken, the seller is obliged to accept the goods) and present a receipt for payment. If you don't have a receipt, you can use witness statements or CCTV footage.
If the store refuses to satisfy the buyer’s demands, you need to send him a written complaint. The store will have 10 days to return the money.
send a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor regardless of whether the store returned the money or not. Based on the results of the inspection, the controlling authority will issue a fine to the store.
Go to court with a statement of claim. In court, in addition to the cost of the delay, you can obtain payment of a fine, as well as compensation for moral damages and damage caused to the buyer’s health.

If you paid by card

Refunds to a Sberbank or any other bank card are carried out in accordance with the law. To get a refund, you must present a passport (in some cases), a card and a check.

If the purchase was made on the same day, the funds can be returned literally within a few hours; the employee will simply mark this payment.

However, if more than a day has passed, it will take time to return, usually two or three days. In general, the procedure is clear, it is similar to when paying in cash.

But the only condition is that the client does not have the right to demand a refund in cash if the payment was made by card. Otherwise, the tax service may issue a fine to the store in the amount of 50,000 rubles.