Recently, the international gold price has continued to rise, and the domestic gold consumption and investment markets are also hot. At the same time, consumer complaints about gold jewellery also occur from time to time. Recently, the Market Supervision Bureau of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province conducted an administrative interview with the Changzhou Gold and Jewelry Association and well-known gold jewelry brand management enterprises such as China Gold, China Jewelry, and Lao Fengxiang.
False propaganda and non-standard use of measuring instruments
A number of gold and jewelry companies were interviewed and admonished
According to the Market and Consumer Environment Supervision Department of Changzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, the recent complaints about the gold and jewelry industry in Changzhou are mainly concentrated in three aspects:
- Jewelry has quality problems such as fracture, deformation, discoloration, and inlay falling off;
- The "fixed price" gold pricing model is not transparent, the operator does not inform the gram weight of the gold jewelry when selling, and the "fixed price" goods and the goods by gram weight cannot be exchanged;
- The "trade-in" of gold does not clearly indicate to consumers the name, weight, purity, unit price and other information of the "craft gold" exchanged.
In response to consumer complaints, the regulatory authorities organized on-site inspections. During the inspection, in addition to the above-mentioned centralized complaints, the staff also found that some well-known gold jewelry brands had problems such as false publicity, non-standard use of measuring instruments, and failure to clearly mark prices in the business process.
- In terms of advertising, merchants will advertise the gold price of 480 yuan/gram, but they will use very small words to mark the price of 480 yuan/gram for every 5 grams, not 480 yuan per gram in the real sense. In addition, there are processing fees or other additional costs;
- In terms of measurement, the measuring instruments used by some operators have not been legally calibrated, and there are deviations.
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In view of the common problems in the industry, the person in charge of the relevant department of the Changzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau interviewed and warned a number of gold and jewelry business enterprises: let the operators make a rectification commitment for their own problems, and let all the participating enterprises sign a letter of commitment to honest management.
Concealment of gram weight, adulteration, and high after-sales service costs
There has been a significant increase in gold jewellery complaints in Guangdong and other places
In addition to Jiangsu, recently, there has also been a significant increase in gold jewelry complaints in Guangdong and other places. According to the Guangdong Provincial Consumer Council, the recent consumer complaints mainly focus on problems such as concealment of gram weight, adulteration, and high after-sales service fees:
- Concealing the weight of jewelry, and individual merchants not truthfully informing the difference between the weight of pure gold and "fixed price" gold, inducing the purchase of high-priced products;
- False publicity, adulteration and adulteration of products, the actual purity is inconsistent with the publicity and labeling, forgery of identification certificates, and the existence of fake and fake sales;
- The after-sales service fee is high, and when the jewelry has quality problems such as fracture and deformation, and process defects, it is required to pay unreasonable labor costs for maintenance;
- Additional replacement conditions, "trade-in" products are subject to various fees, and the details of the exchangeable products, depreciation costs, wear and tear fees, and new jewelry processing fees are not informed in advance.
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In response to the above problems, the Guangdong Provincial Consumer Council reminds consumers to look at the trend of gold prices objectively and rationally, and not to blindly invest and buy. When buying gold jewelry:
- Carefully compare and select to ensure that the merchant has a formal business license and relevant qualifications;
- Carefully check the purity, fineness and craftsmanship of the product, and inquire about the pricing method, replacement conditions, processing costs, etc. of gold jewelry;
- Keep the proof of purchase, such as invoices, appraisal certificates, etc., so that you can use them in case of disputes.
The Market and Consumer Environment Supervision Department of the Changzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau reminds that investors should remain highly vigilant against new investment methods such as gold custody, and must fully understand the operation mode and potential risks of the relevant business before investing, and do not blindly listen to the publicity promises of merchants. In the event of a consumer dispute, the relevant evidence should be retained, and the merchant should first negotiate to resolve it, if the negotiation fails, you can complain to 12315 and 12345, or you can complain to the consumer association.
▌Source of this article: CCTV News WeChat public account (ID: cctvnewscenter) Comprehensive Central Radio and Television Station Voice of China