Kingsoft WPS was exposed to "nesting doll" charges and big data "killing", and customer service responded: The membership system may be upgraded in the future
Recently, Xiaoyuan (pseudonym), a citizen of Changsha, Hunan Province, reflected: "I bought a 'super member' in Kingsoft Office Software WPS, and soon added money to buy a 'super member Pro' with AI functions, and now there is a pop-up window to pay money, and if you want to continue to use the AI function, you need to pay money to upgrade to a 'big member'." ”
On April 16, Xiaoyuan told the upstream news (report mailbox: [email protected]) reporter: "Isn't this a nesting doll-style charge? In the future, every time a new function is added, a fee will be added?" In this regard, the WPS hotline customer service responded to the reporter's inquiry, saying: "There is no membership system integration policy at present, but in the future, the membership system may be upgraded or products with improved membership functions may be launched." ”
"Matryoshka" charges?
"WPS pop-up window tells me to add money to upgrade AI 'big member'"
Xiaoyuan is a company employee, she told reporters: "In April last year, the membership system changed, I was originally a WPS 'super member', considering that WPS usually uses a lot, I added money to the 'super member' to buy 6 years of 'super member Pro', thinking about it once and for all." Later, WPS came out with an AI function, saying that it was 'Super Membership Pro' that could be used, and I thought it was worth it at the time. It was only a long time before the WPS pop-up asked me to add money to upgrade to a 'big member' with AI features. The reporter saw from the screenshot shown by Xiaoyuan that the pop-up window information stated: "'WPS Super Member Pro' package is upgraded to 'WPS Big Member', the upgrade duration is 62 months, and the upgrade amount is 310 yuan." ”
"WPS Super Member" buys 4 years and gives free AI membership for 4 months. Screenshot of the software
The upstream news reporter noticed that Xiaoyuan's experience was not an isolated case. On April 15, a Xiaohongshu blogger in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province posted on his personal homepage: "At the beginning, I bought super members for several years at one time for the AI function of WPS, and it was clear that super members could use AI functions at that time. As a result, today it shows that in order to continue to use AI, you need to upgrade the 'big member', and this 'big member' didn't have it at all, isn't this deceiving consumers?"
Someone analyzed: "The AI function of WPS will be charged sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be independent into a separate membership fee system." Someone was shocked, "This is a nesting doll-style charge, VIP, SVIP, SSVIP, SSSVIP." Some people even said frankly: "In the future, will WPS add a fee for every new feature?"
"WPS Super Membership Pro" buys 1 year and gets 1 month of AI membership. Screenshot of the software
In response to netizens' questions about Kingsoft's "nesting doll" fees, Kingsoft's WPS hotline customer service responded to upstream news reporters, saying: "Some users have reported that there are too many 'super members', 'WPS members' and 'rice husk members', so we upgraded and integrated the membership system in April 2023 and launched 'super members' and 'super members' and 'super members' Pro." We will record the feedback from this user, and users can pay attention to some optimizations or tunings of subsequent products. Regarding the question of receiving or applying for the use of AI functions for free and charging, the above-mentioned customer service said: "There is a certain time limit for the use of this AI function, and it cannot be used after the activity time is over." At present, we have launched a membership policy for purchasing AI features. ”
Big data "kills ripeness"?
"The total cost of upgrading members is 1.7 yuan/month more than that of colleagues"
In addition to encountering "nesting doll" charges, what made Xiaoyuan even more angry was that she encountered big data "killing". Xiaoyuan told reporters that she almost paid the fee to upgrade to a "big member", but she found that the WPS system pushed her to upgrade more than her colleagues. "My colleague is a 'super member', and he only needs to spend an extra 8.3 yuan/month to upgrade to a 'big member'. I am a 'super member Pro' who has paid 5 yuan more than 'super member' every month, and now I have to spend 5 yuan more per month to upgrade to 'big member', which is 1.7 yuan more than my colleagues. I couldn't get angry, and I didn't upgrade. My colleague was immediately upgraded to a 'big member'. ”
"WPS Super Member Pro" needs to pay 310 yuan to upgrade to "Big Member". Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Regarding the difference in the upgrade fee of different members, the above-mentioned WPS hotline customer service said: "The amount of the upgrade price difference is indeed calculated by the page system. According to the membership status of each user account and the remaining membership time, the system will calculate the difference in price that needs to be made up based on the user's situation. The longer the remaining member's time, the more the difference will be paid. Professor Hu Yuancong, a professor at the School of Economic Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and director of the China Market Economy Rule of Law Research Center, once told the media: "Due to the complex nature of big data, it is difficult for consumers to provide evidence. According to a People's Daily report on April 15, although the state has introduced many laws to protect the rights and interests of consumers, it is difficult to supervise due to the concealment and complexity of big data "killing". In order to maximize profits, some companies are constantly trying new technical means to circumvent regulation.
Netizens are hotly discussing WPS's "nesting doll" charges. Screenshots of the network
According to Flush iFinD data, in 2023, Kingsoft Office will have a revenue of 4.556 billion yuan and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 1.318 billion yuan, both of which will achieve a year-on-year increase of more than 17%, and the domestic personal office service subscription business will contribute 3.611 billion yuan in revenue, which is still the largest source of revenue for Kingsoft Office, with a year-on-year increase of 8%.
Upstream news reporter Feng Shengyong