The "blind box economy", known for its surprise fun, is favored by young consumers, but two years after the business model became popular, the problems that followed were repeatedly on the hot search.
From the surprise "pet blind box" on the express delivery site in May 2021, to the popularity of the "single blind box" on social platforms, to the question about excessive consumption caused by KFC's "blind box package" in 2022, and even a company in Shenzhen also hung up a "blind box post" on the recruitment website... The concept of blind boxes has spread from the initial trendy play track to catering, retail, social networking, job hunting and other fields.
However, is it really "blind box for all things"? Once you put on the "blind box" coat, can you refuse to return the goods for seven days without reason? What consumption traps are hidden in those products and services that are packaged as "blind boxes"?
Recently, some consumers complained to Nandu that they placed an online order blind box, and the result was not only deducted 30% of the payment amount, but also the remaining 70% of the refund could not arrive. After the Nandu reporter investigated according to the clues, it was found that there are two types of blind box consumption that are currently controversial: one is that the rules of the online box drawer are complicated and it is difficult to refund the fee; the other is that the business model of "express delivery blind box" and "mobile phone blind box" in the e-commerce platform is doubtful.
【Case Study】
"Online unboxing" is deducted 30% of the fee: is it reasonable?
Recently, some consumers have feedback to Nandu reporters that they have purchased a number of blind boxes in the blind box mini program "Egg Fun" under 52toys, because they have not clicked on the delivery for a long time, the order has been officially "deleted", not only was 30% of the payment amount deducted, but the remaining 70% of the refund could not be delayed.
Ten days later, the blind box in the "egg cabinet" suddenly disappeared
"In February this year, I used the Egg Fun Mini Program for the first time, the platform gave away a lot of display cards, prompt cards, I used the display card and prompt card to draw two blind boxes, WeChat paid 88 yuan", Ms. Wang told nandu reporters, after buying her some regrets, she was under the temptation of the display card to impulsively place an order, and did not know to make up three models before free shipping.
Ms. Wang used the display card and the prompt card to draw two blind boxes, and WeChat paid 88 yuan.
At this time, the blind box was not shipped and was still stored in the "egg cabinet". But ten days later, the blind box in Ms. Wang's order suddenly disappeared, the money was not returned to WeChat Pay, and the balance of egg coins showed 61.6 yuan.
Ten days later, Ms. Wang's egg coin balance showed only 61.6 yuan.
After consulting customer service, Ms. Wang learned that the blind box she had purchased was automatically "returned to the system" by the platform due to overtime and non-shipment. According to the reply of egg fun customer service, "the successful purchase of spot goods into the egg cabinet, the temporary storage period is 10 days, and it is automatically returned to the system after expiration." ”
But why is the balance of the blind box purchased for 88 yuan "returned to the system" only 61.6 yuan? Egg Fun customer service staff replied, "The blind box is a special commodity, does not support refunds, you already know which product is when you open the box online, so it is only 70% if you sell it." However, Ms. Wang only placed an order after using the display card given by the platform to learn the specific goods in the blind box, and the customer service said, "The rules of the platform are like this, no matter how you know which product is specific, as long as it is sold, it is only 70%. ”
Not only that, after being deducted 30% of the "unboxing fee", Ms. Wang's remaining 70% of the money was not directly returned to WeChat Pay, but returned to the "egg currency balance". How do I withdraw my Egg Coin Balance? Customer service staff said that account information can be provided, manual registration and withdrawal, "withdrawal time is 7-15 working days." After registering the withdrawal, Ms. Wang's account information showed 0, and the order record was blank. As of now, she has not received a refund.
Unspoken rules of the industry: do not support "seven days without reason to return"
"I think it's too unreasonable," Ms. Wang complained to nandu reporters, she did not see the relevant prompts about the refund rules in the process of using the box drawer to buy blind boxes, "If I knew these overbearing terms in advance, I would definitely not buy them." ”
Nandu reporter investigation found that Ms. Wang's experience is not a case, on the black cat complaint platform, there are more than 16,000 complaints about blind boxes, of which the most frequent is the refund dispute. Some consumers encountered the "Yuanqi Blind Box Tribe" the money in the balance could not be refunded. Many consumers have feedback that the blind box planet "the blind box has not been shipped, there is no refund key, the customer service ignores people" "the goods received are damaged, no one to contact customer service to deal with, there is no application for refund entrance in the Mini Program" and so on.
As a new track for the emergence of the tide in recent years, the blind box has attracted many young users to buy it with surprise and interesting features. With the successful listing of Bubble Mart, the number of players on this track is increasing, of which the "box drawing machine" is especially favored by investors, and the current popular "box drawing machine" mini programs include bubble mart box extraction machine, blind box planet preferred version, egg fun tide box drawing machine, 1983 box drawing machine, TOYCITY box drawing machine, TOPTOY mall, etc.
Nandu reporter evaluation found that do not support "seven days no reason to return and exchange goods" is the general rule of the above box machine merchants, once consumers buy a blind box on the online box machine, regardless of whether the goods are shipped or not, they do not support "seven days without reason to return and exchange".
The five major box drawer online platform return and exchange rules do not support "seven days without reason to return and exchange".
Overlord clause: The return and exchange rules are not clearly indicated
Zhang Zhenshi, a lawyer at Shanghai Zhonglian (Guangzhou) Law Firm, pointed out to Nandu reporters that blind boxes have special characteristics, but they are not extralegal places where merchants do not support returns without reason.
Article 25 of the Law on the Protection of The Rights and Interests of Consumers lists four types of goods that are not applicable to seven days of unjustified returns: those customized by consumers; those that are fresh and perishable; digital goods such as audio-visual products and computer software that are downloaded online or unsealed by consumers; and newspapers and periodicals that are delivered. Article 7 of the Interim Measures for the Seven-Day Unjustified Return of Goods Purchased Online lists three types of goods that are not applicable to seven-day no-reason returns: goods that are likely to affect personal safety or life and health after unpacking, or goods that are easy to cause changes in the quality of goods after unpacking; goods whose value is depreciated once activated or tried; and goods that are close to the shelf life and defective goods that have been clearly indicated at the time of sale.
Zhang Zhenshi pointed out that most of the blind box goods do not meet the above provisions, but considering the particularity of the blind box, in addition to the value of the goods themselves, consumers can also feel the stimulation process similar to "winning the lottery", according to the second paragraph of article 25 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, "other goods that are not suitable for return according to the nature of the goods and confirmed by consumers at the time of purchase are not suitable for return without reason". Therefore, the key to judging "no-reason return" lies in whether the merchant sells blind box goods and is confirmed by consumers as goods that are not suitable for return. However, if there is a quality problem in the product itself, the merchant should also bear the after-sales responsibility.
Liu Ying, a professor at the Law School of Jinan University and president of the Network and E-commerce Law Research Association of the Guangdong Law Society, also pointed out to the Nandu reporter that the blind box can be used as an exception for returning and exchanging goods for no reason in seven days, provided that it is conspicuously marked to consumers, such as letting consumers know and agree in the form of pop-up windows to constitute the formation of the contract, otherwise it is a standard clause.
"Blind box is an emerging business model, its commodity characteristics determine that it is a seven-day exception to the return and exchange of goods without reason, the key to compliance of this business model lies in two points: one is that these rules must have an explicit prompt to ensure that consumers know whether to refund, delivery time, refund amount ratio and other information before purchasing; second, only listing the 'rules' that contain a lot of text is not explicit, especially the return refund rules need to be seen by consumers in the form of pop-up windows and click to confirm consent, informed consent constitutes a contract", Liu Ying told nandu reporters.
However, according to Ms. Wang, she did not receive a pop-up notice during the purchase process, nor did she confirm her consent to the platform's return and exchange rules.
Nandu reporter evaluated the box machine of Egg Fun 52Toys and found that after selecting a blind box product, there is a "rule" key in the upper right corner of the blind box, and the user clicks the "rule" key to read the relevant rules of the box drawer. If you do not pay attention to the button, there is no pop-up notification during the direct purchase process.
After selecting a blind box product, the "Rule" key is displayed in the upper right corner of the blind box.
Its "Rules" page includes the introduction of the egg fun box machine, frequently asked questions, and the rules related to the egg fun box machine. The following purchase rules can only be seen on the drop-down page: "After the purchase, the box selection result page pops up, the online unpacking is successful, and the return refund is not supported." "Blind boxes, tide play products, the production process of the goods will inevitably have slight rubbing color, overflow color and other painting problems, do not support the return and exchange applications submitted by such problems." "Using WeChat/Alipay to pay, if the purchase fails or the purchased goods are sold, the return amount will enter the egg coin balance and will not be returned to the payment account, please purchase with caution."
Mandatory unpacking fee: infringing on consumer rights
In addition, for the unconduced blind box will be automatically recycled by the system, the system will only refund 70% of the cost after recovery, Li Ya, a partner at Zhongwen Law Firm, told nandu reporter that the first thing that needs to be clear is whether the "online unboxing" purchased by consumers is a commodity or a service, if it is a service, it will not involve the problem of refund after the service; if it is a commodity, it should be applied to the seven-day no-reason return clause of Article 25 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law. "'Online unpacking' also involves the issue of physical delivery, which should be a commodity and should be subject to a seven-day no-reason return clause." Li Ya said that the demand for mandatory payment of 30% of the unpacking fee violated consumers' fair trade rights and claims. ”
Zhang Zhenshi also believes that the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law stipulates that consumers have the right to independently choose goods or services, decide to buy or not purchase any kind of goods, accept or not accept any service, and also have the right to refuse the compulsory trading behavior of business operators.
For the path of refund, Liu Ying pointed out to the Nandu reporter, "Once the refund is refunded, it should be returned to the original payment channel, because according to the Contract Law and the Civil Code, after the contract is terminated, it should be restored to the original state, and it is inappropriate to return to the virtual currency." ”
【Expert Advice】
The rules of blind boxes are intricate, how can consumers "avoid the pit"?
Zhang Zhenshi, Shanghai Zhonglian (Guangzhou) Law Firm: When consumers choose a blind box, they need to carefully check the rules of the game of the merchant to confirm whether the goods are "not applicable to return without reason." After selecting the blind box, if you find that your rights and interests have been infringed, you can check whether the merchant clearly stipulates that the product is "not applicable to return without reason", and whether it has been confirmed by the consumer, retain the proof of payment, chat records with customer service, call recordings, blind box unpacking videos, screenshots of the product purchase page and other evidence, once a dispute occurs, you can complain to the relevant functional departments or complain to the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Committee to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Li Ya, partner of Zhongwen Law Firm: First of all, you should choose a certified platform to purchase the corresponding goods or services; second, you should check the relevant user agreements in advance on the provisions of the transaction rules, and finally report the situation to the platform operator and the market supervision department in a timely manner when encountering disputes, and you can also file a lawsuit with the people's court.
Liu Ying, professor at the Law School of Jinan University and president of the Network and E-commerce Law Research Association of the Guangdong Law Society: When it comes to consumption that is not large, it is recommended to focus on pre-event prevention. First of all, consumers should correct their mentality, do not have the psychology of gambling, the second is to see its rules clearly, if you really encounter merchants who do not indicate the rules, buy without knowing it, and fall into disputes, it is recommended to go to court to sue.
Producer: Nandu Business Data News Department
Planning/Co-ordinating: Zhen Qin Tian Aili
Written by: Nandu reporter Ma Ningning