I bought a more expensive product after the discount. The reporter investigated the fake discount routine
Motivation for investigation
Recently, a branch of Watsons Beijing Yanqing was warned by the market supervision department and fined 50,000 yuan for allegedly using false price methods to trick consumers into trading with it.
The administrative penalty book shows that during the promotion period, the store marked the original price of 49 yuan for the two face masks and the promotional price of 44 yuan, but in fact, 20 days before the promotion of these two face masks, the multiple transaction prices were 44.1 yuan.
This is not the first time Watsons has been punished for false promotions, nor is there such a problem with the Watsons family.
In recent years, with the rapid development of online shopping platforms, it is not uncommon for various offline and online stores to conduct false promotions.
With the arrival of the "618" shopping festival, some online stores have raised commodity prices in advance to reserve space for subsequent "discounts".
In order to expose the means of unscrupulous businesses to carry out false promotions and explore the rectification methods of false promotions, the reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Our intern Guan Chuyu
A few days ago, Ms. Zhou from Wuhan, Hubei experienced a strange thing - she bought 6 pieces of clothes in a clothing store on an online platform. The online store's page promotion shows that if you buy 4 pieces of clothing, you can enjoy a 55% discount. But when she placed the order, she found that the total price of the clothes was still calculated at the original price.
Ms. Zhou learned from the communication with the customer service that the discount method of this discount event is different from the past. You need to buy these clothes at the original price. After confirming the receipt, taking photos and uploading the praise, the customer service will return the discounted amount to cash. she.
In the face of Ms. Zhou's doubts, the customer service explained: the store is about to usher in a new round of discount activities. If it is sold to Ms. Zhou at a discounted price now, the lowest transaction price of the clothes within 7 days will no longer be the original price. After that, the event will start. Discount strength and publicity effects will also be affected.
But the customer service assured Ms. Zhou that the discount for the purchase now is the same as the "big promotion discount" that follows.
Such a routine made Ms. Zhou laugh or cry.
In fact, there are too many tricks hidden in product discounts.
A reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" recently investigated and found that some online and offline businesses use discounts to induce customers to consume, some have greatly increased the "original price", and some have made articles on full discounts. Medium".
False discounts on bright and dark rises
Going around is still the original price
Not long ago, a supermarket in Chaoyang District, Beijing held a vegetable discount promotion, which attracted many customers to buy.
Taking tomatoes as an example, the line price is 8.9 yuan, and after a 30% discount, it is 2.67 yuan.
However, the investigation by the market supervision department found that the lowest transaction price of the tomato in the previous seven days was 5.34 yuan.
The supervision department ordered the supermarket to immediately correct its illegal behavior, and planned to give a warning and impose an administrative penalty of a fine of 50,000 yuan.
With the rise of e-commerce platforms, online shopping has triggered a wave of discounts, especially at the "Double 11" and "618" nodes. In some online stores and live broadcast rooms, ultra-low discounts and "fracture" prices Products can be seen everywhere, attracting traffic and increasing sales.
Recently, the reporter saw in a live broadcast room called "Drunken Life" on a short video platform, the anchor with the goods was vigorously drinking a white wine: "This wine in our family is sold on the market for 1299 yuan, and now it is live broadcast. In the meantime, we will give benefits to your family members, 6 bottles are only 98 yuan, this is the internal discount that I and the manufacturer want to come, and you want to buy it as soon as possible!"
Not only that, the anchor also showed the price of this wine on a shopping platform: 398 yuan a bottle.
The reporter then clicked on the link provided by the anchor and saw that an online store selling alcohol on a certain platform indeed priced the wine at 398 yuan per bottle.
However, after searching the flagship store of the wine on another e-commerce platform, the reporter found that the price of this wine was 98 yuan for 6 bottles.
Fake discounts and not cheaper than usual. Mr. Fang from Anqing, Anhui Province was particularly annoyed that he was going to buy a few bottles of discounted liquor during the "618" event, but found that the price after the event was even higher than the usual price. .
He told reporters that a combination set of liquor in an online store on a certain platform that he is concerned about is usually marked with the original price of 1297 yuan, "1200 minus 200", and the arrival price is 1097 yuan; recently "618" pre-sale, the original price has become 1477 1,177 yuan after using the "full 1,200 minus 200" pre-sale coupons, and at the same time, placing an order will give you 2 bottles of low-end liquor with a unit price of about 30 yuan.
"After a long time, the discount price is more expensive than usual, and the merchants are full of routines." Mr. Fang said.
In this regard, Zhao Zhan, a lawyer from Beijing Yunjia Law Firm, said that regarding the definition of "original price" in promotion, the National Development and Reform Commission's "Notice on the Interpretation of Relevant Clauses of the Regulations on Prohibition of Price Gouging" stipulates that "original price" means "original price". If the operator makes a transaction at this trading place within seven days before this promotion, there is the lowest transaction price of the transaction bill; if there is no transaction within the first seven days, the last transaction price before this promotion shall be used as the original price.
"Therefore, operators who use the 'original price' mark in promotional activities, or use similar expressions such as 'daily price' to actually convey the meaning of 'original price', shall comply with this provision."
Zhang Xinbao, a professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, said that the common form of false discounts is that merchants increase the price of goods or services before the discount, and then discount after reaching a higher level. This behavior is to induce and deceive consumers. , the regulatory authorities should investigate and punish.
Lots of discounts and discounts
Violation of consumers' right to know
The discount routines of merchants are not limited to "price increase first and then discount", but they have also made great efforts in various discounts and discount coupons.
"It's getting harder and harder to get discounts on shopping festivals." The sky-high category coupons and complicated full-reduction rules gave Ms. Zhang a headache in Beijing.
For example, she said that she bought a skin care product with a price of 214 yuan in a cosmetics flagship store of an e-commerce platform. According to the propaganda of the merchant, after she placed a deposit of 40 yuan, she could use two full discounts after 0:00 the next day. Coupon (total discount of 105 yuan) to place an order.
"I placed the order until 0:00 and emptied the shopping cart. Only after I placed the order did I find that these two coupons were used for different products in the two online stores, and the discounts were greatly reduced." Ms. Zhang told reporters angrily. , If there is not such a big discount, it is impossible for her to buy this skin care product.
Ms. Zhang is going to place a new order after returning the goods, but the customer service said that there is no need to place a new order, and the difference can be refunded directly after the goods arrive.
However, when Ms. Zhang signed for the receipt, the customer service refused to refund the difference on the grounds that the full discount coupon could not be superimposed.
After the communication failed, Ms. Zhang called the Consumers Association. With the help of the Consumers Association, after nearly two weeks, and finally through the coordination of the e-commerce platform, Ms. Zhang received the supplement.
Coincidentally, Ms. Li from Jincheng, Shanxi recently placed an order for a brand of sunscreen clothing in a live broadcast room, and was stunned by various discounts and discounts.
In the live broadcast room, the anchor claimed that the price of the brand’s sunscreen clothing in the live broadcast room is much lower than the price of the flagship store. If you place an order immediately, you can enjoy a 130 yuan coupon in the live broadcast room and a 50 yuan discount for cross-store purchases of 300 yuan, that is, a 339 yuan sunscreen Clothes, 159 yuan can be won.
However, when Ms. Li placed the order, she found that the actual price paid was 214.38 yuan by using various coupons, which was higher than the price of the flagship store.
In the end, she asked the customer service, and the other party did a calculation, but she did not let her understand where the problem was.
Zhou Xuliang, director of Beijing Guanling Law Firm, said that the "Interim Provisions on Regulating Promotional Behaviors" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation clearly stipulates that operators who use points, gift certificates, exchange certificates, vouchers, etc. to discount the price should clearly indicate or pass The specific method of discount calculation will be disclosed in store notices and other ways.
It is obviously illegal for operators to promote false discounts.
Zhou Xuliang pointed out that the operator's promotion of false preferential discounts makes consumers unable to know the real transaction price, which infringes the legitimate rights and interests of consumers such as the right to know and the right to fair trade. It is a fraudulent act. , requiring the merchant to bear the punitive compensation liability of three times the commodity price.
In addition, operators who publicize false discounts and discounts will also be subject to administrative penalties. According to the "Administrative Penalties for Price Violations", the price authority of the government will order corrections, confiscate the illegal income, and impose a fine of less than 5 times the illegal income; there is no illegal income. If the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification or even revoke its business license.
Supervise the platform to perform its duties with due diligence
Bright light and bright standard management
How to effectively rectify false discounts?
Zhu Xiaofeng, a professor at the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics, suggested that the main responsibility should be strictly implemented, the platform access should be well controlled, the review and verification obligations should be implemented, and operators on the platform should be urged to operate with light, certificate, and standard; Internet platform companies should improve their promotional behaviors. It is prohibited to conduct sales promotion in illegal ways such as “price increase first and then discount”, fictitious original price, and failure to fulfill price commitments.
At the same time, it is necessary to strictly regulate the behavior of advertising, improve the level of advertising review, put an end to false propaganda and vulgar advertising, and effectively block false and illegal advertising; strictly prohibit unfair competition, and must not exclude, restrict competition, and obstruct or destroy other business operators. Promotion of online products or services.
It is necessary to properly resolve online consumer disputes, improve efficient and convenient complaint acceptance, processing and feedback mechanisms, unblock consumer complaint reporting channels, promptly accept and efficiently handle complaints and reports, and actively assist consumers in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests.
"It is also necessary to strengthen the communication and cooperation between the government and enterprises, actively cooperate with the regulatory authorities to investigate and deal with relevant violations of laws and regulations by operators on the platform, and form a positive interaction between platform autonomy and government supervision, and jointly guide operators on the platform to improve their awareness of law-abiding operations. The local market supervision department should Strengthen guidance, supervise and guide platform companies to fulfill their statutory obligations and implement their main responsibilities through offline interviews, online guidance, publicity and education, etc.; strengthen monitoring and supervision, strictly investigate and punish violations of laws and regulations, and unblock the 12315 complaint and reporting channel to protect the legality of consumers rights and interests, and regulate the order of the online trading market." Zhu Xiaofeng said.
Zhao Zhanzheng reminds consumers that it is best to shop around before shopping. For products of special concern, you can usually pay more attention to their prices, and then compare them with the prices during the promotion period to determine whether there are real discounts and the strength of the discounts, rather than blindly believing Discounts advertised by merchants.