From April 20th to 21st, the first stop of the Phoenix Legend "Auspicious Ruyi" 2024 Tour was held at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. But the day after the performance, some netizens broke the news that they bought a "pillar ticket" on Damai.com, but because the viewing effect was not good, their request for a refund was refused.
On the 23rd, the Red Star News reporter learned from the netizens involved that Damai gave a refund suggestion, but it was refused, "I hope that the platform will refund and compensate, and pay attention to the repeated 'pillar ticket' problem." The customer service staff of Damai.com responded to Red Star News that a special person has been arranged to communicate with consumers, but the specific solution needs to wait for the special person to notice.
Screenshot of the live video taken by netizens
It is understood that in recent years, there have been cases of ticket refunds caused by blocked concert viewing positions. As for the issue of rights protection for the purchase of "pillar tickets", the relevant lawyers said that if the operator does not fully inform them in advance, the consumer can request a refund or appropriate compensation, and if the other party refuses to refund the ticket, the consumer can report the situation to the market supervision department or report the complaint to the consumer association.
Netizens bought "pillar tickets"
Due to the poor viewing effect, it is required to refund one and pay three
"I grabbed the tickets in advance on Damai.com, a total of two, both at a price of 480 yuan. Netizen Ms. Wang told Red Star News that at that time, the information about the seats in the venue on Damai was only an area map, and did not show whether there were stone pillars and other buildings on the site.
Ms. Wang's ticket purchase information
At around 7:20 p.m. on April 21, when Ms. Wang came to her seat, she found a huge cement pillar in front of her seat, "I can't see anything, let alone the stage, not even the infield." ”
According to the live video taken by Ms. Wang, the Red Star News reporter saw that there was a cement pillar in front of the seats with No. 31 and No. 33 written on them, and the view of the seats facing the stage was blocked.
Ms. Wang told Red Star News that at that time, she and her boyfriend reported the situation to the on-site staff as soon as possible. Later, the staff coordinated him to sit in a nearby unoccupied area, "but a few minutes later, someone in uniform came over and told us that this was a safe passage area and no one was allowed to sit." ”
After they were forced to leave, Ms. Wang said, they approached the previous staff again and asked for a consultation, "and he took us back to the area where we couldn't sit, but we were in the last rows." Ms. Wang told Red Star News that about half an hour later, they were again asked by the relevant personnel to return to their original positions.
"At that time, the concert had already started for more than an hour, and the previous staff had to take us to the other staff to communicate, and finally let us sit down on the stage in the last row of the area. Ms. Wang said that when they finally settled down and listened to the songs, it was less than half an hour before the end of the performance.
"At that time, the staff in the venue said that there was also a 'pillar ticket' situation on the 20th, and let us negotiate with the platform ourselves. Ms. Wang said that she contacted the Damai platform the next day to tell about her experience of watching the concert and encountering the "pillar ticket", and it didn't take long to receive a text message from the platform replying, saying, "I have confirmed your feedback, the performance ticket is a valuable performance voucher, not an ordinary commodity, and it carries cultural services behind it and has the characteristics of timeliness and scarcity, and this order does not support return." ”
Ms. Wang received a reply from Damai.com
According to Ms. Wang, after the incident, she repeatedly communicated with the Damai side, and on the morning of April 23, the Damai side said that it could refund the money, but did not compensate for it. "This is not the first time that the issue of 'pillar tickets' is not the first time, and if it is just a refund, the platform will not pay attention to it. I hope that the platform will pay attention to and give practical solutions to these kinds of problems. Ms. Wang said that she did not accept the refund proposal, but asked the other party for a refund and compensation (refund one and pay three), hoping to attract the attention of the platform.
How to protect the rights of poor viewing experience?
Lawyer's interpretation
On the afternoon of April 23, the Red Star News reporter called Beijing Luopan Culture and Art Co., Ltd., the organizer of the Phoenix Legend Concert, many times about this matter, but the phone has not been answered. Subsequently, the reporter contacted Damai.com, and the customer service staff said that a special person had been arranged to communicate with Ms. Wang, and the specific solution needed to be notified by a special person.
In addition, according to the Western Decision report, the Changzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism responded to the matter by saying that it would verify with the organizers, and if such a situation did exist, it would coordinate with the organizers.
It is understood that in recent years, with the popularity of the performance market in various places, there have also been many problems, among which the "pillar ticket" is particularly prominent. In May last year, Liang Jingru's Shanghai concert caused dissatisfaction among the audience due to the "pillar ticket" issue, and some viewers asked for a refund but were refused. Later, a number of consumers sued the concert organizer in court, demanding a refund of the ticket price and punitive damages.
In November last year, at the Wu Bai concert in Hefei, Anhui Province, a large number of fans shouted for refund due to poor venues. Some viewers said that they bought the 1280 yuan VIP area, but the front of the position was blocked, and the line of sight was very poor.
According to the Workers' Daily, in August 2023, the "Analysis of Complaints Accepted by the National Consumers Association in the First Half of 2023" released by the China Consumers Association pointed out the "pillar ticket" problem in the online purchase of performance tickets: consumers encountered "blind selection" of seats when buying performance tickets online, and some performance venues did not support consumers to choose seats when buying tickets.
In response to Ms. Wang's request for a refund of one and three compensations for the platform, lawyer Feng Jun, a member of the Rights Protection Committee of the Sichuan Lawyers Association, said that it was reasonable, "According to the current situation, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, the operator should refund one and pay three fines for the tickets purchased by consumers. In addition to the relevant responsibilities that the operator should bear, this also takes into account the loss of time, energy, and money incurred by consumers when purchasing tickets in the refund of one penalty and three fines. ”
Feng Jun suggested that in the process of dealing with similar situations, in addition to the operators should operate in good faith and self-discipline, remove the seats such as "pillar tickets" in advance, and resolutely prohibit the sale of tickets to the outside world, consumers should also put forward relevant requirements when purchasing tickets to avoid buying this so-called "pillar ticket", which will affect their mood when watching the program.
Yang Min, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, also said in an interview with the media that the performance company had violated relevant contractual obligations by failing to inform moviegoers in advance of the possible impact of watching the movie, and also infringed on consumers' right to know and choose. The organizer shall confirm the number of seats and check whether the seats meet the viewing conditions before selling tickets. If there is an obvious obstacle in front of the location that affects the viewing experience, the organizer shall make necessary reminders and explanations when selling tickets, otherwise it will be an infringement of consumers' right to know and fair trade.
Yang Min said that some audiences bought tickets at higher prices, but the actual viewing effect was affected, and their vision was blocked, making it impossible to watch the concert normally. In this regard, consumers can file a complaint with the organizer to protect their rights. According to the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, consumers have the right to know the truth about the goods they purchase or use or the services they receive. When purchasing goods or receiving services, consumers have the right to obtain fair trading conditions such as quality assurance, reasonable prices, and correct measurements, and have the right to refuse the forced trading behavior of business operators. If the organizer refuses to refund the money, it can report the situation to the market supervision department or report the complaint to the consumer association.
Red Star News reporter Luo Mengjie intern Chen Heng