Woman in Ufa Wins Robot Vacuum Refund After Year-Long Battle
A resident of Ufa spent over a year trying to get a store to refund her money for a defective robot vacuum. When the seller refused to cooperate, she had to go to court. But even there, the store attempted to dispute her claims. It didn«t work. UFA1.RU provides the details of the case.
Taskiriya, a woman from Ufa, once thought she needed a vacuum cleaner for her home. But not an ordinary one—a robot that would move around on its own, while she simply supervised the process or didn«t participate at all. So she found a Chinese robot vacuum in a store. The stars aligned—and in November 2024, the woman purchased the device for 75,000 rubles (about $800 at current rates), and also bought a subscription to an online cinema for a thousand rubles (about $11).
But as soon as the vacuum arrived home, it behaved strangely: it didn«t understand where it was, and it didn»t dry itself after use. On December 13, 2024, the Ufa resident packed up her new «friend» and took it back to the store. Two weeks later, she received a response—no defects found.
Taskiriya realized that the store didn«t want to take the vacuum back, so she went to an independent expert. In June 2025, that expert issued a conclusion—a hidden defect in the system board due to a manufacturing flaw.
With these documents in hand, in July the Ufa resident went to court, where she requested to terminate the sales contract, return 74,900 rubles (about $800) for the vacuum, a thousand rubles (about $11) for the cinema, collect a penalty for over half a year—146,600 rubles (about $1,600), as well as a penalty after the decision—1% of the product«s cost per day until she receives all the money. Compensation for moral damages—5,000 rubles (about $54), expert services—24,800 rubles (about $265), for the lawyer—30,000 rubles (about $320), and a fine—50% of the awarded amount.
The store«s representative asked the court to dismiss the claim. But then said that if the court decided otherwise, the penalty should be reduced.
The court ordered its own examination, which revealed a defect in the navigation: the vacuum moved around wherever it wanted, without understanding itself, but the cause was still a manufacturing defect.
Therefore, the Ufa resident«s claim was granted, but partially. The store was ordered to pay:
74,900 rubles (about $800)—the cost of the vacuum;
30,000 rubles (about $320)—a penalty for six months;
1% of the product«s cost per day—another penalty;
2,000 rubles (about $21)—moral damages;
24,800 rubles (about $265)—for the expert;
10,000 rubles (about $107)—for the lawyer;
53,400 rubles (about $570)—a fine;
7,100 rubles (about $76)—state duty (to the city budget).
In total, the Ufa woman is set to receive around 200,000 rubles (about $2,100).
Recall that earlier, UFA1.RU reported how a Ufa resident sued a digital equipment seller for a million rubles. However, for that he had to butt heads with the store for a full five years. We also shared stories of city residents who sued sellers over defective iPhones—there too, initially no one wanted to return anything, but the courts sided with the buyers.
