Instalment to change loan?

A number of educational institutions are accused of inducing student loans, the institution denies

  A trial lesson of 0 yuan, and a down payment of a few hundred yuan can be used to learn online courses worth tens of thousands of yuan. With the booming online education market, such advertisements can often attract school students or professionals who want to improve themselves.

  However, several consumers recently complained to The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that when they purchased online education courses, they were induced by sales staff to pay tuition fees in installments. After the payment was successful, they discovered that they were borrowing from a third-party lending platform.

When they are dissatisfied with bad courses and want to withdraw, they also face the problem of withdrawal and difficulty in refunding fees.

These complaints involve many educational institutions such as Ping An Hao Xue, EF English, and Xuehui.

  The Paper Search found that it is not uncommon to report complaints about "inducing loans" in online education institutions.

However, unlike consumers' claims, the above-mentioned complained institutions all denied the existence of induced loans, saying that they had truthfully informed them before applying.

Among them, a college student said that he had applied for a loan under the guidance of sales staff when he signed up for EF English, but the student was not eligible for the loan.

In this regard, a staff member of EF did not respond clearly, saying that they would like to find out about the situation.

  Many consumers also reported that loans have also made them passive in protecting their rights. If they are not satisfied with the quality of online courses and request to withdraw from the course, the lending institution will ask to withdraw from the course first and then stop the loan. During the withdrawal application period, the loan must continue to be repaid.

Some loan platform staff said that financial institutions do not guarantee or promise the quality or quality of the training services purchased by users.

It is recommended that users choose a formal, legal, reputable, and qualified institution and sign the corresponding written agreement when choosing a training institution, and then pay after understanding the payment details.

Multiple educational institutions have been accused of "inducing loans"

  Shanghai university student Zhang Mo (pseudonym) told The Paper that after she signed up to learn English, she not only got an online loan, but it was also difficult to apply for withdrawal.

  In August 2019, Zhang Mo participated in an experience class at an English education institution in Shanghai.

She said that she felt good after class and wanted to sign up to improve her English, but because of the average family conditions, she couldn't pay so much tuition at once. The sales consultant said that she could "pay in installments".

  "The sales said that the tuition fee can be installed in installments, but did not say that it was a loan from a third-party platform. When she guided me in the operation, the certification was very simple. I thought it was going through the enrollment procedures." Zhang Mo said. Preferential services provided to students, no interest, online courses with a total price of 9,999 yuan, the down payment is only 1,000 yuan, and the remaining tuition is in 24 installments, with a monthly payment of 375 yuan.

  Zhang Mo said that under the guidance of the sales consultant, she downloaded the Qianqianhua APP. “The sales said that the APP is used for identity authentication, and I have no online loan experience, so I thought it was normal registration and authentication.” However, after paying the tuition, She received a text message stating that the loan was successful, and then she knew that the app was a third-party lending platform.

  "I thought that the installment was to pay institutions in installments, because the country does not allow loans to college students, and the APP also showed that "loans to college students are not allowed", but I registered in the email sent to me by the sales. It succeeded." Zhang Mo said that she suspects that there is a cooperative relationship between the third-party loan platform and the educational institution. After returning to school, she tried to use the APP again to obtain loans, but it was shown that she was a college student and could not perform the loan operation.

  Zhang Mo said that after learning that she had taken the online loan, she asked the sales consultant on the spot why the instalment payment turned into a loan from a third-party institution. The other party said, "I told you that it was an instalment loan, and you didn't understand it."

Afterwards, she searched the Internet and found that many netizens reported that they had similar experiences with her, "In the beginning, it was said that installments were paid, and then it became an installment loan."

  Wang Lei (pseudonym) claimed to have also encountered a loan when he signed up to learn English.

She said that in June 2019, after she had just started to work, she spent more than 25,000 yuan to purchase an online course of Ping An Hao Xue English APP.

When paying the fee, she had proposed to use a bank card to pay, but the sales suggested that she pay in installments. "She said that there is zero interest, and she can keep some funds on hand."

  Wang Lei said that the salesman instructed her to download the Qianqianhua APP and upload the ID card verification on the phone. No one from the loan company had contact with her during the whole process. After the operation, she knew that she had completed the loan.

  After signing up, Wang Lei complained to Ping An Haoxue English platform on the grounds of “not clearly informed of the loan”. “They replied that the company has call records and staff training. Sales explained to you on the phone that it was a loan. Decided to use."

  Wang Lei believes that salespersons’ words and advertisements on the platform will make students mistakenly believe that the platform provides installment services. For example, the April advertisement on Ping An Haoxue’s homepage "April product upgrade, course down payment 899 yuan", did not mention third-party loans. .

  Xuehui.com, which mainly promotes online education and academic qualification promotion, has also been reported to induce loans.

  Ou Qian (pseudonym), a student at a Hunan Vocational and Technical College, told The Paper that in February this year, she purchased a set of academic tutoring online courses through Xuehui. The course fee was 10,800 yuan.

"When paying the fee, the course consultant said that the institution has installment services, and there is no need to pay in full, and there is no interest." Under the guidance of the consultant, she unknowingly applied for 24 loans from the third-party lending platform Huixue. Repayment of 860 yuan.

  Ou Qian said that due to the similar name of Huixue and Xuehui.com, he thought that the platform was an instalment service platform under Xuehui.com.

Later, when she applied for withdrawal because of the poor effect of the teaching course, she learned that she had applied for an education loan from a third-party lending platform, and the loan could only be stopped by withdrawal.

  She said that as a student, she had applied to the "Hui Xue" loan platform to stop the loan.

However, because the vocational and technical college she attended did not have relevant academic information on Xuexin.com, the application was rejected. "It doesn't work for me to provide a certificate of enrollment issued by the school. They said that they only recognize the information on Xuexin."

  The Paper Journalists searched the Internet and found that it is not uncommon to find that online education institutions have problems with "inducing loans".

On a consumer complaint platform, there were as many as 2,978 complaints about "education-induced loans", most of which were students at school. The complaints involved induced loans, false propaganda, overlord clauses, non-refunds, etc. The institutions include Huixue Korean, Mingshi Education, EF Education, Ping An Haoxue, and Business Ethics Institutions and other educational platforms.

Participants say it is difficult to withdraw from the class after being loaned

  Behind the low threshold to apply for education loans, there are often hidden dangers that credit information will be affected and the difficulty of withdrawing from classes and fees.

  Ou Qian believes: "The quality of online courses is difficult to guarantee. If the educational institution pays in installments, students can make a request after a problem occurs in the course. However, after the loan is backed, the educational institution receives the tuition in a lump sum. It's also very passive."

  She said that after two days of studying, Ou Qian found that the effect of the course was not as expected and applied to Xuehui.com to withdraw from the course.

However, the course consultant said that the course has been successfully registered, and there are only two options for applying for withdrawal: one is to pay the full tuition fee of 10,800 yuan at a time, and the remaining fee is refunded within three months after deducting the 3,000 yuan course fee; the second is to stop the loan , But it needs to deduct more than 2,000 yuan of loan handling fees. At the same time, it takes 2 months to process the loan. Before the loan is stopped, you still need to repay the loan on a monthly basis (860 yuan per month).

  According to the plan proposed by the other party, even though she only attended two days of class, Ou Qian needed a handling fee of about 3,000 yuan.

Ou Qian said that Ou Qian did not repay the loan on time in the second month due to the issue of dropping the class. Soon the dunning call was called to her mobile phone, saying that the overdue period would affect her personal credit, and she had to continue to repay the loan.

  Ou Qian said that she also contacted the "Hui Xue" loan platform to ask whether the loan can be stopped during the cancellation of the course. The other party said that the loan can only be stopped after the successful withdrawal.

"Now that both parties are dragging on, Xuehui.com will not stop the loan if they don't cancel the class." Ou Qian said.

  After two months of class at the EF English Training Institute, Zhang Mo also believes that the effect of the online course is far from that of the experience course, and he asked to withdraw from the course.

She said that the sales claim was due to the students' personal reasons and required high liquidated damages, and did not cancel the class at that time.

"After another half a year, I felt that there was not much progress, and then I applied for a refund. Sales asked me to apply for review directly on the platform, but there has been no review result." Zhang Mo said.

  Zhang Mo said that during the refund process, due to fear of affecting personal credit, she paid back on time every month.

Zhang Mo said that a loan of nearly 10,000 yuan is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for the students at school. "It was originally for the purpose of upgrading the class, but as a result, I took an online loan and couldn't withdraw from the class. This pressure can be imagined. ."

  Zhang Mo said that at the end of April this year, after repeatedly negotiating for more than a year and experiencing complaints to the market supervision department, she finally handled the withdrawal.

Experienced, "In the beginning, they (the organization) said that they would deduct 2500 yuan as liquidated damages, and the 9,999 yuan class would refund 1,667 yuan. I didn't agree. After many communications, only the course fee was deducted and the refund was 8,749 yuan. "

  "The original course was a relationship between students and educational institutions, but now with the addition of a third-party lending platform, it has become very complicated. We (the students) hand over the money to the third-party lending platform, and the platform is not responsible for the quality of the course. When it comes to refunding the fees, they will shirk each other.” Wang Lei said that after applying for withdrawal from the school, she has not passed the review until The Paper got involved, and the other party took the initiative to negotiate, and finally the two sides reached an agreement.

  In addition to the above-mentioned circumstances, the paper found that many netizens have reported that education loans are withdrawn from classes and refunds are difficult, which has caused many students to be embarrassed and unable to repay the loans on time. They not only face high penalty interest, but also cause problems. Personal credit black spots affect job hunting and house purchases.

The educational institution involved denies the existence of induced loans

  In response to the situation reported by the above-mentioned students, on May 2nd, The Paper reporter contacted the educational institution involved.

  The staff of EF English Training Institution stated that when registering and paying fees, the institution provides three payment methods: cash, bank card and loan. If the student chooses to pay with a loan, the student shall apply to a third-party lending institution with corresponding qualifications on his own initiative. Before the loan, we will assist the students to confirm the loan terms of the third-party lending institution, and there is no inducement or the students' ignorance."

  Regarding college students, he said that according to national regulations, third-party lending institutions cannot lend to college students, and EF Education does not have a cooperative relationship with third-party lending institutions.

Regarding the case of Shanghai college student Zhang Mo applying for a loan from a college student, the staff member did not explicitly respond, saying that he would like to find out about the situation.

  The staff of Xuehui.com’s brand department responded to the surging news saying that Xuehui.com and Huixue’s lending platform do have a cooperative relationship, but they did not induce loans to students. “We considered that the tuition fee is around 6,000 to 10,000. Since the candidates are the main candidates, there is short-term financial pressure, so the payment method of installment loans is provided. However, the cooperation platforms are all qualified, and the lending platform will call one-on-one to verify the loan application, including the loan Nature and subsequent responsibilities."

  In this regard, Ou Qian said that she did receive a call from Huixue’s lending platform, but at the time she thought the platform and Xuehui.com belong to the same company. “I thought it was a return call from Xuehui.com. Later, when she applied for withdrawal, The terms above see that Huixue is a third-party lending company."

  According to the staff of Xuehui.com, Xuehui.com and Huixue’s lending platform belong to a cooperative relationship. After students apply for a loan on the platform, the platform will review and approve the loan, and the fund provider will put the loan amount into the Xuehui.com account. To pay for the course fees.

According to the different loan installments of the students, Huixue will also charge corresponding installment loan service fees.

  The customer service staff of Ping An Hao Xue English APP stated that installment loans are currently one of the payment methods for the course registration, but the Ping An Hao Xue English APP does not provide loan services, but only assists students in applying. “Before applying, they will truthfully inform students of the successful loan. Obligations, responsibilities, avoiding overdue, etc."

  Regarding Wang Lei’s point that the sales consultant did not clearly explain the loan issue at the time of registration, the customer service staff responded that through internal audit, the sales consultant had informed the trainees that the instalment payment was a third-party loan, and the payment method was stated in Article 2 of the signed contract. Explained: “If Party B chooses a third-party financial institution for loan payment, Party B should apply to the third-party financial institution for the loan, and the rights and obligations related to the loan contract have nothing to do with Party A.” But Wang Lei said that the sales consultant was at the time of registration. I gave guidance over the phone, and the contract was signed after the call, and there was no time to study the terms carefully.

You can stop the loan if you withdraw from class

  As early as 2017, relevant departments issued campus loan management documents prohibiting online lending institutions from issuing loans to college students.

In March this year, the General Office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the General Office of the Ministry of Education and other five departments jointly issued the "Notice on Further Regulating the Supervision and Administration of College Students’ Internet Consumer Loans", which clearly requires that small loan companies shall not issue Internet consumer loans to college students , Institutions established without the approval of the regulatory authorities are not allowed to provide credit services to college students.

  The Paper reporters contacted many financial lending platforms such as Money Flower, Huixue, 360 IOU, Ping An Haodai, and Right Now Finance. Several platforms stated that college students cannot apply for loans.

  Among them, the staff of Qianhuahua told The Paper that in accordance with national regulations, the platform does not provide loan services for college students, including education loans. "When users apply for loans, many links have clearly indicated that they are not for school students. To provide loans, the platform is currently using various channels to continuously improve its ability to identify students at school to avoid the possibility of students getting loans.” Why can Zhang Mo apply for loans through educational institutions in 2019?

The staff member said that perhaps the regulations were different at that time and it is no longer able to handle it.

  However, for non-school college students, the threshold for applying for education loans is very easy. Many education loans on lending platforms feature low interest rates, no credit checks, and instant approval.

However, there are hidden dangers behind the fast and low threshold.

  The staff of many of the above-mentioned lending institutions stated that although face recognition, ID verification and other methods are used to confirm the identity of the borrower, they will not conduct one-to-one phone calls to confirm loan details. Instead, they will send SMS reminders after the loan. The way to inform the success of the loan.

  Compared with the fast and simple loan process, once the loan is issued, the procedure for stopping the loan is very complicated.

The staff of the above-mentioned lending institutions all stated that the loans provided by financial institutions and the services provided by educational institutions belong to two separate legal relationships, and financial institutions do not guarantee or promise education and training services.

If a student has a dispute with an educational institution due to a course problem, he or she needs to negotiate with the educational institution on his own, and the loan can only be stopped after the course is withdrawn.

  Among them, the staff of the Qianhuahua platform stated that education loans basically implement the policy of "withdrawal from the course and then withdraw the loan". If students want to withdraw from the course, they must first terminate the training agreement with the training institution, and then apply to the financial institution after withdrawal. When applying for loan suspension, the loan should be paid on time before the withdrawal procedures are completed.

  The staff of Huilearning platform introduced that Huilearning platform does have a cooperative relationship with Xuehui. However, educational installment loans and the provision of educational services are two independent legal relationships. The lending platform is not an educational service provider. The student has any relationship with the educational institution. The disputes have nothing to do with the loan repayment obligations.

"If users want to stop the loan, they can settle the loan at any time through the platform, that is, pay the full tuition. After the loan is settled, the instalment loan will naturally terminate. However, the unauthorized suspension of the loan before the loan is overdue, personal credit information basis The database will show overdue information."

  The staff member said that buying a course from an educational institution with a loan is essentially the same as paying with a credit card. The financial institution does not guarantee or promise the quality or quality of the training service purchased by the user.

It is recommended that users choose a formal, legal, reputable, and qualified institution and sign the corresponding written agreement when choosing a training institution, and then pay after understanding the payment details.

  Reporter Li Siwen, intern Lu Bingxu