Refund anyone?

Legal support to victims of “refund extortion”, libel, defamation and insult in Bulgaria

Did you know that victims of refund extortion (as well as libel, defamation and insult) in Bulgaria are getting compensated quite heavily. After proving your point in Court, you can claim damages that can easily surpass the six-digit realms. And in many cases, the one that has tried to squeeze money out of you can end up serving time, for the benefit of the society.

So, what is exactly refund extortion?

Everyone who has been doing business has been confronted with this new (at least for Bulgaria) phenomenon. Basically, a customer is obtaining certain goods or services and then, claiming that the goods or services have not been provided, either partially or in full, requests a refund.

So why is refund extortion illegal?

Refund extortion was brought to Bulgaria first by the British who came massively in the country in the early 2000. Many Bulgarian companies were blackmailed by British clients hat they will “report” them if they don’t refund their money. Many tour-operators had to pay millions in compensations to “unhappy customers”, mainly from the Albion. In most of the cases, the services were already provided, but the Bulgarian sellers (or service providers) felt intimidated and preferred refunding rather than fighting back. This is not the case anymore.

We are proud to say that with our support many companies and individuals in Bulgaria understood that the law is protecting not only the client. The law in Bulgaria is the same for everybody. And refund extortion can be a costly, very costly experience for the perpetrator.

The Bulgarian penal code – refund extortion is a crime

Refund extortion almost always comes along with libel and defamation. This is done in order to force the seller or the service provider to make the refund to the “client”. Luckily these are severely punished by the Bulgarian penal code.

For the extortion, the penal conde foresees a sentence from 1 to 6 years. For libel and defamation, as well as for insult, the perpetrators are mostly punishes financially, but the amounts can go over the roof.

Libel, defamation and insult

As stated above, libel and defamation often go hand in hand with refund extortion. One very common case is the so called feedback extortion. This is basically when the client threatens the seller with bad publicity (ie bad reviews or feedback) in order to get a refund. This may be a mere policy violation under eBay rules for example, but is a crime in Bulgaria (and in many other countries).

Another case is when we have to deal with insult. For instance, if the client insults an employee of the company of the seller, it is a crime against an official (or an officer) under the criminal law. And of course, in such cases we strongly advise to immediate seek legal assistance and file a complaint with the Prosecutor’s office.

Financial compensation (apart from eventual criminal proceedings)

Refund extortion, libel, defamation and insult are very serious offences that harm the seller’s reputation and business activities. As such, they are not only punishable by the Penal Code. The seller can claim in the court compensation that he deems reasonable and sufficient to compensate his damages. And these damages can often surpass the six-digit figures.

What to do if you are victim of refund extortion, libel, defamation or insult

We recommend you to immediately seek legal advise and to contact us asap. You deserve it not only for yourself, but to protect the society as well. Refund and feedback extortion don’t have any place in our society. We believe that the perpetrators of these crimes should be held liable under the current laws.

To victims of extortion, libel, defamation, etc. we can offer professional assistance and in many cases we can offer no-win-no-pay arrangements. After all, we also want to protect the society from this malpractices and are ready to pay our share in this “war”.