A Disastrous Experience with Yandex Market: A Cautionary Tale

I ordered this TV on December 5, 2025, from Yandex Market for 21,386 rubles, opting for the Yandex Split payment plan to treat myself for the holiday. But the surprise wasn't exactly what I was hoping for: by the second day, I noticed some weird color transfer issues. The settings kept getting reset, making it uncomfortable to watch.

On the sixth day, within the legal timeframe (Article 26.1 of the Consumer Protection Law), I initiated a return through my personal account. But instead of a straightforward refund, I got an automatic rejection without any explanation. After opening a dispute, sending a video of the defect, and reminding them of my right to return the item within seven days without reason, they finally confirmed the return. They promised to contact me within 24 hours to arrange for the pickup. Of course, no one called.

I had to reach out to the chat support myself and got a clear instruction: 'Take the TV to the store, mention the return code, and show your passport.' When I asked, 'Is there anything else I need to do?' the response was, 'Nothing's required, we've already informed you.'

Since our TV wouldn't fit in our car, we ended up hiring a cargo taxi to take it to the store. But that's when things got really confusing: the sales staff had no idea about the return policy or how to process a return. They told us the TV was a technical product and they couldn't just take it back. We spent an hour in the store going back and forth with customer support, who just asked us to show the order number and return code to the staff. Eventually, the support team asked us to request an act of refusal from the sales staff, but after a few calls, the sales lady decided to take the TV and processed the return on our Yandex Pay card, after checking that we had paid it in installments and handing us a receipt, saying she didn't have any other documents. I sent the receipt to the support chat.

Things started to get weird after that. At first, they told us when the installments would be cancelled, but support said they were cancelled, yet the installments were still showing up.

Even though the product was returned to the seller, in my Yandex Split account, the unpaid balance was still showing up. I reached out to support and they said the paid part would be refunded to my card, but the rest of the payments would be cancelled. But later, I received a message from them saying:

"Agreements with the seller have no impact on our obligations, and you need to pay off Split."

We pointed out that we followed their instructions to the letter and didn't discuss anything with the seller, and this is how they responded:

"When you pay in installments, we take a commission. The terms of service don't mention returning the commission if you pay off the loan early. So, Yandex Split doesn't refund the overpayment."

Translation: even if you return the product, you're still obligated to pay interest on it! When we asked them to provide specific articles from the Russian laws that require consumers to pay for returned products, the support team just cited their internal "terms of service" and claimed they don't violate Russian law in any way.

The Yandex support team themselves pointed out the mistake made by the seller at the 'MVideo' store.

I'm still fuming about how this whole situation went down. The seller, MVideo, should have returned the money to Yandex, not me, and that would've been the end of it. But no, thanks to Yandex's incorrect instructions and MVideo's staff, I'm now being asked to pay interest on a product that was returned just a week after I bought it. When I asked customer support to explain why I shouldn't have to pay 4,160 rubles in interest due to their own mistakes, all I got was a robotic response telling me to pay up and deal with the seller's issues. The main amount for the product still hasn't been returned to my card, but I'm being forced to continue paying. When we threatened to take it to Rospotrebnadzor, the response was just a generic message saying that Yandex Pay would process the request in accordance with the law. It's like they're saying, 'You got the wrong instructions, now you pay.' In an attempt to prove their point, the customer support specialist claimed that when you order something, you receive two receipts: one for the product and one for the commission. But when I asked where the commission receipt was, they just went silent.

Update: The Aftermath

I'm still trying to make sense of the whole experience, but it's been a wild ride. After I reached out to customer support, they initially asked me to repeat the issue and then put the conversation on hold. That was the last I heard from them.

The Verdict: Yandex Market ended up giving us a headache, financial losses on taxis, and an unbearable bureaucratic ordeal. They sent us down the wrong path, and now we're stuck with the bill. I've never had to pay interest on a returned item before, and it's just not the kind of professional service you'd expect from a big company.

It feels like they're trying to pass on the costs to us for using their service, even though the product might not have been the right fit. At this point, I'm not even looking forward to dealing with the standard responses from their support team. I'm planning to take this further and see what I can do.

Update 2: When I asked for information on how to file a complaint about the support team's performance, they sent me a link that didn't work. It's like they're trying to cover their tracks and make us pay for their mistake.

I did get some good news to share - Yandex finally acknowledged that we weren't at fault and gave us a promo code for a bit more than the interest, which we were planning to use on our next purchase anyway. The support team at VK was super helpful, so if you need assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to them. As for the refund for the TV itself, it's still pending, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll arrive soon. I've got some serious concerns about this company - I've experienced some pretty shady practices in just one month, and it's still taking me time to process it all. Here are some red flags to watch out for:

1) Want to return your TV within the 7-day return window? Good luck with that - you'll just end up going back to the seller, who'll try to convince you to stay and not return it, and then Yandex support will just stop responding to your refund request.

2) Sent a referral link to a friend to make a purchase? Forget about getting your bonus rewards - they'll just cancel them without explanation, and if you contact support, they'll tell you that it's according to their rules, without explaining what those rules are.

3) Got a promo code with a decent discount? Don't get too excited - Yandex will just cancel it the next day, citing that the promo period has ended, which is totally their right, according to support.

4) Want to check the status of your second TV purchase? Forget about it - the manager will just hand it over to you, even if it's damaged, and you'll have to deal with it at home.

5) Scheduled your TV delivery in advance? No worries - Yandex will just delay it and ruin the surprise for your loved ones.

This is just one month of dealing with this company, and it's still taking me time to wrap my head around the sheer amount of incompetence I've encountered. Avoid this market at all costs, even with a good promo code or discount - it's just not worth the stress and potential headaches.

It's been a nightmare, to say the least. Don't waste your time and energy on this company - it's just not worth it.

Purchasing from this market, even with a good promo code or discount, is a recipe for disaster.