Fees are not transparent, services are not guaranteed, and there are blind spots in supervision
It's time to take care of the chaos in the housekeeping industry
The moving fee was changed from 1,500 yuan to 18,000 yuan, and 6 people from the Beijing Sifang Brothers Moving Company were recently sentenced.
Although offenders are sanctioned by the law, it is not uncommon for the housekeeping industry to raise prices and force charges, and consumers suffer greatly.
The 12345 hotline reports that since June, there have been nearly 40 calls that have directly complained to moving companies for “sit on the ground and start the price”, and more than 700 have reported that home appliances such as air conditioners and washing machines do not meet their promises.
The reporter found that there is no standard for impersonating a well-known brand; there is no standard for charging; sitting on the ground and fictitious failure during the service process, taking the opportunity to increase the cost, or shoddy, charging high fees; the quality of service cannot be guaranteed, and the after-sales service is delayed. Three "crimes" that affect the healthy development of the housekeeping industry.
Complaint
Pretend to be a well-known company, and the moving company sits on the ground and starts
"Brother Jingbei Moving Company fraudulently used Brother Moving Company to defraud consumers' trust, which is obviously fraudulent." Not long ago, Mr. Bao paid 6000 yuan for moving with a piano, an air conditioner, a cabinet, and a moving distance of 2.1 kilometers. Fee.
He calculated the accounts. According to what the moving company said before, the freight for one car is 280 yuan, the total for two cars is 560 yuan, and the transportation fees for three items are 200 yuan, 150 yuan, 450 yuan, and the total is only 1360 yuan. .
However, after the workers moved, they started to sit on the floor and asked for an additional labor fee of 300 yuan per person per hour, for a total of 3 people, and a total of 4500 yuan for 5 hours.
Mr. Bao said that the workers asked for 8,000 yuan in total at the time, and he paid 6,000 yuan after negotiating the bargain.
"It was almost 12 o'clock in the evening after the move. For the sake of the two children and their own safety, I had to pay a high price."
Also confused by the "brothers' move" is Mr. Sun, a citizen.
He also had the experience of moving before. This time he did his homework online and chose the well-known "Brother Moving".
The room at the departure place is long away from the elevator, and labor costs will be added. The furniture at the destination must be moved from the car to the home, and there will be a detour, and additional money will be charged... That’s it, plus freight and other costs, before placing an order The "300 yuan plus the normal expenditure in the later period" as mentioned at the time became a total price of 2,000 yuan.
Before leaving, Mr. Sun saw the red badge of "Beijing Brothers Zhongan Moving Company" before the co-driver of the moving truck. It turned out that he was not looking for the real "Brothers Moving".
Ingeniously set up names, all kinds of charges "pit" consumers
Compared with moving, home repair services are even more indispensable to citizens' lives.
However, the various "pits" that exist in reality often give citizens a headache.
"The air conditioner in our house is not cooling anymore. I contacted the after-sales service and asked for on-site repair. The other party added fluorine to the air conditioner after he came to the house. After the addition, he actually asked me for 1,850 yuan." Ms. Li said that the other party explained how much fluorine should be added. In fact, it was said that there were other parts that had to be replaced, "I don't understand, I can only admit that I am unlucky."
Because Mr. Pan was worried about the high cost of official after-sales maintenance, he found a personal maintenance online.
"They replaced my air conditioner with a compressor and charged 480 yuan. They also said that fluorine was added at 720 yuan, the door-to-door fee was 200 yuan, and the maintenance fee was 280 yuan. A total of 1,680 yuan was charged." Mr. Pan discovered that personal maintenance The details of the charges are completely invisible, and I have fallen into the "pit".
Ms. Peng is also the one who suffers from the dumb.
"My water heater failed. I called the official customer service and the master came to repair it. The mixed water switch was 380 yuan, the explosion-proof valve was 200 yuan, and the power cord was 200 yuan." Ms. Peng shared her experience and said that she contacted. The customer service asked for a quotation, and was told that "the master said as much as possible".
Like Ms. Peng, many consumers do not understand technology. What kind of technical problems are there in the product, whether it should be repaired or replaced, whether the parts are really broken, it is often unclear, and it is easy to be in the situation of asymmetric information. Weak position.
The service quality is not guaranteed, and it is difficult to deal with consumer complaints
Some citizens felt that they had encountered fraud and applied for a refund from the service company, but the after-sales progress was very slow.
Mr. Gao reported to 12345 that he ordered on-site repairs on JD.com. The repairs were done by Woodpecker’s Miyun store. There were 3 air conditioners in his house. After the staff came to the door, the staff informed that there was a preferential package totaling 800 yuan.
But after Mr. Gao paid the money, none of the air conditioners were repaired.
"Woodpecker customer service said that regardless of the after-sales service, I went to JD.com, but it showed that there was no order." With nowhere to ask for help, Mr. Gao called the 12345 hotline and asked JD.com and Woodpecker to refund the money.
However, since Woodpecker's company is registered in Chongqing, Mr. Gao's complaint is nowhere in sight.
The reporter noticed that because some Internet maintenance services are not registered in Beijing, the after-sales process is slow; some companies do not operate at the registered address, and the regulatory authorities can only list them in the list of abnormal operations and wait for follow-up processing.
Investigation
Provide "bank card + WeChat" to publish information
Why is there frequent chaos in the housekeeping market?
Attorney Zhang Xiaowei from Beijing Xinkai Law Firm believes that in addition to the irregular operation of the service providers and the weak legal awareness, there are also factors such as imperfect legal systems and inadequate supervision.
Reporters log on 58.com and other websites to publish relevant promotional information about moving and maintenance in their personal capacity. They only need to provide bank card and WeChat information through face recognition. A piece of service information can be released in minutes, and there is no barrier to market access. At all.
"Does the move sign a contract or agreement?" The reporter consulted several companies. Some gave a negative answer directly, and some said that if the move is a valuable item of higher value, you can consider signing it.
The customer service of the maintenance service company stated that at most a receipt can be issued.
And because of the low market entry barriers, some private moving teams and individual maintenance do not have formal qualifications, and they have avoided the supervision of law enforcement agencies.
"For example, maintenance service, although it is a small area, is actually indispensable in the lives of citizens. Because of the scattered chaos, maintenance services are not easy to be included in unified supervision, which has become a blind spot for law enforcement." Lawyer Zhang Xiaowei said.
In addition, there are no relevant industry standards for housekeeping and home repair services, and there are no complete rules and regulations.
Suggestion
Give full play to the platform's publicity and supervision role
"At present, with advanced network information, consumers often look for domestic service providers through third-party online platforms." Lawyer Zhang Xiaowei suggested that the platform's publicity and regulatory role should be fully utilized, such as requiring companies that settled in to publicize service fees and matters in advance to ensure adequate protection Consumers sign a service agreement on the premise of the right to know; after the service, consumers are allowed to evaluate truthfully and the content of the evaluation is made public; a forced withdrawal mechanism is adopted for businesses with more complaints, and so on.
Attorney Zhang Xiaowei said that compared with moving, the amount of repairs is often not too high, and consumers use judicial methods to solve the time-consuming and labor-intensive, which allows some housekeeping service providers to take advantage of the loopholes.
For this type of behavior, it is faster to deal with it administratively.
He suggested that the market supervision department should strengthen supervision and punishment; in addition, relevant legislation also needs to keep up as soon as possible to prevent service providers from taking advantage of the lack of laws and regulations.
Attorney Zhang Xiaowei also reminded consumers that they must be aware of laws and rights, and dare to say "no" to illegal activities.
When the negotiation fails, you should pay attention to saving evidence, report to the platform for handling, complain to the administrative department, or protect your legitimate rights and interests by reporting to the police and litigation.
Our reporter Ren Shan