Every year in March, home improvement enters the peak season, but also led to home appliance sales into a small peak, so we often hear such a voice:
Spent 2600 yuan to buy an air conditioner, the merchant said that it was free to install, the follow-up material fee, high-altitude fee but charged more than 700 yuan, the installation fee is equivalent to a quarter of the product price, and even an invoice is not, which door is free to install?
Buy a new water heater, but only more than 1,000 yuan, the merchant said that it was free to install, but, really door-to-door, and the purchase of smoke exhaust pipes cost more than 200 yuan, too disturbing!
The "free installation of home appliances" promised by merchants has become a gimmick, and the installation of such home appliances has caused complaints from many consumers.
In fact, the so-called "free installation" of many businesses generally does not include the cost of materials required for installation; in terms of the specific amount of fees, the materials used by each brand and the amount required for installation are different, so the charges are different; there are also some home appliances in the installation process, exceeding the scope of operation specified by the business, and additional labor fees are also required. Consumers have said: buy a household appliances, door-to-door installation is like a "blind box", do not know where to pay.
The results of the complaints accepted by the National Consumer Association in 2021 released by the China Consumer Association show that last year, the number of complaints about household electronic appliances reached 108,000, an increase of 0.77% compared with 2020, and among them, the problems caused by after-sales installation are far greater than the quality problems of the products themselves.
What are the unspoken rules for the "free installation" of home appliances?
Beijing News Broadcast interviewed Liang Zhenpeng, a veteran industrial economy observer and home appliance industry analyst. He said that the so-called "free installation" of home appliances is "very many traps" for consumers, and it is impossible to achieve free installation. The free commitment of the merchant is only free of labor fees, and there is no free material fee, aerial work fee, etc., the common phenomenon is that consumers need to pay an additional few hundred yuan or even thousands of yuan when installing home appliances.
The installation process is very chaotic, and many of them do not have any legal, reasonable, and officially sealed charging documents. Whether it is the manufacturer's own operation, or the installation workers of third-party installers, when charging installation fees, many of them are randomly telling consumers how much to charge.
Home appliance companies do not intend to standardize the installation system, they always want to make profits in both sales and installation. Whether the profit is in the pocket of the manufacturer or to the third-party installation and maintenance company, they have reached a tacit understanding between each other, and then share it.
Why is home appliance installation willing to "outsource" and unwilling to "self-operated"?
Liang Zhenpeng said that even if the installers' clothing is printed with home appliance brands, they are actually repair service providers of home appliance brands, but they are wearing overalls with logos. The vast majority of home appliance companies have outsourced their after-sales installations and taken the form of third-party cooperation. Because home appliance companies focus on production, sales channels, brand promotion, etc., although after-sales service also has input, but most of them are carried out through cooperation with third parties.
Some enterprises set up self-operated service stores in first-tier cities or municipalities directly under the central government, but the number is very small, if any company says that the after-sales service system is all self-operated and not outsourced, it is deceiving consumers. On the one hand, for the consideration of operating costs, the cost of self-operated services is not small, on the other hand, once a dispute occurs, home appliance companies may also push the problems in the installation link to a third party to avoid the risks and responsibilities of the brand itself.
Can the "one-price all-inclusive" of household appliances be fully promoted?
Liang Zhenpeng said that the sale and installation of home appliances is "all-inclusive", which means that no matter how big the house is, how many materials are needed, how many floors are needed, whether it is necessary to work at height, in short, only need to spend money once when buying goods, and all aspects of the installation are completely free.
"All-inclusive" is only suitable for some high-end products in the home appliance industry with a proportion of less than 20%. Why is it "all-inclusive"? It is because there are high enough profits, such as a wall-mounted air conditioner for refrigeration and heating, the price is seven or eight thousand, or even tens of thousands of yuan, and there are many such high-end products in the market.
However, only a small number of high-income consumers are willing to buy, this expensive high-end product can achieve "one price all-inclusive", but it does not mean that the home appliance industry can generally operate this way. Most home appliances above 80%, the gross profit margin of sales is not enough to support the "one-price all-inclusive". Doing business is "wool out of the sheep", most consumers still pursue good quality or high cost performance, these home appliances can not achieve "one price all inclusive".
How to break the "unspoken rules" of home appliance installation?
Liang Zhenpeng believes that when home appliance companies sell goods, they cannot make false publicity, and the installation link should be transparent and clearly tell consumers what is "free". Is it labor-free or material-free? Is it free of work at height, or is it free of wall punching? What else does the consumer have to pay?
If it is an e-commerce website, it needs to be written clearly on the product detail page; if it is in the store, the manufacturer's promoter is obliged to tell the consumer in advance. In this way, consumers clearly know the purchase price and installation price, and can accurately make a judgment: buy or not buy? Or choose "one-price all-inclusive" goods, consumers should have the right to clearly consume.
He said that this also requires the joint participation of the Market Supervision Administration and local consumer associations, and false advertising for the installation of home appliances should be severely punished according to law. Only by fundamentally deterring fraud can we effectively regulate the installation and service behavior of the home appliance market.