China News Service, March 15 (China News Business Reporter Xie Yiguan) "As soon as the two people in love overcame their misunderstanding and came together, the chaebol fiancée began to appear. The male protagonist said harsh words to his fiancée, but the family business suddenly encountered a crisis and urgently needed help. The fiancée helped. After the heroine found out, she decided to break up. The hero was heartbroken and went around to find out about the heroine. After finding the heroine, she had a child..."
A small reversal in 15 seconds, a big advancement in 30 seconds, and a suspense in the last 10 seconds. The short play stimulates the "dopamine" of middle-aged and elderly people with its "up and down" plot.
And when "the real wife wants to slap the 'mistress'", a payment window pops up, and many people will not hesitate to pay a few yuan or even dozens of yuan to unlock the plot.
After getting deeper step by step, the expenditure has already amounted to thousands and tens of thousands, leaving only countless middle-aged and elderly people who have been "harvested" and the dilemma of difficulty in refunding.
I have been obsessed with short dramas for several months and spent tens of thousands of yuan watching them.
Xixi (pseudonym) discovered that her mother was addicted to online short dramas in June last year.
When she went back to her hometown to help her mother set up her mobile phone, she noticed that there were many short video applets on WeChat to pay bills.
Xixi browsed these bills in detail, "Most of the amounts ranged from 9.9 yuan, 19.9 yuan, 39.9 yuan, and a few were 129 yuan. The total monthly expenses were about 6,000 yuan. In a few months, the amount has reached Tens of thousands of dollars.”
Photo provided by interviewee.
Because she usually works in Chengdu, she had not noticed before that her mother had been addicted to short dramas for a long time.
"It's inconvenient for me to have an engagement..." "My wife is angry and has morning sickness, and he is panicking..." "What are you two doing in the car..." In the WeChat screenshots provided by Xixi, many short drama exchange groups are being pushed. It is a small short drama program, which is full of all kinds of silly, funny and routine content.
After realizing that her mother might have been deceived, Xixi decisively closed her WeChat and Alipay payment channels.
"When money is needed, I will pay for it. This is the only way to restrain my parents."
Among the middle-aged and elderly people who are addicted to short dramas and follow them day and night, the experience of Xixi’s mother is not unique.
"XX theaters deduct 2 yuan, 9.9 yuan, XX theater 1.9 yuan, 9.9 yuan, 9.9 yuan, 6.9 yuan, XX theater 2 yuan, 6.9 yuan, 9.9 yuan, 2 yuan..." Looking at her father's mobile phone, Mei Mei (pseudonym) was shocked. In just one day, her father spent dozens of yuan on the short drama program.
Photo provided by interviewee.
"Each episode requires money, and he didn't quite understand it, so he kept paying, and the accumulated amount got higher and higher. Then he remembered to ask me, but it had been two or three months since he started paying." His father's behavior made him sad. Meimei was quite helpless.
It’s more expensive than Aiyouteng, and there are many payment traps for short dramas.
When you click on the short drama recommendation pages, you will see one paid item after another.
After an in-depth investigation, reporters from Sino-Singapore Finance found that there are "hidden corners" hidden behind the "spending money" of middle-aged and elderly people for the skit.
"Mini program short dramas are generally promoted and trafficked on video platforms first, and then jump to the mini program, and then attract you to pay to watch." According to Xixi's introduction, recently, reporters randomly clicked to watch more than ten short dramas through the video platform.
The routines are similar. Generally, the first few or dozen episodes are free to watch, and after a certain chapter, you start paying to unlock them.
In the paid mode, you need to recharge in exchange for corresponding "virtual currencies" such as "Kandiao", "Golden Beans", "Gold Coins", and "K Coins".
Although each episode is only a few minutes long, short dramas featuring sweet pets, counterattacks, revenge, etc. are quite expensive.
The recharge will be divided into multiple levels, and different levels charge a few yuan to more than one hundred yuan in exchange for varying amounts of "virtual currency."
The picture shows the recharge level of a short play, and the "User Service Agreement" is checked by default.
Screenshot from a small program
Some middle-aged and elderly people recharge decisively when they see that they only need a few yuan to unlock the series. However, for a 100-episode short drama, the fee may be as high as dozens or even hundreds of yuan.
Some short drama mini programs also offer monthly, quarterly and annual memberships.
The reporter noticed that the annual membership price of many short drama mini programs is 199 yuan, and some are as high as 365 yuan, exceeding the annual membership price of long video platforms such as iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent.
Although the fees are high, the short drama resources provided in the mini program are relatively scarce.
Some consumers said, "The mini program claims that all popular short dramas can be watched, but after recharging a large amount of 'virtual currency' or annual membership, you are faced with the embarrassing situation of watching one and having few dramas to watch."
Inducing consumption and unreasonable charges are just the tip of the iceberg.
"According to my father, when he paid a penny while watching videos, he automatically activated automatic renewal by default, and he only realized something was wrong after spending a total of more than 600 yuan." Lin Lin (pseudonym) told reporters that it is difficult for the elderly to detect this situation. , and will not cancel it by itself.
Examples like this are common when it comes to black cat complaints.
In addition, complaints about "automatic deductions", "arbitrary charges" and "malicious fraud" in short drama mini programs are also common.
During the experience, the reporter also noticed that the payment pages of many short drama mini-programs were "full of traps". They were not only interspersed with welfare recharge advertisements, but also lacked recharge instructions, usage rules, user instructions, etc.
If you have activated password-free payment or facial recognition payment, you can pay directly with a swipe and there is no refund.
Screenshots of the payment pages of some platforms are not allowed, making it difficult to retain proof.
On the recharge page of a certain mini program, in addition to the lack of usage rules, user instructions, etc., it also shows that screenshots are not allowed.
Many people still face problems such as shortened episodes, inability to watch, and secondary payment after recharging on mini programs.
"After my mother recharged her annual membership, some dramas had to be paid for separately, and because there were so many mini-programs for short dramas, many paid dramas couldn't find the entrance, so they had to pay to watch new ones," Xixi said.
Is paying in vain, involving infringement?
The short drama platform uses fast-paced plots to "invite you into the urn", and also sets up numerous traps to empty the "wallets" of middle-aged and elderly people. Is this operation model reasonable?
Yan Bing, senior partner of Times Jiuhe Law Firm, believes that the charging rules of operating platforms should be clearly disclosed, and consumers should also make their payments clearly.
"The "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" clarifies that consumers have the right to know, the right to make independent choices and the right to fair transactions." He said that specifically for short drama platforms, prices and charging rules need to be clearly stated in a conspicuous manner. For functions such as automatic renewal or automatic unlocking, consumers need to be reminded in an eye-catching way and given the space to choose whether to accept related services.
The standard for a prominent reminder should be such that the vast majority of people can notice it.
The reporter noticed that on the issue of "automatic renewal", in February 2023, the "Notice on Further Improving the Service Capabilities of Mobile Internet Applications" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has made it clear that services provided through automatic renewal and automatic renewal should be With the user's consent, no default check or forced bundle activation is allowed.
Users will be reminded in prominent ways such as text messages and push messages 5 days before automatic renewal and automatic renewal. During the service period, users will be provided with convenient ways to unsubscribe and cancel automatic renewal and automatic renewal at any time.
"If the operating platform fails to meet the above standards, it will be suspected of violating laws and regulations. If the short drama platform violates the law, consumers have the right to demand a refund of the overpaid fees." Yan Bing emphasized.
Merchants "change vests" and remove videos, consumers face difficulty in getting refunds
Even if they have the right to refund, in reality consumers often encounter the embarrassing situation of cumbersome appeal procedures and very little amount of money that can be recovered.
Many netizens reported on social platforms that when communicating with customer service for refunds, either they couldn't find the person, or the other party was unwilling to refund for various reasons.
There are also merchants who have "changed their vests" or removed videos, making it difficult to protect their rights.
Xixi spent a lot of time and energy to conduct classification statistics according to payment records, downloaded the 12315 APP, filled in the relevant information, and communicated with customer service.
After some operations, she said that although a lot of money was refunded, some customer service staff were unwilling to refund the money because they were regular or had already consumed the product.
If you want to protect your "wallet", it is not enough to rely on consumers themselves.
Faced with the consumption of short drama routines, Yan Bing suggested that consumers can complain and report through the Internet supervision or market supervision departments. The regulatory agencies can punish them and order them to return their illegal gains based on ascertaining the facts.
Where the wind blows, mud and sand fall.
As vulnerable consumers, how to prevent middle-aged and elderly people from being "harvested" may require increased supervision.
The reporter noticed that since 2022, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has continued to carry out governance work on online micro-short dramas.
Beginning in late November 2022, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will use three months to organize and carry out special rectification work on "mini programs" online micro-short dramas.
In November 2023, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced the launch of a month-long special rectification work on online micro-short dramas.
Nowadays, the short drama industry is leveraging hundreds of millions of wealth "cakes", but behind each "wealth creation myth", consumers should not use "routines" to pay the bill.
(over)