In the current Internet economy environment, as a typical representative of the sharing economy in the context of mobile Internet, online car-hailing has rapidly grown into an important economic model in the field of travel with its convenience and flexibility.
Especially in the post-epidemic era, the gradual relaxation of government restrictions on tourism and transportation has led to a significant increase in people's travel demand, which has ushered in a new round of growth in the online car-hailing market, but it has also exposed many service quality and management problems.
The fierce competition of online ride-hailing platforms has made billing strategies one of the core competitiveness of the industry, and some non-transparent and non-standard billing strategies have aroused widespread concern and dissatisfaction among consumers, such as the phenomenon of using big data analysis technology to implement different pricing strategies for different users.
Source: Photo.com
According to the latest statistics from the consumer service guarantee platform of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce, the number of consumer complaints related to online car-hailing has shown a significant growth trend in recent years, especially in the context of the rapid recovery of the travel industry in the post-epidemic era, with the number of complaints reaching 7,320 in 2023, with a year-on-year growth rate of 153.37%.
Since the beginning of this year alone, consumer insurance platforms have received a total of 4,100 complaints related to ride-hailing. From the perspective of complaint platforms, Didi Chuxing became the most complained online car-hailing platform with 5,729 complaints, accounting for 32.89% of the total complaints in the industry, followed by Huaxiaozhu and AutoNavi Taxi, accounting for 14.41% and 10.68% of the total complaints, respectively.
The main problems reported by consumers include unreasonable charges, poor service attitude, slow processing time, refund disputes and overlord clauses, among which the charging problem is particularly prominent, with a total of 7,410 complaints.
Consumers generally report that there is a phenomenon of "big data killing" in the online car-hailing industry, that is, there are obvious differences in the prices faced by different users under the same route and under the same conditions.
Mr. Lu complained on the consumer insurance platform that the price difference between him and another user at the same time and route was about a quarter of the same.
Ms. Li, a consumer who also uses Didi Chuxing, also complained on the consumer insurance platform that she was unfairly "killed" by big data. Ms. Li said that when she traveled, she encountered a situation where the fare for the same vehicle type and the same route increased from 17 yuan to 23 yuan.
Ms. Li pointed out that Ms. Li said that she asked Didi Chuxing to compensate for the overpaid fares due to price killings on several occasions.
In addition, Ms. Liu, a consumer, also reported that her use of coupons on the Tick Travel platform led to an increase in the cost of the trip. She said that since using the coupon, the price of the same trip has increased month by month, eventually exceeding the cost before using the coupon, questioning the actual value of the coupon and expressing frustration with the platform's billing transparency.
In terms of the geographical distribution of consumer complaints in the ride-hailing industry, Shenzhen accounted for the highest proportion of complaints, reaching 7.17%, followed by Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, accounting for 5.69%, 4.66% and 4.36% respectively. It can be seen that the problem of online car-hailing services in first-tier cities is particularly prominent.
In response to complaints in the online car-hailing industry, consumer insurance research experts said that online car-hailing companies should take effective measures to improve service quality, ensure that fees are reasonable and transparent, and deal with consumer complaints in a timely and fair manner. At the same time, the relevant regulatory authorities also need to strengthen industry supervision to protect the rights and interests of consumers and promote the healthy development of the industry.
At the same time, for the majority of consumers, it is an effective way to protect their own interests by understanding their rights and interests and complaining in a timely manner when they encounter problems. Relevant experts from the Consumer Insurance Research Institute issued tips to consumers:
01
Choose a well-known platform and reliable drivers: Choose a well-known ride-hailing platform, and try to choose a driver with good reviews and good service attitude. This reduces the probability of problems.
02
Keep relevant evidence: If you encounter problems, such as poor service quality, messy car, bad attitude of the driver, etc., try to keep relevant evidence, such as screenshots, audio recordings, or records of specific situations.
03
Timely feedback and complaints: If you encounter problems, give feedback and complain to the ride-hailing platform in a timely manner, describe the problem in detail, and provide relevant evidence. The platform will usually deal with your complaint as soon as possible and take appropriate action.
04
Protect personal information: When using ride-hailing services, pay attention to protecting personal privacy information, such as not revealing sensitive information such as home address, to avoid harassment or other security issues.
05
Evaluate the driver and service: After using the service, give the driver a reasonable evaluation, if the service is good, you can give a positive evaluation, if the service is not good, also give a reasonable criticism, which helps to improve the overall service quality.
06
Understand your rights and responsibilities: Consumers should be aware of their rights and responsibilities when using ride-hailing services, such as how to deal with traffic accidents and how to protect them.
07
Multiple ways to solve the problem: If you can't solve the problem by complaining on the platform, you can seek help to solve the problem through other channels, such as consumer associations, legal aid, etc.