China News Service Client, Beijing, May 13 (Zhang Xu) The controversy caused by the overtime charging of Fengchao express counters has not subsided. Following Hangzhou Dongxinyuan community, many communities in Shanghai and other places have joined the boycott of Fengchao. , Request consultation and negotiation. After being boycotted, Fengchao has not withdrawn this decision.
According to regulations, ordinary users only have 12 hours of free storage time, and overtime will be charged 0.5 yuan / 12 hours. Why did Fengchao receive the five cents in a boycott?
Fengchao express cabinet in a community in Haidian District, Beijing. Zhang Xushe
" Please solve the charging problem within three days"
Since April 30, Fengchao officially launched the overtime charging system, and Hangzhou Dongxinyuan Community immediately announced that it will stop using Fengchao express cabinets. As the event fermented, it has now evolved into a "confrontation" between the community business committee and Fengchao.
On May 12, the WeChat public account of the owner committee of Hangzhou Dongxinyuan Community released the "Letter on Requesting Fengchao to Solve the Charging Problem within 3 Days of Receiving the Letter".
The document pointed out that on May 6, Feng Nest Technology unilaterally charged the so-called overtime "custodial fee" without the consent of the owner, and caused the community owner to actually pay the relevant fee for this. Your company's behavior is suspected of being illegal.
The industry committee said, "Please ask your company to resolve the above illegal charges within three days after receiving the letter to ensure the lawful and normal performance of the contract. If your company does not resolve it within the time limit, our industry committee will consider that your company is in accordance with the provisions of the contract law. My own inaction indicates a refusal to continue to perform the contract: At that time, your contract will be terminated by your company ’s fundamental breach of contract. "
The picture is from the WeChat public account of the Dongxinyuan Community Industry Committee.
Although Fengchao previously issued an open letter stating that the charges were to improve efficiency, the community team that suspended the use of Fengchao express cabinets was growing. According to media reports, at least 78 communities in Shanghai resisted the charging policy introduced by Fengchao. At the same time, community business committees in Suzhou, Chuzhou, Qingdao, and Guangzhou participated.
Shanghai Zhonghuan Garden issued two appeals in an open letter to Fengchao: post a prominent notice on the express cabinet, and the courier must contact the customer first before agreeing to invest in the Fengchao cabinet; the free time is extended to 24 hours. If the above two points are not satisfied, the two Fengchao express cabinets in Huayuan Community in Central will cease to be used indefinitely until the end of the agreement period.
"5 wool is nothing, we hope we can be respected." Some users said.
On May 11, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission responded to Fengchao's overtime charging, emphasizing that “express companies should put express shipments into express cabinets, and all consumers should obtain the explicit consent of consumers.” This also appeared in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other post offices Management's response. The Consumers Association of Fujian Province also pointed out that the costs incurred in depositing into the express cabinet without the consent of the recipient should be borne by the express company.
Has been complained by users for "inducing rewards"
In fact, this is not the first time that Fengchao has stood on the cusp of the bill because of charging problems. In the past two years, Fengchao has been repeatedly complained about inducing users to reward.
At that time, a user complained that when the package was placed in the Fengchao express cabinet for more than a certain period of time, a "appreciation" mark appeared on the pickup page, prompting the user to "scan the code to appreciate the 1 yuan storage fee."
The picture comes from the black cat complaint.
The "Skip Appreciation" button is designed in gray and placed at the bottom of the screen. Appreciation is not indispensable, but it is easily ignored by users. Even if it is not ignored, the gray button is also easy to make users think that they cannot click and have to "appreciate".
There are views that Fengchao's move is to deceive users to "induce charges."
Facing criticism, Fengchao once responded that this move is to encourage users to take out the collection code as soon as possible after receiving the pickup code, so as to promote the efficient use of express cabinet resources. In addition, if the user does not see the "Skip Appreciation" option and there is a misappreciation, he can directly contact Fengchao official to provide the waybill number and other information, and the fee can be refunded after verification.
Why is Fengchao anxious to monetize?
From "appreciating one dollar" to clear overtime charges, Fengchao no longer hides in pursuit of profits.
Fengchao official said in the open letter that the fee is to improve efficiency. "Fengchao background data shows that the delivery peak of the courier is concentrated between 9 am and 11 am, and generally reaches the peak at 10 am. The setting of the" 12-hour storage period "is based on the calculation of the peak period of this shipment. Since the online member function , Fengchao's pick-up ratio increased by 5 percentage points within 12 hours, which means that nearly one million slots can be vacated every morning. "
It is worth noting that the courier needs to pay for the use of the express cabinet. According to the size of the grid, it is generally 3 Mao-6 Mao / grid; there is also a monthly model, the courier orders one-time rental, unlimited delivery within the rental period.
Pan Helin, executive dean of the Digital Economic Research Institute of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, believes that companies require users to pay more for profits, and the "two ends" approach is not desirable.
Pan Helin told reporters from ChinaNews.com, "People who really don't have time to pick up or forget to pick up the item will not pick it up just because the fee is charged. After all, the amount is not large. It is more important for the company to make a reminder than to charge."
The reason why Fengchao charges users is because of the huge losses it carries.
The Industrial Securities Research Report pointed out that from a financial point of view, according to 10 years of depreciation, the annual cost of a courier cabinet is about 8,000-10,000 yuan, of which, the depreciation of the cost of the express cabinet is about 4,000-5000 yuan, accounting for 50% of the cost; 3000 yuan, accounting for 30-40%; electricity and maintenance-related costs require about 1,000 yuan. At present, the community O2O model is difficult to realize in the short term, and it is far from enough to cover the operating costs and expenses of express delivery cabinets only by receiving mail and advertising revenue.
Courier cabinet users are picking up. Zhang Xushe
In order to make a profit, Fengchao has been exploring new growth points. In June 2018, Fengchao changed the name of the public account from "Fengchao Express Cabinet" to "Fengchao Smart Cabinet" in an attempt to abandon the single position of "Express" and seek new profit growth points, but the losses have expanded year after year.
The financial report shows that Fengchao had a net loss of 250 million yuan in 2016; a net loss of 385 million yuan in 2017; and a net loss of 249 million yuan in the first five months of 2018. The net loss in 2019 was 781 million yuan, and the net loss was again 245 million yuan in the first quarter of 2020.
On May 5, Fengchao and Courier Express announced their merger. When talking about the impact of the Fengchao merger and acquisition, Santai Holdings (the second largest shareholder of Express Express before the merger) said it would no longer share China Post's profit and loss, and the company's profitability will be significantly improved. In 2019 alone, Courier Express lost more than 500 million yuan.
According to estimates by Anxin Securities, the size of Fengchao and China Post Express inventory courier cabinets in 2019 were 180,000 sets and 94,000 sets respectively. According to the statistics of the State Post Bureau, the industry scale in 2019 is about 400,000 sets. After this merger, Fengchao's share is close to 70%.
To a certain extent, the merger can achieve scale effects. However, express delivery expert Zhao Xiaomin told China News that the scale and utilization rate of express delivery cabinets across the country are not large. Even if the number of express delivery cabinets grows rapidly and users approve charges, smart express delivery cabinets will still not be able to escape losses for some time to come.
"Futures for express cabinets in the future may become a trend, but at least users are not used to it, and companies are going too far and are subject to widespread opposition. Consumer autonomy should be fully respected, and express cabinets should be handed over Users choose. Enterprises also need to think from the perspective of users, not just profit. "Pan and Lin emphasized. (Finish)