The 2,000 yuan shopping card can't buy this or that
Reporter investigates the chaotic use of online and offline single-purpose commercial prepaid cards
□ Reporter Han Dandong
□ Our newspaper intern Guan Chuyu
"Holding a 2,000 yuan shopping card, I wanted to spend a lot of money, but I was told that there are payment restrictions, and I can hardly buy anything. Then why should I use this card?"
Before the Spring Festival this year, Lin Lin, a resident of Chaoyang District, Beijing, went to a large supermarket near her home and chose a lot of New Year’s goods. When she checked out, she found that most of them were not in the range of goods available for the shopping card.
Lin Lin found that at least 90% of the goods in this supermarket cannot be paid with shopping cards. For example, daily necessities and snacks cannot be used at all. Only large appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners, as well as some frozen seafood and vegetables can be used.
In recent years, many merchants in various industries have launched stored-value cards, such as recharge membership cards for beauty salons, restaurants, etc. These cards are all single-purpose commercial prepaid cards issued by a certain company and can only be used by the company. Or the same brand chain commercial enterprises to purchase goods or services.
However, a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" found that many problems have been exposed in the actual use of such stored-value cards. Some merchants have set payment restrictions, resulting in consumers who have cards but cannot buy the products they want to buy. After applying for the card, it is difficult to return the card and refund.
What rights and interests of consumers are violated if the stored-value card restricts consumption?
Can merchants refuse refund requests from consumers?
When the use of shopping cards and membership cards is restricted, how should consumers protect their rights?
Shopping card payment is limited
Online shopping is inexplicably blocked
At the beginning of January this year, news of "carrefour shopping card settlement restrictions" came out in Beijing, Shenyang, Kunming, Wuxi and other places. A large number of consumers said that they were restricted when paying with shopping cards after shopping at Carrefour, which aroused widespread concern in the society.
Some consumers said that in the past Carrefour's shopping cards could be used to pay for all commodities, but now only a small number of commodities can be paid with shopping cards.
It is worth noting that Carrefour supermarkets in some areas have issued card return notices.
For example, on January 18, the Carrefour Furong Plaza store in Changsha, Hunan announced that it will officially close the store before January 30, 2023. From now until January 31, the card department counter of the Furong store service center will handle card refunds for customers on the spot; Those who fail to go through the card refund procedures within the period can only go to the Wuhan Carrefour Optics Valley store 350 kilometers away to continue using or refund the card.
On January 29, Chen Ming, a resident of Changsha, Hunan, went to register to return his card.
"There were a lot of people at the scene, and I waited in line for 3 hours. Although there was an announcement saying that all refunds should be made, if the time passed, it would take a lot of time, energy and economic cost to return the card."
The reporter's investigation found that in addition to offline supermarket shopping cards, many consumers also reported that online supermarket shopping cards also have limited use.
Because there are often discounts for activating a shopping card, and there will be some event bonuses on the platform when shopping, Li Xin from Zhuzhou, Hunan, who often shop online, opened a stored-value card in an online supermarket.
Because the card still has a balance of more than 50 yuan, she wants to use it during the event, but when she clicks to pay, a small window pops up on the page saying "too many people placed orders at the same time, I suggest you try again later", which makes her unable to succeed Purchase merchandise.
From the payment page shared by Li Xin to the reporter, it can be seen that her supermarket card can directly choose to deduct the price of goods when paying, but the payment cannot be successful.
"At first, I really thought it was caused by too many buyers, but when I used my family's account to buy the same product, I found that it was available for purchase, and there was no prompt of 'too many people ordered'. I immediately contacted the exclusive The customer service reported this situation, but the problem still hasn't been resolved." Li Xin said.
The reporter found on social platforms and third-party complaint platforms that there are still many consumers like Li Xin who are unable to use the balance of their online supermarket cards. "black", which made the balance of hundreds of thousands of yuan in the card unusable.
Liu Li, a resident of Shenzhen, Guangdong, is a loyal user of an online supermarket and has placed hundreds of orders.
"I recharged 1,068 yuan in my supermarket card, and now I have more than 300 yuan left, but I can't place an order for the goods I want to buy. I asked the customer service when I can resume the order, and the other party kept saying, 'We can't verify that you can't place an order' Contact customer service to return the card, and the customer service said that if the card is returned, the 43 yuan given at the time will be deducted.” Liu Li said that this series of operations made her feel chilled, and she would never buy it again after the refund.
Consumption restriction is a breach of contract
Price differences or alleged discrimination
It is worth noting that in the case of restricted payment, there is still a premium problem for the few products that can be paid with shopping cards.
Lin Lin said that she bought 5 pieces of cod with a shopping card, and found that it cost 800 yuan when she checked out. "I didn't expect it to be so expensive. I bought similar ones before, and it was only one or two hundred yuan."
The reporter saw on the social platform that many consumers said that they had encountered serious premiums for goods settled with shopping cards when shopping in offline supermarkets.
A consumer complained: "The shopping card can only be used for payment of designated products. For the same product, it costs 90 yuan to pay with a shopping card, and 40 yuan to choose other payment methods."
Regarding the restrictions on online and offline supermarket shopping card payment, different payment methods and different prices, and "being blacklisted" cannot be used, Ye Lin, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, believes that this is setting up obstacles for traders, and the essence is to require consumption in disguise. Those who adopt a payment method that is beneficial to the merchant violate the consumers' right to fair trade and independent choice.
Regarding the behavior of merchants to limit the consumption of shopping cards, Ye Lin believes that when consumers purchase prepaid cards from merchants, consumers establish a contractual relationship with merchants. In this contractual relationship, both parties can freely negotiate the use of permissions, such as Which products can be used, whether there are discounts, etc.
If the two parties did not restrict the use method and scope of the prepaid card at the time of agreement, but the consumer is told that the use of the prepaid card is restricted when using the prepaid card, this is equivalent to the merchant changing the terms of the contract between the two parties, which constitutes a breach of contract.
"In some special cases, the possibility of constituting fraud is not ruled out. However, this requires evidence to prove that merchants have indeed committed fraudulent behavior when selling prepaid cards, for example, deliberately setting up tricks to induce consumers to recharge, but actually shopping Unable to pay," Ye Lin added.
For some products, there is a large price difference between paying with a shopping card and paying with other methods. Zhao Zhan, a lawyer from Beijing Yunjia Law Firm, said that for the same product, the price of using a shopping card is higher than that of not using a shopping card. Suspected of violating the fair transaction rights of cardholders.
Ye Lin said that using different payment methods has a large price difference, which is equivalent to setting two different prices for one commodity, which is consumption discrimination against prepaid cardholders.
Membership cards cannot be used on holidays
It is difficult for consumers to return their cards and balances
In addition to supermarket shopping cards, in beauty salons, sports and fitness, catering and other industries, many merchants also use preferential methods to attract consumers to recharge their cards for prepaid consumption.
However, the reporter's investigation found that in the actual use process, there are often problems such as not allowing the card to be swiped and returning the card during the Chinese New Year.
Zhang Ping, a resident of Zhongshan, Guangdong, recharged his membership card at a nail salon. He can use the balance in the card for manicures and eyelash extensions, and enjoy a 12% member discount.
However, during the Spring Festival, when Zhang Ping went to do nail art, he was told that he could not use the balance of his membership card to pay for holidays.
"No one told me that there would be a time limit for the membership card when I applied for the card, and the clerk also promised 'unlimited use', but I only told me about this rule when I finished my nails and wanted to pay." Zhang Ping recalled.
Faced with her doubts, the clerk of the nail salon took a tough attitude: "The balance in the membership card will be restored to normal use after the New Year, and the 'world' cannot use the membership card during the New Year."
During the interviews, many consumers reported the same situation—during holidays, the balance in the membership card cannot be used to pay, and cash must be paid.
Some consumers even said that before applying for a membership card, they deliberately confirmed that they could swipe their cards during the Chinese New Year, but the merchants changed their minds and refused to allow them to swipe their cards.
Although some merchants supported membership card payment during the Chinese New Year, they canceled the discount corresponding to the membership card.
Many consumers have reported that beauty salons and hair salons often refuse membership card refunds and refund requests.
Li Le, a resident of Foshan, Guangdong, recharged 540 yuan in a beauty salon, and she can do 5 scalp care items in the store. After recharging the card, she only spent one time in the store.
Since Li Le was transferred to work in another city by the company, there was no beauty salon of this brand in the local area, so he asked the merchant for a refund.
But the merchant said that the remaining money in the card can only be exchanged for facial skin care products or facial masks in the store, and if you don’t want to, you can only resell the card to others for use.
The reporter's investigation found that when many merchants encountered consumers returning their cards, their first reaction was to refuse.
Moreover, merchants often shift the responsibility to consumers and refuse refunds on the grounds of "consumer personal reasons".
Some merchants have made relevant regulations when issuing single-purpose commercial prepaid cards such as rechargeable membership cards, such as "the final interpretation right belongs to the merchant", "no refund", "no transfer, no resale"...Consumers want Refunds are often difficult.
Song Ya, a resident of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, applied for a membership card with a stored value of 5,000 yuan at a barber shop on impulse. After using it a few times, she felt that the barber's skills were average, so she wanted to return the card.
Song Ya said that after learning about her thoughts, the merchant refused decisively, and the previous gentle service attitude was swept away.
Afterwards, Song Ya communicated repeatedly several times, but the merchant always had a tough attitude and refused to return the card, saying that it was "personal reasons" and did not meet the standard for returning the card.
"They made a lot of prevarications, but they just had one attitude: no refunds. It wasn't until I complained to the Consumer Association that the staff communicated with the barber shop, and after I urged them many times, the other party refunded the balance. Give it to me." Song Ya said.
Zhao Zhanzhan said that single-purpose commercial prepaid cards are divided into two forms: registered and bearer. For bearer cards, issuing companies should not and cannot restrict their resale.
However, for registered cards, the issuing company has the right to restrict its resale through card purchase agreements or articles of association.
As for "no refund", it depends on the situation. For example, when the issuing company ceases operations, a refund is required. When the issuing company constitutes a contract breach, consumers can choose to terminate the contract and request a refund.
In addition, according to the law, card issuers or card sellers should provide supporting services such as activation and card replacement for bearer cards that have exceeded the validity period and have a fund balance. They cannot neither provide related supporting services nor support refunds.
Ye Lin pointed out that when consumers buy membership cards from merchants, the two parties also form a contractual relationship.
If it is a contractual relationship, there is no single right of interpretation.
If there is any disagreement on the interpretation of the terms of this contract, it can be resolved through mediation, arbitration, litigation and other means.
Zhao Zhanzhan said that if consumers encounter merchants restricting shopping card consumption and refusing to refund and recharge the balance in the membership card during the consumption process, they can report to the competent business department of the place where the card issuer is located according to law.
"At the same time, it is recommended that consumers spend rationally when applying for a card, understand the rules of applying for a card, and avoid allowing merchants with malicious intentions to take advantage of it."