The business closed down or ran because of the epidemic--
What about my prepaid purchases?
The new crown pneumonia outbreak has hit many travel agencies, restaurants, gyms, barber shops, fruit supermarkets, and offline education and training institutions. These merchants usually use prepaid cards to attract consumers. Nowadays, some merchants suspend business or shut down due to the epidemic situation. What should consumers do?
Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute and Consumer Network conducted a comprehensive analysis of prepaid consumer disputes during the epidemic and found that the problems were mainly concentrated in disputes over suspension of business rebates during the epidemic, changes in service methods, limited use periods, and business closures and transfers Or run 4 ways.
The business is suspended or unable to perform.
How to refund?
Due to restrictions on travel and site conditions, many prepaid consumption contracts could not be realized during the epidemic prevention and control period, and the number of prepaid consumption disputes caused by this has increased significantly. First and foremost is the chargeback dispute caused by the business suspension or failure to perform.
For example, Beijing consumer Mr. Ke reported that he recharged a 4,000 yuan card in a restaurant and booked a New Year's banquet, but was unable to consume it after the outbreak. He found the hotel for a refund and was rejected by the hotel. The person in charge of the hotel said that the amount in the card can be consumed after the epidemic situation. However, Mr. Ke usually works in other places. Except for the Spring Festival holiday, it is impossible to return to his hometown for consumption.
In addition, there are many consumers who have booked travel routes or hotels, because of concerns about the epidemic, they called for cancellation (refund), some merchants refunded, and some merchants did not refund.
In this regard, Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary general of the Consumer Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society, believes that the new crown pneumonia epidemic cannot be foreseen, unavoidable, and insurmountable, which undoubtedly belongs to force majeure. However, considering the regional and persistent characteristics of the epidemic situation, to determine the force majeure factors of the epidemic situation, we must also combine factors such as specific regions, specific time and specific impacts. Such as the time when the state officially announced the type of the epidemic and the level of prevention and control, and the specific measures taken by the relevant departments to prevent and control the epidemic.
The New Year's Eve is January 24th, and the National Health and Medical Commission included the new coronavirus into the Class B infectious disease on January 20th, and took preventive and control measures for the Class A infectious disease. Therefore, according to the Contract Law, Mr. Ke and the hotel have the right to terminate the contract, and neither party is liable for breach of contract. If the consumer has previously spent part of the purchase, he can request a refund of the remaining amount after deducting the consumption part; if the consumer has previously paid a deposit, he is also entitled to request a refund of the deposit. If the consumer's booking project does cause actual expenditures to the operator, the two parties should negotiate to share the relevant expenditures reasonably.
After the outbreak, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism asked the national travel agencies to suspend group travel and air ticket plus hotel operations, and consumers also faced refund issues.
According to the decision of the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and China National Railway Group Co., Ltd., from 00:00 on January 24th, passengers who have previously purchased train tickets, bus tickets, ferry tickets, and air tickets will need to refund their tickets if they change their schedule voluntarily. Waive its refund fee. Consumers can refund their tickets for free.
However, refunds for some hotels and scenic spots must be implemented according to local conditions. For example, Ao Liyong, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, stated on January 22 that tourists who request hotel cancellations, travel agency cancellation teams, and scenic area cancellations for the purpose of preventing new crown virus infections, in principle, hotels in the territories, All travel agencies and scenic spots should be unsubscribed.
Meituan, Ctrip, Tongcheng and other online travel platforms have also launched hundreds of millions of yuan in emergency service guarantees for consumers to handle hotel, guesthouse, scenic area tickets, vacations, air tickets, train tickets and other travel order refunds. Consumers can request a refund through the platform.
Offline training to online,
How to calculate the difference?
The epidemic coincides with the winter vacation and is the peak of education and training. Enrollment in various winter vacation classes and spring classes is hot. However, due to the epidemic, offline training institutions across the country have suspended teaching, and some institutions have switched courses online, which has also caused consumer dissatisfaction.
For example, the consumer Ms. Liu reported a winter vacation English training class for her child at 3,800 yuan at a training institution. As offline training was not available after the outbreak, the training institution changed to online training.
"Although the teaching is still the previous teacher, the child is accustomed to offline training and has poor eyesight. We cannot accept offline training for online training. Therefore, the training institution is required to refund the full cost." The request was rejected.
Chen Yinjiang believes that, in consideration of epidemic prevention and control, and life, health and safety, training institutions changed offline training to online training, indicating that they have made active efforts to achieve the purpose of the contract. If it does not affect the training effect or produce other negative effects, the two parties should understand each other and work together to achieve the purpose of the contract. However, it should also be considered that offline training is changed to online training. Although the training content has not changed, the training method has changed significantly, which is part of the contract change. According to the relevant provisions of the Contract Law, changes to the contract require consensus between the two parties. If the child is really not suitable for online training, it may affect the training effect and may also damage the child's vision. In this case, the consumer does not accept the conditions of the contract and requests the termination of the contract, and the training institution should refund the relevant training costs.
According to the reporter's understanding, in response to the conversion between offline training and online training, some training institutions have adopted postponed courses, and some institutions allow consumers to withdraw from classes and fees. If they are willing to switch to online, some discounts or compensation coupons will be given. . However, the spread between offline and online is not fixed. Some educational institutions can get a 30% discount on the online price, but some institutions only compensate vouchers ranging from 400 yuan to 600 yuan, and all are unilaterally determined by the institution. Consumers only accept or do not accept it, and there is no room for negotiation. .
The business is closed.
How to calculate the validity period of the prepaid card?
Consumer Ms. Wang held a fitness year card in a fitness club with membership period from June 15, 2019 to June 14, 2020. At the beginning of the epidemic, the fitness club was not closed, but Ms. Wang did not go to the club to exercise for safety reasons. The club was temporarily closed due to the development of the epidemic. "The club has not notified members and how to solve the problem of not enjoying services during the epidemic." Ms. Wang is worried that the club will not extend the membership period after the membership card expires.
Chen Yinjiang believes that due to the force majeure, the suspension of the clubhouse is understandable. However, during the suspension of business, consumers did not enjoy membership services, which should be part of the contract content that has not been fulfilled. After the epidemic is over, the clubhouse should appropriately extend the service period of members or refund part of the membership fees in accordance with the rate conversion. The extended or discounted membership time should not be calculated based on the business hours of the clubhouse only, but should also be calculated based on the time period when the relevant departments announced the start and release of the epidemic prevention and control. If the club is still not open after the epidemic is announced, it should be calculated based on the actual service hours provided.
The merchant closed down after applying for the card.
How to do?
When applying for a prepaid card, consumers are most afraid that the business will fail and run away, making their money dwindle. Because of the epidemic, this phenomenon is more common. Consumer Mr. Leng caught up with such bad things.
In November 2019, Mr. Leng set up a 2,000 yuan haircut card in a hairdressing shop. After only one haircut, he encountered an epidemic and the hairdressing shop was closed. Recently, many barber shops have opened one after another, but this barber shop has never been open, and the phone has not been answered. Mr. Leng later learned that there was a problem with the store's funding chain and it was likely that it could no longer operate. He was worried that the card would be invalidated, and he didn't know how to protect his rights.
Chen Yinjiang said that no matter whether it is the cause of the epidemic or the problem of its own operation, the barber shop has been shut down or closed down, and the consumer's advance payment cannot be taken as his own.
According to the Consumer Rights Protection Law, operators who provide goods or services in the form of advance payment shall provide them in accordance with the agreement; if they fail to provide in accordance with the agreement, they shall perform the agreement or return the advance payment in accordance with the requirements of the consumer and bear the advance payment interest. If the issue cannot be resolved through consultation with the operator, consumers can lodge a complaint with the relevant administrative department or file a lawsuit in the court to protect their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law.
After receiving relevant consumer complaints, the relevant departments should promptly investigate the businesses involved. If it is indeed affected by the epidemic or poor management, it can be implemented in accordance with the corresponding bankruptcy procedures. However, if there are other problems such as illegal transfer or misappropriation of advance payment, it is likely to be suspected of illegal fund-raising or fraud and should be transferred to the public security organ for investigation.