Chinanews client, Beijing, September 24th (Reporter Xie Yiguan) Buying a house and decorating is a major event that many families have to go through, but there are so many tricks in it. If you don't pay attention, you will fall into a "trap".
On the 24th, the China Consumers Association issued a consumer reminder that many consumers complained to the China Consumers Association recently that some companies in the residential decoration market have played the banner of "free decoration" and "return of decoration money in N years" to attract consumers. Many consumers have made purchases under the audacity and fanfare.
However, after signing the order, the merchants often violated their promises and charged additional fees with various rhetoric. Some operators even "emptied the building", causing consumers to suffer great losses.
Data map: The kitchen of a rental house in Beijing.
Photo by Qiu Yu
The China Consumers Association is concerned that the "China National Decoration Industry Self-Discipline Convention" launched by the China Building Decoration Association regulates the above situation, but many companies have difficulty implementing it in their operations, and consumers' rights protection is fruitless and miserable.
Here, the China Consumers Association solemnly reminds consumers not to trust irresponsible promises such as "free decoration" and "return of decorations in N years".
The China Consumers Association believes that: 1. "Free decoration" and "N-year return of decoration money" are both bad business practices that do not conform to commercial laws.
From the perspective of the practice of rights protection, the less reasonable profit margins are left, the home improvement companies that make ultra-low prices, super discounts or even "free" promises, the more explosive and easy to run away, consumers are the easiest to lose money. Return, the final result will only be "free is often the most expensive".
The propaganda of "free decoration" and "return of decoration money in N years" is suspected of violating the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, which can easily mislead consumers and disrupt the relevant market order.
2. "Lifetime free warranty" is actually just a marketing gimmick.
The home decoration industry has its own unique characteristics, such as low frequency, high customer order value, multiple construction procedures, and long service life. Therefore, the establishment and appropriate extension of the free maintenance period based on reasonable factors is beneficial to the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of home improvement consumers.
From a practical point of view, although the publicity strategy of "free lifetime warranty" can attract consumers in a short period of time and gain a competitive advantage, it is beyond the actual capacity of the company and obviously violates the laws of business and is ultimately difficult to fulfill.
Some companies even run away because of poor management and insufficient income, disregarding corporate integrity.
3. During the warranty period, it is due to construction reasons, and the operator should promptly visit the door for repairs without prevarication and delay.
If the self-declaration and commitment of the operator to consumers exceeds the warranty period stipulated by the state, it should clearly state the promised free warranty scope, items and period and include it in the contract performance. If there is a decoration problem caused by the level of construction technology , Operators should take the initiative to do repairs and maintenance.
Fourth, consumers should beware of operators turning free warranty into paid maintenance.
Charges for home improvement services include design fees, material fees, and labor service fees. The nominal "free" of many companies may be free of labor fees, door-to-door fees, etc., excluding raw material costs; at the same time, home improvement repairs are often "Start the whole body", although a certain service is free, the other locations or links involved may not be free. In fact, consumers still pay for maintenance in the end.
5. Consumers should judge and choose carefully.
At present, most decoration companies will make promises such as "two-year warranty and five-year warranty" for hydropower projects, which is also a relatively objective level of the decoration industry.
Consumers should make cautious judgments if the charges are significantly lower than the industry practice, the promised free warranty is too large, the project content is too wide, and the period is too long.
In addition, the home improvement service construction industry has relatively unified standards for raw materials. Even if home improvement repairs are out of warranty, consumers can completely solve the repair problem by purchasing services through formal channels socially.
In addition, according to Article 23 of the "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China," the decoration and fitting services provided by the operators, the consumers discover defects within six months from the date of receiving the goods or services, and disputes arise. The operator shall bear the burden of proof for the defect.
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