"6.18" Online Shopping Beware of Consumption Traps
Consumer complaints point to issues such as e-commerce platform marketing, after-sales service, logistics and distribution
This year's "6.18" mid-year promotion started on May 24.
A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that recently, on various complaint platforms and social platforms, many consumers have pointed their finger at issues such as e-commerce platform marketing, after-sales service, logistics and distribution.
The major shopping festivals of each year are the peak period when such problems are exposed.
According to the statistics of the Micro Heat Big Data Research Institute, during the "Double Eleven" period in 2021, the amount of consumer complaint information related to "Double Eleven" on the entire network will reach 14.29 million, an average of more than 50,000 per day.
Beiqing Daily reporters sorted out the following common platform loopholes and routines by observing the activities of various e-commerce platforms and consumer complaints on complaint platforms and social platforms.
During the "6.18" big promotion, while consumers are enjoying the carnival, they also need to be vigilant and consume prudently.
Merchant Marketing
Coupon, full discount benefits hidden mystery
Coupons, discounted benefits, etc. are common marketing methods for shopping festivals. Most of them do bring actual discounts to consumers, while some discounts are just gimmicks to induce consumption.
A consumer broke the news that on May 28, he originally planned to buy an electric toilet seat with a price of 2,699 yuan on Taobao, but the customer service told him that there may be more discounts on June 18.
On May 31, he opened the product page again, and the price showed an increase of 200 yuan. At the same time, the platform issued a "2000 minus 200" welfare subsidy.
That is to say, the actual price paid after obtaining the subsidy is the same as the original price.
Another Vipshop user broke the news with a similar routine.
The user said that Vipshop will issue coupons such as "200 discount for members over 2,000" and "100 discount for over 1,000", and show that they will be used until 10:00 the next day.
In order to enjoy the discount, the user placed an order for a total of 3,000 yuan of goods.
A few days later, when I checked the logistics, I found that the price of the product was lower than that after using the membership coupon.
There are also consumers who reported that some merchants only launched products a few days before the big promotion. Consumers can only buy during the big promotion, and they cannot know the original price of the product, and naturally they cannot compare whether they really get the discount.
Full discounts may drive consumers to shop irrationally.
In order to make up the order, consumers often add more products that they do not need.
A consumer reported that the price of the shampoo he wanted to buy during the event was 98.5 yuan, and the coupons issued by the merchants were 50 yuan off when they were over 99 yuan.
The consumer also found that 98.5 yuan is not the original price of the product, but the price after the merchant made a price before the event.
"The top 100 purchases enjoy a 50% discount, and the first 101-200 purchases enjoy a 30% discount" is also a common discount method in shopping festivals.
In order to get discounts, many consumers stayed until midnight.
Consumer Zhang Hua (pseudonym) told the Beiqing Daily reporter that he had prepared two mobile phones on the night of June 18 and entered the order page in only 40 seconds, but still did not grab the top 100 discounts.
He questioned whether he really didn't grab it, or if he grabbed it but was deceived by the merchant.
"I did my homework in advance. The monthly sales of the two products I bought were only 1,600 and 1,000 respectively, so I don't believe that I really didn't grab it."
Electronic business platform
"Dividing red envelopes" actually increases the number of users
"Team Meow Meow, Divide Million Meow Coins", "Team Meow Meow and Divide Million Red Envelopes", etc., are commonly used methods of major e-commerce platforms.
This type of activity usually requires users to share the activity information with WeChat friends, and friends can enter the e-commerce platform to form a team. After forming a team, they need to play mini games to share red envelopes of varying amounts, which are used when purchasing goods.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily noticed that users have always complained about such activities.
Many users said that the "Get Cash Every Day" activity requires friends to help. At first, a friend helped 0.1 yuan in cash, and then the help turned into gold coins, and then the help turned into gold coin fragments. more difficult.
"I finally collected 99.99 gold coin fragments, and I can't help anymore." Some users said that relevant platforms claimed that they could withdraw hundreds of yuan as long as their friends helped them. However, this process requires users to spend a lot of time, and some people do not end up without it. Received red envelopes, and the platform has gained a large number of new users due to "friend help".
Live e-commerce
The price misleads the anchor to use the fan's trust to cheat
According to data from the China Internet Network Information Center, 66.2% of the users who watched the live broadcast had purchased goods during the live broadcast.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily found that some live broadcast e-commerce companies attract users by giving away a large number of product samples, but in fact, the price of the samples is converted into the commodity price.
Live e-commerce also often uses hunger marketing to convey psychological hints to consumers with slogans such as "there are 100 more sets" and "countdown".
According to statistics, in the pre-sale live broadcast of "Double Eleven", the head anchor of a platform promoted a total of 252 products, with an average of 57 seconds, and the anchor created a tense atmosphere for consumers with super high speech speed.
Some anchors take advantage of consumers' trust in themselves to deceive consumers. The case of "Simba" selling fake bird's nest is an example.
"Simba" Xin Youzhi uses the "peasant's son" as a selling point, and has attracted a large number of fans under the slogan of "only serving the common people".
However, fans did not expect that the bird's nest that Xin Youzhi sold to them was fake. In 100 grams of "bird's nest", the value of bird's nest containing functional substances was only 0.07 yuan.
At present, the Guangzhou market supervision department has filed a case for investigation.
membership service
Questioned "Hidden Consumption"
"Wechat was first enjoyed by Vipshop and then paid and deducted, and I don't know how to open it." The Beiqing Daily reporter found that recently, many Vipshop users reported on various social platforms and complaint platforms that their WeChat accounts were Unreasonable deduction by Vipshop.
The bill shows that the user has used the "VIP.com super VIP enjoys benefits first and then pays" service.
The reporter learned after understanding that the "Super VIP Enjoy First, Pay Later" service is for users who are invited and whose WeChat payment points reach more than 600 points. Such users do not need to pay an annual fee when applying for a super VIP, and WeChat will automatically deduct after the validity period of 365 days. Fee settlement annual fee.
The settlement method of the annual fee is: when the saving amount is lower than the super VIP annual fee, pay the saving fee; the saving amount is higher than the super VIP annual fee, capped at the super VIP annual fee; the saving amount calculation items include super VIP unlimited free postage, only Discounts on self-operated products, super VIP birthday coupons, etc.
That is to say, only when the savings amount exceeds the annual super VIP fee, the user is truly eligible to enjoy the services of the super VIP.
Some users mentioned, "I didn't read the rules carefully at that time, I knew that I could enjoy VIP first, but one year later, I said that I would deduct the capped annual fee of 149 yuan, and the continuous annual subscription only cost 69 yuan, which is almost half." , when the user activated "Super VIP Enjoy Now Pay Later" a year ago, the annual fee for Super VIP was 149 yuan; today, one year later, the annual fee has dropped to 69 yuan.
Many users who were dissatisfied with the service mentioned that they had opened the service "without knowing" at the time, and they could not cancel it after opening.
The screenshot of the page when a user activates the service shows "0 yuan to activate first, enjoy later", "pay after 1 year, no need to pay", etc., and the rules for the amount of payment and whether the service can be canceled are in the "User Agreement". mentioned in.
Many users believe that this is suspected of misleading consumers.
Some users also said that their Vipshop account is "automatically entered into the policy of "enjoy first, pay later", and can only use "enjoy first, pay later" in the consumption process, and cannot use the VIP service purchased by themselves, "let consumers give up more Good choice".
Logistics
No delivery within a month of placing an order
Orders cannot be cancelled prior to receipt
"I bought the book on Dangdang and did not receive the goods for a month", "The order cannot be cancelled, and the customer service does not reply"... A reporter from Beiqing Daily found that on major complaint platforms, many Dangdang users accused Dangdang of slow delivery.
Some users have complained that the products ordered in April have not been shipped by the end of May. During this period, they have asked customer service several times, but they have not received a reply.
On May 25, the user asked the customer service again, and the customer service said that part of it would be issued, and the out-of-stock items could not be shipped.
The user questioned: "Since some products are in stock, why haven't they been released before?"
Another user bought a book on Dangdang on May 12. The shipping address and delivery address were both in Guangzhou, but as of May 27, the logistics information remained at "Commodity Delivery".
"I pressed countless times to urge the goods without any follow-up. After calling the customer service complaint, the logistics still did not follow up. After two days, I called again to complain, but the customer service did not answer it several times." Later, she wanted to cancel the order, but I was told that "you can't cancel the goods if you haven't received the goods", and when applying for after-sales service, you were also told that "you can't use the after-sales service if you haven't received the goods".
"If the books I buy don't update the logistics, will the money never be returned to me?"
Text/Reporter Wen Jing, intern reporter Wang Siqi and Gu Xiaoxiao
Coordination / Yu Meiying