The return and exchange policy is suspected of "different inside and outside" Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee interviews Canadian goose
Canada Goose needs to submit a description of the replacement terms today
Recently, consumers complained that they bought a down jacket at a Canadian goose store in Shanghai for more than 10,000 yuan, but they were asked to sign "unless relevant laws provide otherwise, all products sold in specialty stores in mainland China are not allowed to be returned." The "Overlord Clause", so that this down jacket with obvious quality problems cannot be returned after repeated communication.
Yesterday, "Canada Goose stipulates that stores in Mainland China cannot be returned" appeared on Weibo's hot search.
Yesterday morning, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee interviewed companies on the fairness and reasonableness of Canada Goose's return and exchange terms, and requested Canada Goose to submit a formal statement of the "Replacement Clause" before noon on December 2.
Canadian goose
Issued a statement saying "compliance with laws and regulations can be returned"
On December 1, "Canada Goose stipulates that stores in Mainland China cannot be returned" appeared on Weibo's hot search.
A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned that consumer Ms. Jia recently discovered that the Canadian goose logo she had purchased was embroidered incorrectly, and there were also problems with thread ends, and believed that the clothing had quality problems.
I went to the store to return the product the next day after the purchase, but was told that "all products sold in specialty stores in mainland China are not refundable."
The store’s confidence comes from the provisions of Article 1 of Canada Goose’s "Replacement Terms for Retail Stores in Mainland China": "Unless relevant laws provide otherwise, all products sold in specialty stores in Mainland China are not refundable."
Canada Goose issued a statement on its official WeChat account on the morning of December 1 stating that Canada Goose strictly abides by Chinese laws and regulations and implements the return and exchange policy. The first article in the "Replacement Terms" of specialty stores in mainland China means: in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. Below, all products sold in specialty stores in mainland China can be returned for refund.
Article 7 further clearly states that the replacement clause does not affect the rights enjoyed by customers in accordance with relevant laws.
The media that disclosed the incident revealed a screenshot of the conversation at about 15:00 yesterday, in which the Canadian Goose customer service clearly stated to Ms. Jia that "your clothes were purchased in a store on October 27 and could not meet your return requirements."
Store statement
Netizens questioned playing word games
Some netizens believe that the Canadian Goose’s statement is playing a word game with netizens, and the "Clearance Law" did not specify the relevant regulations for consumers to return products without quality problems. Therefore, the Canadian Goose said "No return is not possible" and hinted at the same time. I have "no quality problems", and the quality of the goods has been "confirmed on site by customers".
A netizen concluded: “Doesn’t that mean that as long as you buy it, as long as you think the quality of the clothes is okay, then I will not refund them, but can only change them.” And the clothes that Ms. Jia buys also require Canadian goose. Determine whether there is a quality problem, not to mention whether the Canadian goose testing is neutral, even if the quality of the clothes is detected, the return period has passed.
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily called a Canadian goose store as a consumer. Before the statement was released, the staff stated that Canadian goose products purchased in physical stores cannot be returned, but they can be exchanged once within 14 days.
After the statement was released, the staff were non-committal about the statement that "the statement can be returned", and did not answer this question directly, but said that it would be answered by the relevant department of the company.
However, as of press time, the Beijing Youth Daily reporter did not wait for the department's response.
Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee
Limited time Canadian goose issued "official instructions"
On the morning of December 1st, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee interviewed Canada Goose (Xiji (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd.). The company sent external lawyers, senior customer experience managers and the store manager of Guojinmen to participate in this meeting. .
The Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee stated that the interviews revealed that Canadian goose participants did not understand the specific meaning of the "replacement clause" of the specialty store.
However, Canada Goose responded to the media’s question on the "Replacement Terms" and stated that the customer’s signature means that they are aware of the terms. If they do not agree, the customer can stop the purchase at this stage as desired.
In other words, if you do not agree to the terms, customers will not be able to buy clothes.
The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission stated that the company’s return and exchange procedures described by the participants differed from the actual situation reported by consumers. The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission required Canada Goose to submit a formal "replacement clause" before noon on December 2. illustrate.
During the interview, the Consumer Protection Committee found that the Canadian Goose was also hesitant and unclear about the specific meaning of the "Replacement Clause" that consumers were required to sign.
Tang Jiansheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission pointed out that before the meeting, Canada Goose issued a statement stating that "subject to compliance with relevant laws and regulations, all products sold in specialty stores in mainland China can be returned and refunded." The Canadian Goose said it was not clear about the issues such as “what laws” and “how to define compliance”.
It is worth noting that Canada Goose stated on its global official website that the return policy is "return without reason within 30 days", but the relevant person in charge who participated in the interview stated that Canada Goose does not implement this clause in mainland China and applies to mainland China. "7 days no reason to return" clause.
The return and exchange policy is suspected of "different inside and outside."
Previously, the Canadian goose was punished by the Shanghai market supervision department for claiming that its Hutterite down was "the warmest". The market supervision department found that the warmth performance of the down is not related to the place of production. The Canadian goose violated the fourth in the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China". Article 1.
Industry experts
Corporate terms cannot override the law
In response to this matter, Chen Yinjiang, executive dean of the Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute and deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society, said that the Canadian Goose terms are neither reasonable nor legal.
Unless it is a defective product, and the merchant has notified the product of the defect in advance, the merchant can request that the product cannot be returned or exchanged due to the defect.
If it is a normal sale of goods, even if the merchant agrees to not return the goods through a contract or notification method, such a contract or notification agreement obviously excludes or restricts the rights of consumers, which is an unfair and unreasonable standard clause, that is, an invalid overlord clause.
Chen Yinjiang said that the "Consumer Rights Protection Law" clearly stipulates that if the goods or services provided by the business operators do not meet the quality requirements, consumers can return the goods in accordance with national regulations and the parties agreed, or require the business operators to perform replacement, repair and other obligations.
In the absence of national regulations and agreements between the parties, consumers can return the goods within seven days from the date of receipt; if the statutory conditions for termination of the contract are met after seven days, consumers can return the goods in a timely manner; if they do not meet the statutory conditions for termination of the contract, they can require the operator to perform Obligations such as replacement and repair.
According to the "Consumer Rights Protection Law", business operators shall not make unfair and unreasonable regulations that exclude or restrict consumer rights, reduce or exempt business operators from liability in standard terms.
Otherwise, this standard clause is an invalid overlord clause, which is not legally binding on consumers.
Chen Yinjiang suggested that consumers can collect evidence such as purchase invoices and photos of product quality problems, and negotiate with the merchants to resolve them.
If the negotiation fails, you can file a complaint with the Consumers Association or the market supervision department; when necessary, you can also protect your legitimate rights and interests by applying for arbitration or going to the court to sue.
Photo courtesy/Visual China
RAM
The number of Canadian goose stores in China exceeds the number of local stores, "consumption disputes" frequently appear
According to the official WeChat account of Canada Goose, since the Canadian Goose opened its first store in China at the end of 2018, there are currently 20 stores in the Chinese market.
This number has far exceeded the number of Canadian goose stores in Canada, becoming the largest in the world.
In November of this year, Canada Goose’s second-quarter financial results revealed that as of September 26, 2021, in the second quarter of the 2022 fiscal year, Canada Goose’s sales have achieved a year-on-year growth of 40.3%, reaching 233 million Canadian dollars.
Among them, the sales of direct channels in Greater China in the second quarter increased by 85.9% year-on-year.
The "non-return incident" is not the first time that Canada Goose has been hotly searched due to controversy.
Not long ago, the document penalizing its false propaganda was hailed by netizens as a "down jacket buying guide" and was sent to hot searches due to its justification and completeness of the argument.
Canadian Goose announced in the flagship store that "all our down blend materials contain Hutterite down, which is the finest and most warmth Canadian down".
However, the regulatory authority stated that there is no factual basis to demonstrate the warmth retention of down with the origin of "Hutterite".
The survey also found that among the 190 down garments sold by Canada Goose, goose down products accounted for only about 16.8%. The main filling is ordinary duck down, which is not the best down in Canada-eider down that the industry thinks.
In addition, in the down jackets on sale, the bulkiness, which is one of the main indicators of warmth, is only about 600 for products above 70%, but the bulkiness of high-quality products must be more than 750 (the highest quality requires a bulkiness of more than 1000).
Just a few days before the incident, "Canada goose wearing goose feathers for half a day" also caused heated discussions, and many netizens questioned the brand's failure to fulfill the "lifetime warranty commitment."
In 2018, Ms. Han bought a Canadian goose down jacket abroad. Until the winter of 2020, Ms. Han found that after wearing it for a long time, her whole body was white goose feathers.
From 2020 to November this year, Ms. Han applied for the "Global Lifetime Warranty" service on Canada Goose's official website many times, but the reply received said: After inspection, the running-out of clothes is not serious, and the cuffs are worn out. , The official proposed a paid maintenance plan.
The Canadian Goose customer service responded that Canada Goose does have a "lifetime warranty" service, but whether it can be covered by the warranty, the product still needs to be sent to the official for identification.
This group of articles / our reporter Zhang Xin coordinated / Yu Meiying