Author: Lu Hanzhi
The platform economy has always been the hardest hit area for consumer complaints.
According to the survey data of China Business News, the number of complaints on the 315 online platform this year is much higher than offline, and online consumer complaints accounted for 79.51%.
China Business News has collected recent consumer complaints about the platform economy. In some areas that are easily overlooked, consumers have found a lot of room for improvement.
High priced lunch box fee
Recently, Shanghai consumer Wang Ming (pseudonym) told China Business News that he accidentally discovered that the takeaway merchants who ordered regular orders charged higher packaging fees.
For example, when Wang Ming bought a dry pot bullfrog set, the total charge was 34.8 yuan.
The takeaway packaging is a plastic bag, 2 plastic lunch boxes and 1 set of disposable tableware, and the merchant charges a total packaging fee of 6 yuan.
Wang Ming said that he looked through the previous orders and found that another merchant who often ordered also charged a packaging fee of 5 yuan for the order of 2 plastic lunch boxes. Wang Ming believed that the above-mentioned lunch box fee and packaging fee were too high. Other merchants usually charge a meal box fee of 1 to 2 yuan.
For this reason, Wang Ming contacted the above-mentioned merchant who charged a lunch box fee of 6 yuan, and the other party said, "A lunch box, a rice box, plus bags and chopsticks are all costs." In addition, the merchant also said to Wang Ming, "We It’s really cheap. You can’t see how cheap it is at nearby businesses. I’ve used up the voucher for this set meal for more than 20 yuan. Now the cost of the bullfrog is not low. If we don’t charge packing fees, then we’ll be in vain.” Wang Ming’s order for dried pot bullfrogs shows that, excluding the packing fee of 6 yuan and the delivery fee of 3 yuan, the meal charge for this order is 25.8 yuan.
How much does a meal box fee for a single meal cost?
First Finance and Economics searched on the 1688 website and found that the cost of a four-piece set of disposable tableware is between 0.11 yuan and 0.13 yuan.
The wholesale price of a plastic lunch box with a capacity of 650 ml is between 0.2 yuan and 0.3 yuan, and the total cost of the lunch box fee for the set meal ordered by the above-mentioned consumers does not exceed 1 yuan.
What do takeout platforms think of this?
After Wang Ming complained to the food delivery platform, the customer service said, "The meal box fee is very high from the perspective of setting, which must be a problem." Then the customer service asked the name of the merchant and said that it would gradually adjust, and at the same time, the packaging fee could be refunded.
Then Wang Ming further stated that the above-mentioned merchants were not alone, and asked about the setting mechanism of the packaging fee. The customer service responded that the setting of the packaging fee and lunch box fee is determined by the merchant independently, and the platform will conduct macro management, and the upper limit will not exceed 10 yuan.
Judging from the data of the Internet complaint platform, complaints about packaging fees or meal box fees are not unique.
The black cat complaint platform shows that some users complained on January 30 this year that "two orders from the same barbecue restaurant, one barbecue is in a paper bag, and the purchase in the store is also packed in a paper bag. Eight yuan for packing fee, eight and five dollars for one packing fee." Attached a screenshot of the finalized case, and the follow-up ended with the platform completing the consumer's refund request.
In addition to catering businesses, some consumers have also complained about issues such as milk tea merchants charging for thermal bags for takeaways and free thermal bags for purchases in stores.
However, according to feedback from lawyers, there is currently no better way to protect rights against packaging fees. Lawyers suggest that consumers choose independently and vote with their feet.
Zhao Zhanzhan, deputy director of Beijing Yunjia Law Firm, told China Business News that the lunch box fee falls within the scope of market-adjusted prices. In principle, the merchants set their own prices. As for the cost, it may only be reasonable or not, not legal or not question.
If consumers feel that the cost is too high, they can vote with their feet. It is estimated that it will be difficult to protect their rights through legal channels.
Double charge for installation
Wu Zhou (pseudonym), a Guangdong consumer, told China Business News that during the shopping festival promotion two years ago, he saw that Panasonic air conditioners sold on an e-commerce platform were given an "installation subsidy" and promised to "charge randomly, double the price." "Compensation", although the unit price is higher than other e-commerce platforms, it is more cost-effective to add these services, so I bought 2 sets.
On July 20, 2020, the installer charged a high-altitude fee of 150 yuan per unit and a bracket fee of 80 yuan per unit after the on-site installation, a total of 460 yuan.
After the installation, the consumer found that the order page showed that the service was provided by the platform, and the platform showed the installation charging standard: high-altitude operation fee 100 yuan/set (only for outdoor high-altitude installation operations on the 4th floor and above...same address The maximum charge for installing multiple air conditioners at one time is no more than 200 yuan), and the support fee for the external unit is 40 yuan per set.
According to this standard, Wu Zhou only needs to pay 280 yuan.
After Wu Zhou reported the situation, the customer service reported that it was the brand service provider who provided the installation service, and they needed to charge according to the brand's own charging standards.
Judging from the invoice provided by the installation service personnel, the invoicing party is Zhongtao Appliance Repair Department of Pengjiang District.
According to the first financial inquiry Tianyancha, Zhongtao Appliance Repair Department in Pengjiang District is an individual industrial and commercial household with a registered capital of 8,000 yuan, and it is not an official installation outlet of the brand.
In this regard, Wu Zhou believes that the behavior of the e-commerce platform has constituted false publicity and price fraud, misleading consumers to buy its products.
You Yunting, senior partner of Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, said that if the business is directly operated by the platform and installed by the platform, it should enjoy the charging standard of the platform. Even if the platform finds a third-party service provider to install it for consumers, it will not It should exceed the standards promised by the platform itself.
You Yunting said that if consumers bring these evidence to the court to sue, the court should judge the platform to compensate for the equipment it promised.
From the perspective of big data, disputes caused by installation fees are not isolated cases.
According to the "Analysis of Complaints Accepted by National Consumers Association Organizations in 2022" released by China Consumers Association on February 15, among the number of complaints in major service categories in 2022, the number of complaints in life and social services will rank first.
In addition, in the field of home appliance installation, there has been confusion in the installation and maintenance charges.
For example, the merchant promises free door-to-door installation, but after the installer comes to the door, he sells various expensive auxiliary materials by deceptive means or charges previously unspecified fees.
After a follow-up inquiry by a reporter from China Business News, it was found that the platform installation of the air conditioner of this brand had been cancelled, and the installation service was provided by the brand side and charged according to the brand side's charging standard.
In addition to the above phenomena, according to the "Analysis of Complaints Accepted by National Consumers' Associations in 2022", online shopping complaints present a situation where new and old problems are intertwined. The main manifestations are: First, the price guarantee rules are misleading.
For example, when some e-commerce platforms carried out promotions during the "Double Eleven" period, they promised the lowest price during the event but lowered the price before the end of the event, and consumers' applications for price protection were rejected.
The second is that there is no after-sales guarantee for "small program" shopping.
Some unscrupulous merchants take advantage of loopholes such as the weak supervision of small programs, operate through the sales model without third-party fund custody or induce private letter transactions, and lose contact after sales when disputes arise.
The third is that some unscrupulous operators use their personal social accounts to make their own official store avatars to induce consumers to trade with them. Some elderly consumers find that they have been cheated after paying the fee.
Fourth, the platform embedded platform misleads consumers.
Some e-commerce online shopping platforms launched platform special stores to the outside world, and after disputes occurred, they evaded their own responsibilities on the grounds that the platform special stores were small platforms embedded in the e-commerce online shopping platform, and the problematic stores were merchants on the small platform.
Fifth, the after-sales channels of the "International Purchase" business on the domestic platform are not smooth.