A pensioner Iryna Anatoliivna turned to the editor of printed and electronic publications of Association  asking to clarify whether sales staff had done the right thing refusing to exchange faulty goods for good quality ones. On February, 6 she bought a pair of winter shoes and after a week time found out those were faulty:  the sole cracked and shoes started leaking. "In the same shop - said the complainant, - I bought a bottle of eau de toilette to give it to my husband for his birthday. But the bottle turned out to be half empty (navy blue glass, almost black, and I did not spot at once but my husband lifted it against the bulb and we could see, that there was only half bottle! On February, 14 I took both the boots with crack and the toilet water to the shop. But a shop assistant refused to exchange defective goods for new ones or return the money, although I had retained the checks. Are sales staff obliged to take faulty goods from a customer and replace them with good quality ones? ".

Dear Irina Anatoliivna! According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 19.03.2004 №172 a list of seasonal goods has been approved, for which the warranty period is calculated from the beginning of the respective season.  Say for instance winter shoes range - from 15 November to 15 March. Exchanging or returning goods is possible within 14 days (excluding the date of purchase).  Thus, they were obliged to make an exchange for quality ones or return the money (in case these goods are currently not in stock).

We can also assume that the shop assistant might throw doubts on the fact, whether the crack on the soles occurred due to poor quality of the product (or for other reasons), or as a result of your negligence, etc. In this case you should know that the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 11.04.2002 №506 says that if there is a need to determine the causes of quality loss of goods, which warranty period has not been exhausted yet , a seller is obliged to organize an examination of product quality within three days period after receiving a written request from a customer. The examination is conducted at seller's expense. As you can see, you should address your requests in writing!

If the seller ignores your legitimate claims concerning the quality of purchased goods, you should contact the local bodies of executive power to protect the rights of consumers. And if you are still unable to settle the case, you will have to resolve it in court. 

As for the bottle of toilet water, then this product is not subject to exchange or return similar to other perfume and cosmetic articles as well as products in aerosol packages. By the way, apart from those mentioned above, the list of items that are not subject to exchange or return, includes other 30 descriptions (food, drugs, sanitation and hygiene items and other (see. Annex to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 19.03.2004 No.172).

So we advise you to look attentively at goods you buying.