Buying a Mercedes-Benz car is tied to sell insurance without renewal is not a refund subsidy

"I bought a Mercedes Benz, but I didn't expect to be 'tied to insurance'!" The deducted 1,000 yuan old car replacement subsidy cannot be used or refunded without 'compulsory renewal'. Mr. Dai, a citizen, reflected on the troublesome matter he encountered to "help Nong".

Mandatory renewal

A thousand yuan subsidy was deducted

Mr. Dai said that in early January last year, he bought a Mercedes-Benz GRC260L four-wheel drive luxury SUV at the Mercedes-Benz 4S store, and at the same time "depreciated and replaced" his old car at the store.

After the two sides signed the car purchase contract, the 4S shop agent insurance personnel told him that according to the provisions of the "time-limited car purchase plan" of Beijing Benz Automobile Company, 1,000 yuan of the car purchase subsidy needs to be withheld, which can be used to offset the renewal cost of the second year, and repeatedly emphasizes that this is the "old car replacement subsidy", which has nothing to do with the national subsidy project and must be withheld; at the same time, as long as the Pacific Car Insurance is renewed in 2022, the 1,000 yuan can be offset.

"At that time, I wanted to renew Pacific Insurance Company and there was no problem." Therefore, Mr. Dai signed the "Supplementary Agreement to the Automobile Sales Contract of Shanghai Yuexing Automobile Co., Ltd." on the spot, in which the "factory replacement/re-purchase insurance support" was marked as "replacement: new insurance 5,000 yuan + renewal 1,000 yuan".

This year, near the renewal period, Mr. Dai compared the car insurance quotations of many insurance companies and found that under the same circumstances, the renewal price given by the 4S store was much higher, and the insurance salesman said that as long as Mr. Dai renewed the insurance, he could give away shopping cards or fuel cards. After repeatedly comparing the preferential treatment and price, Mr. Dai felt that the renewal fee was still "uneconomical", so he asked the salesman whether the withheld 1,000 yuan renewal fee could be refunded, but the other party refused: "1,000 yuan can only be used to offset the renewal of Pacific Insurance!" In this regard, Mr. Dai is difficult to understand, "It was not stated that the deducted subsidy could not be recovered without renewal." I just want to get my $1,000 back, or the 4S store offers the same discount renewal plan as outside. ”

After many consultations between the two sides, the brand still refused to give in. During this period, he called the Beijing Benz hotline twice to consult the report, but there was still no result. As a result, Mr. Dai had no choice but to give up the 1,000 yuan he had withheld and find other insurance channels.

Bundling

Consumers are "hurt"

The reporter got in touch with the Mercedes-Benz 4S store, and the relevant staff said that they had explained very clearly with Mr. Dai that the "time-limited car purchase plan" and the deduction of 1,000 yuan for the renewal of the insurance were the regulations of the Beijing Mercedes-Benz factory, the 4S store was only the executive, and the insurance promoted by the sales staff was also stipulated by the new national insurance policy. For Mr. Dai's appeal, the other party insisted that he must renew the Pacific Motor Insurance insurance to enjoy the deduction.

For such a reply, Mr. Dai really could not accept, "I was originally going to buy a car for a big brand, but I didn't expect to encounter this kind of thing." Is bundling and compulsory renewal illegal the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law? Is such a provision a 'overlord clause'? ”

To this end, the reporter consulted lawyer Li Ruqin, a partner of Shanghai Daopeng Law Firm, who said that according to Article 8 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, consumers have the right to know the true situation of the goods they purchase or use or the services they receive. When the brand signed the Supplementary Agreement to the Automobile Sales Contract with the consumer, it did not clearly and in detail the applicable conditions of the "renewal of 1,000 yuan", which infringed the consumer's right to know.

Second, according to Article 9 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, consumers have the right to independently choose goods or services. When the consumer redeems the renewal limit, the brand emphasizes that the consumer must purchase a specified type of insurance through its designated insurance company in order to obtain a renewal subsidy of 1,000 yuan, which infringes on the consumer's right to choose independently.

Defending rights is tough

It's full of routines

It is understood that at the end of May 2020, the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "2020 Insurance Intermediary Market Chaos Rectification Work Plan" to the various banking and insurance regulatory bureaus, in which the banking and insurance regulatory commission clearly stated: focus on rectifying the compulsory tying of insurance by car dealers.

The reporter found from the 12345 citizen service hotline that complaints like Mr. Dai are not uncommon, some car brand parties force consumers to buy insurance by collecting "renewal deposits", and some brand parties also force the purchase of many unnecessary insurance in order to obtain greater benefits, which seriously damages the rights and interests of consumers.

The automobile consumer market has always been full of various complex preferential policies and loan services, and behind these "wool out of the sheep" activities are often hidden behind a variety of "routines", making it difficult to prevent. The purchase of auto insurance is one of the more prominent problems, often added many "mandatory clauses", if you do not meet the conditions set by the brand, you may face the "original should belong to yourself" offer.

Industry insiders pointed out that the car purchase process is complex, the process is cumbersome, each link may be "cleverly set up", insurance, license, testing, car pick-up, financial services, etc., this large string of unreasonable and even absurd expenses, often in the "unconscious" has become the consumer "have to pay" money, and even become the industry's "unspoken rules". However, due to the fact that automobile production, sales, finance, after-sales and so on involve different regulatory departments, when consumer complaints, there are many handling links, which takes a long time and is difficult to solve complaints.

In this regard, industry insiders remind that when buying a car, do not trust the verbal promises of the sales staff, everything should be based on the content of the contract; for each clause of the main contract and the additional contract, it must be carefully examined, and the doubtful part must be confirmed before signing; when encountering the problem of renewing the "deposit", or agreeing on the refund conditions, or rejecting it on the spot.

When will the "deep pits" in car sales be filled? How are consumer rights protected? This newspaper will continue to pay attention. Reporter Lu Changqing

Source: Xinmin Evening News