A video reflecting the phenomenon of arbitrary TV charges recently became popular on the Internet.
The reporter from Banyuetan found that many TV apps currently have phenomena such as "matryoshka charging", incompatibility of film and television resources, and easy cancellation of subscriptions. Some consumers pay high membership fees under the guidance of "automatic renewal" and other models.
It costs thousands of dollars to buy a TV, and you have to keep paying to watch the programs
Ms. Wang from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, said that apart from watching basic channels on the TV at home, almost all functions must be recharged and renewed.
Ms. Wang also found that there is a phenomenon of inducing app downloads when on-demand programs. If it is not a program in the TV basic library, the app will be downloaded automatically once it is clicked.
According to the research conducted by the reporter of Banyuetan, it is not uncommon to see chaos in charging fees on smart TVs. A wide variety of video software is generally expensive, inconvenient to use, and even deliberately creates traps to induce consumers to pay unnecessary fees.
The reporter from Banyuetan turned on a TV, and there were 11 prominent play promotions on the front page of the screen, of which 5 were new dramas (new films), 3 were children's animations, 2 were interactive games, and the other was an animation aimed at young people piece.
Click on these programs one by one, all of which are paid programs.
Many of the links entered the app download page, and apps such as "Huashu Cool Meow", "Migu Quick Tour", "Guoguo Paradise" and "Leiba Battle" were automatically downloaded, and then the payment interface appeared.
The charging details of an app show that the continuous monthly subscription is 29 yuan per month, the quarterly subscription is 22 yuan per month, and the annual subscription is 19 yuan per month.
It is worth noting that these monthly subscriptions are "automatically renewed" after they expire, and "if canceled in advance during the contract period, compensation for unused months must be paid according to the monthly function fee".
In the lower left corner of the front page border, the Banyuetan reporter saw the "Featured Free" column, but after entering, they found that these films were generally old and not very viewable.
For relatively popular film and television programs nowadays, you need to become a VIP member or pay for individual on-demand.
The reporter from Banyuetan learned that some consumers have activated automatic renewal on their home TVs without fully understanding the terms or at all.
Qian Yijing (pseudonym), who lives in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, said that she didn't see that it was an automatic renewal. She once recharged the TV App membership for the discounted price. When she received a bill the next month, she found that the video software had been renewed at the original price.
"So now as soon as I activate the automatic renewal of membership, I immediately turn off the automatic renewal of the payment software in the next second, for fear of being deducted inexplicably."
A netizen with the account name "Yaya" reported that the cable TV at home had been repaired due to a breakdown. A few days later, it was discovered that Huya TV had been activated and the fee was deducted. Part of the fee is refunded.
In the comments, a netizen with the account name "Abai" said that he had a similar experience: "Without the owner's knowledge and without any reminder, the TV automatically subscribed to many services, and the customer service also said that I activated it by mistake."
There are many consumption traps such as "matryoshka charging"
The relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Municipal Consumer Council said that the current dazzling apps on smart TVs meet the individual needs of the audience to a certain extent, but at the same time there are problems such as opaque fees, non-sharing of content, and inconvenient use, which cause troubles for the audience .
——"Matryoshka charging", the information is not transparent.
"Even if you become a member, you have to pay to watch some programs, and even watch them within a limited time of 3 days." Ms. Wang told Ban Yue Tan that some programs need to watch 90-120-second long commercials to watch normally, and some programs need to be paid again. After paying for some programs, it is even required to watch them within a limited time within 3 days.
Ms. Liu from Haidian District, Beijing, said that the interface of the TV app is confusing and complicated, and the range of programs that members can watch for free is not clearly stated when recharging, and there is an obvious reminder when it is on-demand.
——The film and television resources are not interoperable, and multiple screens are charged repeatedly.
"Many films have exclusive copyrights, which force you to sign up for a membership. The TV app membership fee costs six to seven hundred yuan a year." Yu Tao (pseudonym), a Chongqing resident, said that his TV has opened multiple app members, and each app has an annual fee. All around 240 yuan.
"Many TV Apps and mobile phones do not communicate with each other, and consumers are also suffering if they charge twice for changing the name," Yu Tao said.
"Members on the mobile and TV terminals of various film and television companies are not universal, and membership fees have to be charged twice, and the film and television resources of different platforms are not interoperable." Qian Yijing said that although it felt very unreasonable, in order to avoid long advertisements and watch favorite For the show, she can only open two or three app members at the same time.
——It is easy to activate and difficult to cancel, and it is difficult to appeal the overlord clause.
"I don't know what's going on, but I just recharged as a member in a daze, and it's very troublesome to cancel." Mr. Chen from Suining City, Sichuan Province was worried about the TV deduction some time ago. He couldn't find an online cancellation channel, so he had to go to the operator's business hall to cancel, but the staff told him that "it will take 6 months to stop".
Ji Ligang, a professor at the Fudan University School of Law, said that consumers have the right to independently choose operators who provide goods or services, freely choose product varieties or service methods, and independently decide to buy or not to buy any kind of goods, to accept or not to accept any kind of service.
"All kinds of video apps' forced tie-in sales of goods or services through 'default check' and 'default renewal' are legally "monopolistic tie-in sales". consumers’ right to know and choose.”
Strengthen supervision and unblock rights protection channels
In response to the current chaos of smart TV charges, interviewed experts and the public suggested:
——Strengthen supervision and management, and unblock channels for complaints and rights protection.
The current chaos of TV program charges is in a regulatory blind spot in many areas. It is recommended that local market supervision and management bureaus take the initiative to intervene, analyze and judge such phenomena, strengthen the identification of relevant behaviors and the supervision and management of relevant enterprises, and guide industry associations to establish standards. and norms, and strengthen industry self-discipline; at the same time, further smooth the channels for complaints from the masses to ensure that rights protection is convenient, efficient, and effective.
——Investigate and crack down on forced tie-in sales to promote the healthy development of the online video industry.
Ji Ligang said that tying sales by operators involves the regulation scope of many laws and regulations such as the Anti-Monopoly Law, Consumer Rights Protection Law, and E-commerce Law. Consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time serve as a warning to other similar operators.
——Optimize member pricing strategies to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
The people interviewed expect that the same video software will no longer charge repeatedly on different ports, and realize "one-time payment, full-screen interaction", and member accounts can be used on TVs, mobile phones, computers, tablets and other electronic devices.
In addition, relevant companies should fully protect consumers' right to choose independently and the right to know, highlight key terms in marketing models such as "automatic renewal", and clearly inform how to cancel subscriptions, etc.
(Banyuetan.com, Banyuetan.com reporter Han Zhen Zhou Siyu)