Live shopping is a shopping method that many people like, and it also enriches people's consumption supply, but according to the statistics of the State Administration for Market Regulation, with the growth of the scale of the live broadcast e-commerce market, the number of complaints and reports about live streaming has also increased year by year. Some time ago, the Beijing Internet Court heard a case of a dispute over a sales contract in which the merchant did not truthfully inform the defects when buying jewelry and jade during live broadcast, which constituted a breach of contract.
Ms. Wang, a consumer, bought a jewelry pendant through an online trading platform in the live broadcast room of an online store that sells jewelry and jade, and found that the pendant was cracked after receiving the goods, so she applied for a return and refund through the platform, but the merchant refused.
Subsequently, Ms. Wang applied for the intervention of the platform, but due to the large dispute between the buyer and the seller, the payment was frozen by the trading platform, so the dispute arose.
The merchant believed that he had shown the pendant involved in the case through the live broadcast and had fulfilled the obligation to deliver the goods, so he sued Ms. Wang and the operator of the trading platform to the court, demanding that Ms. Wang and the platform pay for the goods. Ms. Wang disagrees.
Consumer Ms. Wang: A small lot of pendant and brooch is about 50,000 yuan. I didn't look so closely in the live broadcast room, and when I got to my own hand, I looked carefully and found that there was a scratch on the blue gem on the left, which could only be seen under strong light. Before shipping, I asked him if he could take a picture to show me, but I couldn't see the picture.
Judge Zhang Qian of the Beijing Internet Court: Through on-site inspection, we found that through a certain angle and lighting, we can see that there are indeed slight cracks on the product on sale. The Consumer Rights Protection Law gives consumers the right to know, the right to choose, and the right to fair trade, and the merchant did not truthfully and comprehensively disclose the corresponding situation of the product when selling the product, which is also a violation of statutory obligations.
The judge suggested: Screening and storing evidence and shopping rationally
When shopping live, how to avoid encounters like Ms. Wang?
According to the judge, according to the past judicial practice experience, in the process of live shopping, the situation of intentional guidance and false publicity by merchants is a problem that consumers report a lot. For example, a live broadcast room that sells metal jewelry has used the banner of "seckill" and "leakage" to describe the gram weight and original price of the product, but avoid talking about the material of the product, prompting consumers to mistakenly believe that they are buying expensive metals such as gold and silver, causing online shopping disputes. There is also the sale of non-standard products such as jade and rough stones.
Judge Zhang Qian of the Beijing Internet Court: The traditional trading of this kind of rough stone is more dependent on offline touching and seeing, or careful observation, but online because of the restrictions on the form of sales, it is more dependent on the oral description of the anchor. We have received feedback from consumers that when selling in the live broadcast room, the merchant may involve some kind of special lighting, or smear a special substance on the surface of the stone, and see the quality through the lens, but in fact, when the consumer receives it, it is not as good as the anchor's publicity. This kind of product is a non-standard product, some merchants may save trouble, or there are also some merchants who have a fluke mentality, he does not list the details of the stone, the original stone or the product in the detail page of the product, unlike the traditional graphic mode we see. We also remind consumers that when trading, we can ask more about who its producer is and what its origin is, and make rational purchases.
The "Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests", which will be implemented on July 1, regulates the prominent problems in live streaming, stipulates that the information and qualifications of operators must be announced in a conspicuous manner, and it must be clear "who is bringing goods" and "whose goods are bringing", and it is clear that "everyone is responsible" for anchors, live broadcast rooms and platforms. Consumers should also pay attention to screening and rational consumption in the process of placing orders.
Judge Zhang Qian of the Beijing Internet Court: Before purchasing, we can ask the merchant in detail about the specific situation of the product, and at the same time, the chat records between us and the merchant can also be used as corresponding evidence when protecting rights, and for example, the screen recording, transaction snapshots, orders and unboxing videos when watching live broadcasts can also be used as corresponding evidence. If a dispute arises, the consumer can first choose to settle with the merchant, and can also intervene through the platform or the corresponding administrative organ of the Consumer Rights Protection Association to protect their rights.
Be wary of consumer traps, buy classes, learn live broadcasts, and be deceived
Mr. Li, a citizen of Xiamen, wanted to learn short video live streaming and become a "silver-haired Internet celebrity", so he spent money to buy classes to study, but he fell into a consumption trap.
Not long ago, Mr. Li, who retired, clicked into a live broadcast room called "Goods Shop" on a short video platform. The anchor said that they provide the official training course of the platform, even the elderly who are not familiar with the Internet and have a low level of education, take their classes, and soon become "silver Internet celebrities" and get benefits.
Lin Yiting, assistant judge of the case filing division of Xiamen Siming Court: After purchasing a course of 2999 yuan, they can achieve zero threshold entry with short video delivery, and after a month of study, they can reap several times the income of tuition fees, for example, it may be 3-5 times. In addition to the guaranteed income, they also promised to provide traffic drainage services for this account to realize the monetization of traffic.
The "high rate of return" and "zero threshold entry" advertised in the live broadcast room made Mr. Li excited, and he immediately spent money on the course and began to study. But after some time, he found that the other party did not provide the service promised in the advertisement, and he did not earn a penny.
After the purchase, it was found that this company would only provide a course learning link for these middle-aged and elderly people. However, the course tutor actually did not provide teaching services, tutoring services, and follow-up account drainage, so an elderly person like Lao Li had no way to really achieve the purpose of monetization through this course.
Mr. Li contacted customer service and wanted to refund the fee, but the other party repeatedly shirked and refused to refund the fee on the grounds that Mr. Li's lack of initiative and enthusiasm for learning led to poor learning results. In the end, Mr. Li had no choice but to resort to the courts. The court has recently accepted about 20 such education and training contract disputes, and the defendants are all this company, and most of the consumers are middle-aged and elderly people over the age of 55 who lack the ability to distinguish online information.
At present, the court has helped 10 consumers successfully refund their fees, including Mr. Li, and the relevant work is still ongoing.
Lin Yiting, assistant judge of the Case Filing Division of Xiamen Siming Court: In the process of signing contracts, we must pay attention to the terms of these contracts. Because in the contract, it is obvious that the company intends to restrict the consumer's right to refund. This requires consumers to consciously protect their rights and interests when signing contracts.
Editor: Fan Meiling
Source: CCTV news client