Hey.
I never tire of being amazed at people, they are capable of surprising me. There are crowds everywhere in Moscow, almost no one is wearing masks, as if there is no epidemic. Our compatriots are sincerely outraged by the closure of Turkey, because they interfered with their vacation plans. They are surprised that museums and shops are closed in Europe, as this is a blow to their vacation plans. A year ago, I watched with interest how people promoted irresponsible behavior, and then changed their rhetoric to the opposite when they themselves faced the disease. Does the thunder have to thunder for us to start doing something?
Moscow is different in that everything here is open and works. In the evening I was driving a bus along Leninsky Prospekt and watched an amazing scene in the cabin. Young family: mom, dad and daughter are about five to six years old. Probably, they walked in Gorky Park, are returning home. The girl has a smartphone, a counting-out in English is heard from it at full volume, dad is wearing headphones, he is tired of it. Mom helps her daughter learn the language and loudly repeats numbers, and also pronounces individual phrases. An English lesson for the whole cabin of a large bus, people look askance, some do not stand up and make remarks. Mom snaps and does not understand that she is invading the personal space of other people, interfering with them. Demonstratively and loudly says to the child: “This aunt, who swears, wants you not to be educated, you didn’t have your own car and you always went on buses”. A skillful negotiator, who instantly turns everyone around him against himself, comments begin to pour in from all sides, but the mother, fully convinced that she is right, continues to teach the child and simply ignores the comments. He took pity on the time and went out, did not inspect this scene. And for some time before that I saw an almost identical scene with other people, but everything there was not so deliberate and not so loud. Why outwardly quite decent people spat on the feelings of others and considered themselves entitled to do so? I do not know.
But the problem in our society is that we often do not want to be held accountable for our actions, this manifests itself both in personal and in business. Let’s start our release with one of these topics, let’s go!
Content
- Scammers of all stripes and fakes on Ozon, history repeats
- Digital ruble, yuan and other currencies – transparency of settlements
- Russian corporations with Dutch roots – double tax
- New smartphones from TCL – 20th series for the mass market
- Bioceramics from Swatch – new Big Bold watch
Scammers of all stripes and fakes on Ozon, history repeats
I buried myself in stories of fraud and outright deception of people, their order has accumulated, it is necessary to clean up the rubble and formalize it in the form of a separate material. But for now, I’ll share some of my findings, I’ll start with Ozon. Almost a year ago, I wrote that on this site, sales of fakes, which are disguised as original goods, are flourishing. In Ozon, the text was read, conclusions were drawn and even those stores and goods that were mentioned were removed.
Even then, I was confused by the position of many readers, it was surprising for me – if you were deceived, then you can only blame yourself and no one else, this is your personal problem. In about the same way, I was surprised when ex-compatriots living in the Canary Islands convinced me that only knowing Spanish can you get insurance services, and, when you come to rest in any country in the world, you must definitely learn the language, otherwise it is not serious. A special laugh was caused by the fact that many who wrote this nonsense of the language did not know or could at most keep up a conversation about the weather. Where it comes from in people is completely incomprehensible, but this perception of reality plays into the hands of fraudsters of all stripes.
Do I need to pass an exam in order to use Ozon correctly and learn how to distinguish fakes from real goods on this site? I think no. It is assumed that a store operating in Russia must obey the laws of the country and cannot sell counterfeits as such, this is unacceptable. But after all, the site will not receive its percentage of the sale if it refuses such goods, but there are enough of them, and there are those who deliberately buy fakes without having money for the original. Look at two reviews on Ozon under the same product, the name of the store is telling, they sell fake AirPods Pro here.
Ivan and Lyudmila, two such different stories – buying headphones for my son and buying headphones for my granddaughter. I’m not sure if Lyudmila knew that she bought a fake, but it’s not that important. Now let’s give the floor to Kirill T., his letter was reserved for this occasion:
“Hello, Eldar.
I have been reading you for a long time, but I am writing to you for the first time. My son is 12 years old, bought airpods pro headphones for his birthday. I love my son, but the price of 25 pieces is extortionate, there is nothing in the headphones to cost that kind of money. I bought a copy, chose it meticulously, paid more than other copies cost. The reviews were ok, twisted or not is unclear. The headphones arrived, the son jumped to the ceiling with happiness.
On the second day, the son came home from school, his ears hurt badly. Drove to the doctor in the evening. They diagnosed a chemical burn, the entire ear canal peeled off in rags for a week, it looks scary. Doctors shrug their shoulders, they say something is left on the headphones that caused a similar reaction. Can I demand compensation from the store, bought on the Chinese site, received it at the post office. They do not answer my letters, I don’t understand how to get through to them, advise what to do. I have matured to sue them, you cannot let such things go ”.
It sounds like a horror story, but in practice, someone just forgot to rinse the plastic from the solvent with which the surface was treated to give it a glossy shine. Any substance could be a solvent; anything can be used in the basement production. And this happens from time to time, in Chinese social networks you can find discussions of fakes, where people complain of similar symptoms. In this case, it is impossible to make any claims to the Chinese store, it is simply in another country, and it will not communicate on this topic. It is not subject to Russian laws. I wonder if parents and grandparents need to know about such risks when they trust a particular site and choose electronics for their children? Or is it all on the conscience of the seller, and not at all on the buyer? Sometimes buying simple things can be far from safe. For example, my relatives bought very beautiful and inexpensive photo albums in China (it was 7-8 years ago, but the story is fresh in every sense). One album was presented to us for some reason, left it in the office for the night. In the morning I was struck by the smell of phenol, which is difficult to confuse with something, perhaps you know it, since it is somewhat similar to gouache, only the smell is stronger and brighter. At first I did not think about the album, I counted what I brought from the neighbors from the yard. By lunchtime, the culprit was found and went to the trash heap. I called my relatives to warn them, caused a scandal and a serious offense: “We gave you a gift from the bottom of our hearts, and you throw away our gift.” A month later, the relatives did exactly the same; it was difficult to breathe in the room with the album. Their indignation shifted from me to the fact that our officials did not protect them in any way from buying harmful albums. Attempts to find out how Russian officials can protect them in a Chinese store have shown the whole chasm in our worldview. They didn’t care, they wanted an end result that would suit them. These lovely adults could not admit their mistake.
When buying electronics from major manufacturers, you are not immune to errors, but their probability is reduced to almost zero. By buying knockoffs made on your knees in Chinese basements, you increase the chances that something will go wrong. And it’s good if you immediately face the consequences and refuse to use the device, but what if it affects your body slowly, so that you never think about it? You can safely consider this a horror story, convince someone and I have no desire for something, everyone makes their own choice in life on their own.
Let’s return to Ozon, as the number of counterfeits in such a respected and law-abiding store not only did not decrease, but increased significantly. For example, our reader shared with me such a product – Galaxy Buds Pro for 6 347 rubles, while everywhere these headphones cost from 16 thousand rubles. It is clear that this is a fake, but where is Ozon looking?
What makes this story especially exciting is that Ozon allows you to use someone else’s trademark, the Samsung logo, photos of the original product, and a full description taken from the manufacturer’s website. Look, these headphones even have the same number and country of manufacture.
Everything is exactly the same as a year ago at Ozon, no changes in approach have taken place, and this is depressing. In fact, we are facing a fake, which Ozon placed in his store and bears full legal responsibility for this (he even credits points in the loyalty program for a purchase).
I shared this find of goods on Ozon, the comments were different, but some made me happy, as they defended the site. There are many sellers on Ozon, it is impossible to check all of them, and this must be understood! And most importantly, Ozon is good, as it refunds money if you are sold a fake and you ask for a refund. Some kind of an upside-down world in which buyers are glad that they were deceived, and then they gave the money, although they could not give it back. The scammers have trained the audience well.
Regardless of what rules Ozon has set for buyers, in a situation when you are sold a fake, you have a simple and straightforward way. You contact Ozon with a demand to replace your product with a similar one of proper quality, namely the product that the site advertised on its pages as original. The claim can be sent by registered mail, since everything will take a long time in e-mails and you will still need to send a paper letter. In the claim, indicate what kind of product you bought, attach a screenshot of the page (you also need to save it for the future, you do not need to notarize it, just save and make screenshots of everything that is available to you). Explain that you were misled and that you did not receive the goods you expected. Since Ozon operates on the territory of Russia, and not in any other country, you have the right to demand either a refund or the provision of the product that was sold to you, the choice is solely on your side. It is clear that it is profitable for Ozon to return money, in this case they do not lose anything. It is beneficial for you to get the original headphones that Ozon has to provide you. If for some reason Ozon does not do this, then you can go to court, almost any lawyer will handle the case, there are no pitfalls in it. You need to understand that this will take a little longer, perhaps there will be an examination that the headphones are fake, Ozon will try to delay the case and the time of its consideration as much as possible. But in the end, you will be reimbursed for the costs of a lawyer, moral damage (count on 10-15 thousand rubles, no more), plus you will receive new headphones and they will be original.
Today, only a few are following this path, since they believe that it is dreary and long. On the other hand, there are serial complainants who have turned this into a kind of business, but there are not many of them and they are not interested in letting others know about such opportunities. I know several lawyers who are considering the possibility of putting this story on stream, since the cases are win-win and give quite tangible profits for them, you just need to attract the victims. Ultimately, the market will regulate the sale of counterfeits in large stores, making it unprofitable when the sales revenue more than covers the costs of legal fees. Why Ozon puts itself in such a way, I do not understand. This is a bad business practice that the company has been consciously supporting for several years now and is not trying to change it. Ozon looks about the same as Yandex, which advertises stolen Yandex.Drive accounts in Yandex.Direct, and at the same time in Yandex search. All this is ugly, but this is how the ethical side of business looks today. I don’t care about people and their health, and sometimes their lives, the main thing is that another twenty million can be attributed to the company’s profit. Therefore, when Ozon and others start talking about social responsibility, it causes uncontrollable fun, some employees do bad things, others atone for their sins. Convenient.
But the main question to you sounds simple – is the buyer to blame for the fact that he does not know all the subtleties and may not understand that they are selling a fake to him? Who shall we designate as the culprit – the buyer or the seller? Express your opinions in the comments.
Digital ruble, yuan and other currencies – transparency of settlements
In the last issue of Biryulek, we slightly touched on the project of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to introduce the digital ruble. It so happened that last week I discussed this topic with friends and colleagues, and some theses deserve to be brought here.
The introduction of the digital ruble (yuan, dollar, whatever) makes all calculations in the market transparent. The state not only sees all payments in a digital ruble, but can track what and when they paid, with which rubles this calculation was carried out. That is, we get a system at the state level in which you can watch the circulation of money in real time. This is a dream come true for any financier. Full transparency, which will not please those who are used to not paying taxes, making money in the shadow sector of the economy. From now on, it will be impossible to say that your grandmother left you an inheritance and you are spending it, such a trick will only work once. The transition period will take five years, I don’t think everything will happen overnight. But during this time, people will learn that all their actions are transparent for the state, and they will have to monitor their income and expenses so that there is a balance in them – you cannot spend more than what you officially earn. The benefits for the state are obvious as the market becomes transparent. The share of non-cash payments in the consumer market is already at its maximum, as a result, cash will increasingly become a thing of the past. You simply will not have alternatives, you will have to pay taxes, and it is impossible to get away from it. For some people, this is downright grief that cannot be overcome, since they still manage to find schemes on how to save money and not pay taxes.
In Russia, it is unlikely that the digital ruble will expire, but it is planned to introduce such a parameter for the yuan. This is done in order to stimulate spending within the country, to force people not to save, but to spend their money on certain goods. This approach is not very close to me, since it puts pressure on people, in Russia this trick is not even discussed, we have a different mentality.
The digital ruble is only a fraction of what we will see in the future. The state is in full swing towards abandoning most of the paper documents for the population (ecologists will be infinitely happy, although in this aspect no one is discussing this initiative). Our passports, certificates and other documents will be in electronic form, many documents will keep their paper copies, but we will not need it every day. We are already in a transitional period towards developing this approach.
The state wants to have full information about its citizens. Let’s remember about the digital ruble, control of deposits, electronic documents – a person’s life for the state will be transparent, everything will be in full view. That will allow you to effectively distribute support, collect taxes and do many things that cannot be ignored, as is the case today from ordinary people. Let’s add here biometrics systems, which will be in charge of the state, and it turns out that we are heading towards a kind of utopian world that will be formed during our lifetime.
Certain types of crime have disappeared quite imperceptibly, for example, there are fewer and fewer wallets stolen, as they almost never have paper money. A smartphone has ceased to be a tasty prey for a criminal, it costs a penny in the secondary market, and the period for such theft is more than tangible. And device blocking works very reliably. The development of technology complicates the work of burglars, they are increasingly faced with the fact that security systems give an instant reaction, they have to get carried away. The development of smart home and similar systems will further reduce this type of crime. But the introduction of the digital ruble will make the theft even more difficult, since the stolen will need to be sold somehow and then this money will need to be received in some form. But the state will see this and will be able to search for criminals much more efficiently. A lot of funny stories await us when someone steals things and sells them, and then the criminals are found on a digital trail. This will happen in the next decade.
The state will concentrate in its hands much more funds than ever before, as the collection of taxes will increase. To some extent, communism will come, since basic needs in the form of food, access to the Internet (read, entertainment) will be available to everyone, without exception. Another thing is that this is clearly not enough for us and we want something more. The transformation of society will be difficult, somewhat painful, but it has already begun, and the volume of changes that awaits us can only be underestimated, in reality everything will be larger and more interesting. This is one of those titanic shifts that are changing the life of society for many decades, to say the least.
Do I like these changes? I do not know. Everything, as always, depends on the implementation and how we will use such systems at the state level. Today we are only taking the first steps in this direction, and we cannot do without curiosities. One of them was described by our reader, I will quote his letter without cuts:
Eldar, good afternoon.
In your articles you often use the phrase “the future has already arrived” and yesterday I was convinced of its justice on my own, so to speak, skin.
It so happened that it was time to change my passport for a new one. I received the passport and, satisfied with the result, went to the bank to update the data about it, and at the same time to receive the issued card.
And then a surprise awaited me.
The bank refused to issue me the card due to the fact that the banking software, when entering the passport data, checks it (passport) for authenticity in the FMS database. And the base replied that my passport was invalid (it is in a state of readiness for issuance, but not issued).
A call to the FMS only confused the situation. They (locally) show my passport as valid, but not on the public FMS website.
This is not scary, this is a technical “overlap”, the scary thing is that, imperceptibly for us, it turned out that our paper documents became nothing more than links to the databases of departments.
Do you have a passport / snils / driver’s license or not – it doesn’t matter. The main thing is to have a record in the database. And if there is no record (due to oversight, malicious intent, etc.) or if it is deleted by someone altogether, service may be denied. In this case, the “card issued” button in the banking software was inactive. Those. the bank operator, even knowing me personally and trusting my documents, physically could not give me a card.
It turns out that the state databases. institutions that are administered and updated by persons with indeterminate responsibility for this, from reference, have become a priority of documents in the hands of citizens! It is useless to ask the authorities of these institutions for explanations, since they do not own the computer part of the issue and will not take responsibility for it. The perpetrators in the FMS (locally) entered the database (as they were taught), and then it was not their question (this is the answer I received during a phone call to the FMS).
I did not expect this turn, and yesterday the realization of this strained me a little. I’m not even talking about electronic work books, here with a paper book you can get into long court proceedings.
I do not know if it is necessary to nightmare others with this insight of mine, however, I think that many are still in the holy ignorance of the real state of affairs with digitalization and the consequences for themselves.
Best regards, Mikhail Belozerov.
Mikhail’s story is exactly what we are discussing. The question is in the implementation and convenience of this moment. For example, my passport was ready on the second day, but the SMS did not come, it was not entered into the database. When all the deadlines passed, we began to find out where the passport went within the same building, where the MFC and the passport office are located. It turned out that the passport had simply fallen into the envelope, fell out of the box and lay quietly on the shelf of the passport office for two weeks. He was physically found, and immediately the phone was showered with SMS that I can pick up my passport, as it is ready (at that moment I already had it in my hands!).
And do you know what the chill runs down your back? There will be no way back from the digital world, and if something happens to all these systems, then our life will simply stop. Imagine that someone turns off all smartphones on which your documents, money are located, and you are simply helpless, you cannot pay for something? Refusal from bank cards is a matter of a decade, they will not last long, cash by that time will become a completely endangered species. That for those who profit from corruption schemes, it will be a completely sad event (and the schemes themselves are greatly shredded, it will be extremely difficult to steal on government contracts). The world of the future is already showing through in pieces and in all its glory. Like any unknown thing, it is a little scary, but it is in our power to make this world properly organized for all of us and feel comfortable in it.
Russian corporations with Dutch roots – double tax
A terrible thing happened the other day, the Russian government approved a project to break the tax agreement with the Netherlands. The very existence of such a tax agreement allowed companies to avoid double taxation by registering a head office in Holland, the companies paid taxes there, but did not pay them in Russia. This made it possible to withdraw money from Russia at an effective rate of 2-3%. The Ministry of Finance proposed to raise the tax to 15% on dividends and income, but received no positive response. Prior to that, agreements were reached with Cyprus, Malta, Luxembourg. Russia’s actions are dictated by the desire to put things in order with the taxes of companies that transfer money abroad and pay minimal taxes. Interestingly, the President of Russia gave instructions to make companies pay 15% tax, and this concerned those who withdraw money from Russia. A very sparing rate by world standards, I can not say anything else. For example, Yandex today is a Dutch company with an effective tax rate of about three percent. I don’t like to count other people’s money, but I am a little jarred by the fact that I pay a completely different amount of taxes in Russia, they are many times higher.
The universal howl from these actions of the Russian government rang out instantly, I will list some of the “victims”: X5 Retail Group, Yandex, Gazprom International, Svyaznoy NV In the public plane, everyone refuses to comment, this is too delicate topic. In informal conversations, one can hear obscene language and regret that now there will be little money and taxes will have to be paid. Not that I was gloating about it, but I sincerely believe that Russian companies should have Russia as their home port or not enjoy various preferences, as Yandex does.
I have no doubt that within a year, one way or another, the state will achieve large taxes from those who fled from them to other jurisdictions. It is impossible to keep practically all your business in Russia, and pay taxes somewhere else and at such meager rates. This is wrong in my coordinate system.
But it will be interesting to look at something else, how the policy of companies in Russia will change because of this. They will start saving on employees to make up for their losses, or they will come up with other ways to increase their own efficiency. The fact that they are already preparing for this can be seen with the naked eye, for example, Yandex has greatly raised the prices in Yandex.Taxi when traveling in the Business category. Judging from Moscow, the situation is such that the gap between “Comfort” and “Business” has become 2-2.5 times on weekends, 1.5-2 times on weekdays. Previously, there were no such striking differences, this is a hidden price increase, which solves many of Yandex.Taxi’s problems.
In 2022, this will be a very interesting factor for a number of companies that, on the one hand, are squeezed by competitors, on the other hand, have to pay for previous years with super profits that spoiled them.
New smartphones from TCL – 20th series for the mass market
I am sure that TCL is unknown to ordinary buyers in Russia (this brand owns the brands Alcatel, Palm, they were released under the Blackberry license). Nevertheless, their devices are no worse than those of other manufacturers, the emphasis is on design, and this moment has always been pleasant. Also, the company is not trying to become a discounter, the TCL line is a price / quality ratio, but not prices below the market, since this is a road to nowhere.
I foresee continuous frustrations from the fact that TCL smartphones stand like a cast iron bridge, as well as at the level of other major brands. In the last issue, I touched on the stereotype of perception using the example of HMD Global smartphones, the prices for them are aligned to the market, exactly the same we see for TCL.
For the first time, the 20th line was shown at CES 2021, the exhibition was held in a virtual format. Three models: the flagship TCL 20 Pro 5G, as well as simpler devices – TCL 20L + and TCL 20L. From April 15, they go on sale in Europe, the cost will be 549, 269, 229 euros, respectively. Russian prices have not been announced yet, but the devices will appear on the shelves in the spring, you should not expect low prices, they will be on the market.
In the TCL 20 Pro version, I like the design of the case, even if it is made of glass, but the material plays in the light, a pleasant matte finish is achieved by satin finish. Memory capacity 6/256 GB, Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset, 4500 mAh battery. The screen is 6.67 inches, curved around the edges, of course it’s AMOLED. Of the features and chips, I note what was called Super Bluetooth, the ability to broadcast sound to four different devices at once, if Wi-Fi is turned off, to two with Wi-Fi turned on. FullHD + screen resolution, as in other models, the company focuses on high-quality screens.
Externally interesting line, and the manufacturer is not chasing market share, sales at any cost. What is the most balanced approach in the current situation, it is better to sell as much as possible, but make money. Of course, at the same time, people are not ready for new price levels, sales continue to decline year to year, and the flagships of all companies, including Apple, receive noticeable discounts, retail is trying to clean the shelves in order to earn money for its existence.
Take a look at what the younger models look like.
As soon as these models appear in Russia, I will try to introduce you to them.
Bioceramics from Swatch – new Big Bold watch
Closely following the search for new materials for consumer products, Swatch decided to use composite materials that are characteristic of prostheses. And why, in fact, not? They are called bioceramics, which sounds pleasant and incomprehensible to most people.
Two-thirds of the watch is made of ceramic (the case is made of it), while the strap, the glass is made of plastic (it is called BIO). Bioceramics usually means prostheses that are installed in people, for example, a titanium joint and a hinge for it made of bioceramics. Swatch doesn’t say anything about it, it’s just new material that they will try to make fashionable. It is clear that the wave of using such material will not take over the world, but this is an attempt to stand out, highlight something new, something that sounds good.
The new watch is quite curious to the touch, silky. The cost is 9 rubles, which is quite expensive for Swatch. On the other hand, Big Bolds should be worth it (I can’t get rid of the association of the name with my Big Bang from Hublot). It’s hard for me to imagine who will be the audience for these watches in Russia, but perhaps it is someone who cares about ecology, safe materials, or those who just love Swatch. For me, this is a teenage watch or an accessory worn by students, usually girls. In adulthood, I almost never see Swatch on my hands (it is possible that my social circle affects here, I don’t know).
PS Have a good working week, so that things are arguing, and exceptionally funny and smart people come across on the way. Good luck!
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