text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Lin Ling Correspondent Huang Meilin
htmlOn March 14, the Zhongshan Municipal Market Supervision Administration announced the top ten typical cases of consumer rights protection in Zhongshan City in 2021. The ten infringement cases announced this time involve common disputes such as personal injury, consumption of minors, force majeure for epidemics, training contracts, "trap" and "inconsistent goods", commercial housing purchase and sale loans, property management fees for free, three guarantees for household cars, and prepaid consumption.In 2021, the Zhongshan Consumer Council accepted 1,726 consultations and complaints of various types. From the perspective of the nature of the dispute, complaints involving contract issues rank first, followed by complaints such as quality, after-sales service, price, and false publicity. From the perspective of product and service categories, the above complaints are distributed in multiple industries such as housing and building materials, household electronics and appliances, daily commodities and transportation, life and social services.
Minors should pay attention to the excess consumption
Ms. Sun reported to the Zhongshan Xiaolan Consumer Commission branch that her 11-year-old son (primary school student) Yang bought game cards from a bookstore in Xiaolan many times without her family's knowledge, and during this period, she spent about 6,000 yuan. Ms. Sun believes that the huge consumption caused by minor children without their parents' knowledge will not be established and a refund should be made. Ms. Sun complained to Xiaolan Branch after she failed to negotiate with the bookstore.
After investigation, Ms. Sun only had some of the purchase of game cards, with a total amount of 1,663 yuan, which was far from the 6,000 yuan mentioned by Ms. Sun. After the staff organized the parties to check in person, it was found that the cumulative consumption amount of primary school student Yang in more than a month was about 3,300 yuan, ranging from 5 yuan to 100 yuan each time. The staff found in the above consumption documents that primary school student Yang had spent about 1,000 yuan in multiple times within one hour. The bookstore did not notice or remind him about this and should bear certain responsibilities. After repeated mediation by the staff, the bookstore finally agreed to refund 1,600 yuan to Ms. Sun.
commented by Zhongshan Consumer Council: Yang, an 11-year-old primary school student, belongs to person with limited civil capacity, , but Yang did not purchase a game card at one time, but spent multiple times within more than a month, with each consumption ranging from 5 yuan to 100 yuan. Referring to the current price consumption level, it is difficult to identify a large amount of consumption for a single purchase of less than 100 yuan. However, Yang had spent about 1,000 yuan in multiple times within an hour. An 11-year-old primary school student accumulated more than 1,000 yuan in such a short and intensive consumption, which was obviously an unreasonable purchase behavior. During the period, the bookstore did not realize the abnormality and did not provide any reminder or terminate the transaction. It was obviously a negligence and it was difficult for the guardian to accept it.
reservation for wedding banquets was cancelled. Loss sharing
In December 2020, consumer Mr. Du booked a wedding banquet at a hotel in , Sanxiang Town, . The two parties agreed that the wedding banquet was scheduled in February 2021, and Mr. Du paid a deposit of 10,000 yuan to the hotel. In January 2021, due to the new confirmed cases of new imported cases of new crown from abroad, in order to reduce the gathering of people, epidemic prevention and control agencies implemented hierarchical and classified control measures for closed places such as catering places. Mr. Du's wedding could not be held as scheduled, so he explained the situation to the hotel and proposed to cancel the wedding banquet and refund the deposit. The hotel never replied to Mr. Du if he could cancel or refund, so Mr. Du complained to the Sanxiang Consumer Council branch. After
received the complaint, the branch staff quickly contacted the hotel manager and explained to the merchant that the inability to hold a wedding banquet due to epidemic control is force majeure and cannot be attributed to the consumers. The merchant requires the merchant to share the actual expenses or losses in advance and refund the consumer deposit based on the principle of fairness. After mediation, the merchant agreed to cancel the wedding banquet and refunded 8,000 yuan to Mr. Du.
Zhongshan Consumer Council commented: In this case, because of the implementation of hierarchical and classified control measures for closed places such as catering venues, it constitutes a situation where "the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved due to force majeure (the wedding banquet is held as scheduled)". Consumers should be supported to cancel the wedding banquet and return the deposit.But at the same time, we should understand that both parties cannot achieve the purpose of the contract due to force majeure. Both parties should share the actual costs or losses of the wedding banquet preparations that have occurred before the contract is terminated, including the reservation of some materials, etc., based on the principle of fairness.
lottery "pie" has become a "trap"
In November 2021, consumer Mr. Wei passed by an electrical appliance business in Dongfeng Town . The employee of the electrical appliance business distributed leaflets to him, saying that the store was holding an event and customers could draw for free. After scanning the QR code according to the guidance of the company's employees, Mr. Wei was told that he had won a tablet computer. A business employee told Mr. Wei that customers need to meet a certain amount of consumption before they can receive the prize. So, in accordance with the guidance of the bank's employees, Mr. Wei signed a "Quota Business Acceptance Form" agreement for the electric appliances bank. The agreement required Mr. Wei to redeem 5,980 yuan in one go to an online shopping mall called "Selected Shopping" to exchange for equal consumption coupons. The clerk told Mr. Wei that the consumption coupons can be used on any online shopping platform such as Taobao, , JD.com, , and the price of the mall items is the same as that of Taobao and other platforms. Mr. Wei immediately purchased the above consumption coupons through installment payment of Alipay , and received a tablet computer. After returning home, Mr. Wei found that the above consumption coupons can only be used in the "selected shopping" online shopping mall, which has very few products in the mall and the price is much higher than the market price of the goods. Mr. Wei found out that he was using 5,980 yuan to buy a tablet computer with a market price of hundreds of yuan. He regretted that he asked the electric appliances bank for a return refund, but was rejected, so he complained to the Dongfeng Town Consumer Council Branch.
After branch staff and law enforcement personnel from the Market Supervision Branch went to the electrical appliances business bank to investigate and collect evidence on site. When the electrical appliances business bank employees were guiding other customers to sell consumption coupons, they completed the evidence collection on site, and filed a case for false lottery business behaviors. With the assistance of the branch staff, the electrical appliance merchant returned the earlier Huabei loan and returned the goods.
Zhongshan Consumer Council commented: The electrical appliances business in this case first used the free lottery draw for scanning the QR code as bait. After induced consumers to enter the store through the winning tablet computer, the clerk used a splash of words, and then gradually passed the signing of an agreement and purchasing platform consumption coupons for the store, which made consumers fall into the "trap" of their lottery draw step by step. In fact, they purchased goods at a market price far higher than the goods. Their business behavior not only infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but also constitutes an illegal infringement prohibited by administrative regulations.
The loan for buying a house was not approved and wanted to repay the deposit
In May 2021, the consumer Mr. Zeng and his wife went to a property in Huangpu Town, Zhongshan City to view the house. Under the guidance of the sales staff, Mr. Zeng took a fancy to an unit of the property and wanted to purchase the unit in the name of Mrs. Zeng, but was not sure whether Mrs. Zeng could make a loan smoothly, so he consulted the sales staff. The salesperson introduced the loan procedures to Mr. Zeng and his wife and promised that if Mrs. Zeng’s loan fails, the transaction can be cancelled and the deposit can be refunded. At the urging of the salesperson, Mr. Zeng determined the number of buildings and floors and other information, and paid a deposit of 20,000 yuan as required. Later, when Mrs. Zeng was handling the loan procedures, the loan failed due to credit reporting problems. Because Mr. Zeng and his wife were unable to buy the property in full, they filed a lift for the subscription to the company and asked the sales staff to return the deposit of 20,000 yuan as promised by the sales staff but failed. They complained to the Huangpu Town Consumer Council Branch. After mediation by the staff of Huangpu Town Branch, the developer agreed to refund Mrs. Zeng's deposit of 20,000 yuan, and the two parties terminated the sales contract.
Zhongshan Consumer Council commented: Mrs. Zeng subscribed rashly without knowing her credit report, and the loan failed to pass, which led to the inability to continue the transaction. She should have assumed responsibility. However, in combination with the entire purchase process, when the two parties to the transaction signed the subscription form, the salesperson represented by the developer promised Mr. Zeng and his wife that if Mrs. Zeng’s loan failed, the transaction could be cancelled and the deposit would be refunded. Moreover, as a trading party that has more information and expertise in customer loans, sales staff are suspected of having incomplete information or misleading consumption to some extent.Therefore, based on the entire purchasing process, the staff of Huangpu Branch determined that the sale could not be continued and could not be attributed to the consumers, which eventually led to the termination of the sales contract between the two parties, and the developer returned the deposit of Mr. Zeng and his wife.
service is different from buying and selling. The contract relationship must be recognized.
In July 2019, the consumer Mr. Huang went to a property in Shenwan Town, Zhongshan City to view a house. The property was just about to be promoted. The employee of the real estate development company told Mr. Huang that the company will subscribe now and the developer will give away a one-year property management fee. Mr. Huang happened to be interested in a unit of the property, so Mr. Huang happily signed a contract with the developer. The two parties also signed a confirmation for the purchase discount. The company promised that Mr. Huang would receive a property management fee after the property was collected in February 2021. After Mr. Huang took over the property in 2021, he did not receive the property management fee as of the end of August. During this period, Mr. Huang contacted the property company and the developer without any response. Mr. Huang felt that he was "like a ball being kicked around by property management and developers", so he complained to the Shenwan Town Consumer Council Branch. After mediation by the branch, the real estate development company will eventually deposit the promised property management fee to Mr. Huang's property fee payment account at the end of September.
Zhongshan Consumer Council commented: Free property management fees for buying a house is a common promotional method for developers, but disputes often arise after the buyer takes over the property and moves in. In addition to the developer's breach of contract, the reason is that most home buyers do not know the legal relationship between property management and house purchase and sale , and lack the developer's written agreement guarantee when purchasing a house or the advertisements and agreement terms are ambiguous, which makes it difficult for home buyers to protect their rights in the future. Unless the developer gives away property management fees in the form of direct payment, the developer cannot directly stipulate the terms regarding the specific content of property management in the sales contract. Doing so is an inappropriate situation of handling other people's rights.
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangchengpai
Editor | Huang Tie'an
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