Recently, a news that "a man was required to pay 1,200 yuan in liquidated damages for broadband cancellation" has caused heated discussions. The man signed a three-year service contract when applying for broadband, but asked to cancel the broadband after only a few months of use. As a result, the sales office informed him that he needed to pay liquidated damages, which made him feel very aggrieved. This incident reflects the need for users to be cautious when signing contracts and to bear corresponding responsibilities in case of breach of contract.
The user should fully understand the terms of service before signing the contract
Before any service is activated, the service provider will ask the user to sign the relevant service agreement. These agreements tend to be long, and users are not very interested in reading them carefully, or do not understand the technical terms in the agreement, resulting in a lack of understanding of the specific content of the agreement.
However, the service agreement contains key information about the rights and obligations of the user, and if the user does not read it carefully when signing the contract, the user may face some unexpected restrictions or fees in the process of using the service.
For example, there are differences in the signing process of different operators, but users are required to confirm that they are aware of the relevant service agreement. These agreements usually stipulate the duration of the contract, the conditions for early termination, liability for breach of contract, etc. If the user does not understand these contents when signing the contract, they may be confused or suffer in the process of using them in the future.
Therefore, before signing any service contract, users should carefully read the provisions of the agreement, have a comprehensive understanding of their rights and obligations, and communicate with the service provider for some vague or unreasonable terms to ensure that the contract content is fair and reasonable, and protect their own rights and interests.
The user shall be liable for any breach of contract
After understanding their rights and obligations, the user should perform their obligations in strict accordance with the agreement and cannot violate the agreement without authorization. For example, after signing a fixed-term service contract, if the user terminates the service without authorization within the period, he or she is likely to face financial penalties such as liquidated damages.
This is also the situation faced by the man in this "broadband liquidated damages" incident. He signed a three-year broadband service agreement, but asked to cancel the service after a few months of use, and it was normal logic for the business office to require him to pay liquidated damages according to the agreement.
Any commercial contract is binding and the User's failure to perform its obligations may constitute a breach of contract. In the event of a breach of contract, the service provider has the right to require the user to bear the liability for the breach of contract, including the payment of liquidated damages and other economic compensation. Users may express their dissatisfaction, but recognize that this is the result of their own trading behavior.
Of course, the economic compensation such as liquidated damages proposed by the service provider must also be reasonable, and must not violate national policies or damage the legitimate rights and interests of users. If the amount is too high, you can negotiate a settlement or protect your rights through legal channels. However, in principle, the user should pay the corresponding price for his breach of contract.
Improve the contract mechanism and balance the rights and responsibilities of user service providers
At present, many users have the problem of "unintentional contracting" when signing a contract, resulting in the infringement of their rights when using the service. Some experts suggested that the EU could learn from the practice of adding steps to confirm supplementary clauses in the signing process to strengthen users' right to know.
At the same time, some experts have called for improving the standard clauses in the Contract Law, strengthening the supervision of unreasonable content that may occur in the service agreement, and formulating clear precautions to promote the fairness of contracting.
In addition, platform companies should also enhance the transparency of service contracting, and make the content of the agreement more clear, so that users know their rights and obligations. If there is a breach of contract by the user, the legitimate rights and interests of the user should also be taken into account when pursuing the responsibility, and the consequences of the breach of contract should be dealt with in a measured manner.
By improving the contract mechanism, both service providers and users can fully fulfill their rights and obligations, and the relationship between the two parties can be better balanced. This requires the joint efforts of regulatory authorities, enterprises and even every user, so that signing a contract is no longer a hidden danger for users, but the cornerstone of fair trade.
Pay attention to the rights and responsibilities of both parties and a harmonious social atmosphere
In this case, we should keep in mind that both users and enterprises are equal market entities, and the rights and obligations of both parties need to be clarified through the signing of contracts. Users should take care of their own eyes when signing contracts, but enterprises should also manage their own mouths when providing services, and cannot use information asymmetry to make unreasonable charges.
A harmonious social atmosphere stems from the inner self-discipline of every citizen. Users must not sign meaningless long-term contracts because they are greedy for small and cheap things, and enterprises cannot extort liquidated damages from users. The signing of each contract requires both parties to be equal, voluntary and honest, so as to reduce unnecessary disputes and create a harmonious atmosphere.
In this case, although there is a possibility of breach of contract when the man terminates the service early, the enterprise should also consider the specific circumstances of the case when recovering liquidated damages, and show the reasonableness of the liquidated damages system, rather than simply demanding money, which is not conducive to the corporate image. The ethical approach is to notify the user of the risk of not completing the contract, and then charge a reasonable penalty after refunding part of the fee.
In short, the protection of user rights and interests needs to be jointly promoted by both parties, and the regulatory authorities need to formulate fair and reasonable rules for signing transactions. Let the signing of contracts no longer be regarded as a burden on users, let the breach of contract no longer harm commercial integrity, and let market entities have clear rights and responsibilities and live and work in peace and contentment by jointly building a harmonious signing environment.