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In order to further improve the work of consumer rights protection, strengthen the interaction with consumers, provide consumers with effective consultation channels, and understand the hot spots and difficulties in consumption, China Consumers‘ Association (CCA), together with Sina Weibo, carried out the “Monthly 3.15” CCA Lawyers’ Online Q&A Activity.

Lawyer Ge Youshan, lawyer of China Consumers' Association and director of JIA LAWYER Supervisory Committee, was invited to participate in the online Q&A activity of CCA in April 2025, and answered the representative questions raised by consumers, guiding them to consume in a scientific way and safeguard their rights in a rational way.

Question 1

A consumer customised a bracelet on a platform, and when customising the bracelet, the only requirement was that it was ‘flawless’, and the merchant also made a promise that it would be free of cracks. However, the consumer received the goods, but found that the whole circle of the bracelet there are several obvious cracks, and then asked for a refund. But the merchant only agreed to refund five hundred yuan, and claimed that this is the purchase fee. But in the whole transaction process, the merchant never mentioned to the consumer for the identity of the purchasing agent. When the consumer asked the merchant for the name and address of the physical shop, as well as the contact person's phone number, the merchant did not reply, and the consumer only had WeChat payment vouchers in hand. In this case, how should consumers defend their rights?

Ge Youshan lawyer:

According to the facts described by the consumer, the merchant explicitly promised that the bracelet ‘no cracks’, but the delivery of goods but there are obvious quality problems, this situation belongs to the goods do not meet the quality requirements, in accordance with the ‘Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests Act’, Article 23, constitutes the quality of the goods defects, consumers have the right to return the goods in accordance with the ‘Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests Act’, Article 24, the provisions of the consumer rights and interests, the merchant to return the goods. Consumers have the right to return the goods for a refund in accordance with Article 24 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests.

Consumers in this case can refer to the following steps to protect their rights:

The first step is to fix the evidence, including payment records, transaction vouchers, and records of communication with the merchant (especially the merchant's promise of ‘flawlessness’). You should also pay attention to retaining communication records such as the merchant's refusal to return the product, screenshots of conversations in which the merchant claimed to have purchased the product without informing you in advance, and call recordings. In addition, it should also be timely to take clear photos or video of the bracelet cracks, if necessary, can also be commissioned to appraisal organisations to issue quality reports.

Secondly, consumers can ask the e-commerce platform to fulfil the information disclosure obligations. In this case, the consumer to the merchant to ask for the name of the physical shop, address and contact phone number, the merchant did not reply, in the face of this situation, the consumer has the right in accordance with the ‘e-commerce law’ article 61, require e-commerce platforms to fulfil the obligation of information disclosure, i.e., consumers and platforms within the merchant disputes, platforms have the obligation to actively assist consumers in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the consumer and should be disclosed to the consumer truthfully to the true name, address and effective contact information of the merchant. The platform shall truthfully disclose to consumers the true name, address and effective contact information of the merchant.

In addition, consumers can also turn to the local consumer association for mediation or report to the market supervision department to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

Finally, if the consumer can not effectively resolve the dispute through the above means, according to the retained effective evidence, to the people's court to file a lawsuit, requiring the merchant to assume legal responsibility.

The above personal opinion, for reference only. I hope you can be calm and patient, full communication with the operator, according to the law and rational rights.

Question 2

A consumer in the short video platform brushed to a short video about five days free class band advertisement, the advertisement claims that sixty or seventy years old, novice white can easily learn, but also promises to give 1500 free playback, and can earn at least two or three thousand yuan a month. Based on this, consumers first paid 2880 yuan to start learning. Ten days later, the business told consumers, if you want to make a profit as soon as possible need to sign up for advanced classes, so consumers paid another 2499 yuan. But to this day, the consumer did not earn money, conscious of being deceived, so to customer service to apply for a refund, but was refused by the merchant. May I ask the lawyer, in the face of this situation, the consumer how to protect their rights?

Attorney Ge Youshan:

According to the facts described by the consumer, the consumer can claim that the merchant is suspected of false advertising and breach of contract, and demand that the contract be cancelled and refunded in full, such as proving that there is fraudulent behaviour of the operator can also claim triple compensation. But need to focus on the collection of advertising content, payment records, communication records and other evidence.

Merchants claimed that ‘the elderly in their sixties and seventies, and novices can easily learn’ and ‘can earn at least two or three thousand yuan a month’, which belongs to the effect of the service of false promises. According to Article 28 of the Advertising Law, advertisements that deceive or mislead consumers with false or misleading content constitute false advertisements. The short video advertisement ‘promises to give 1500 free broadcasts’ is a quantitative commitment to the service effect, and if it is not actually fulfilled, then it also constitutes false propaganda. Meanwhile, after consumers paid 2,880 RMB, they were induced to pay 2,499 RMB on the grounds that they ‘need to sign up for advanced classes to make a profit’. This behaviour may be regarded as inducing consumption.

According to the above facts, the legal basis for the consumer to defend his rights are:

1. Rescind the contract and demand a full refund. If the consumer can prove that the merchant has committed fraud (e.g., by providing the original video of the advertisement, records of communication, etc.), he/she can claim for cancellation of the contract and full refund in accordance with the provisions of Article 148 and Article 158 of the Civil Code.

2. In accordance with Article 55 of the Consumer Protection Law, if the merchant's false advertising constitutes fraud, the consumer may claim triple compensation. However, it should be noted that the judicial practice of ‘fraud’ is more stringent, need to prove that the business has intentionally concealed or fictional key facts of the subjective malice.

3. If the contract does not contain a specific revenue promise, but the merchant fails to provide the basic services it promised, such as ‘free airplay’, the consumer may claim that the merchant has breached the contract in accordance with Article 577 of the Civil Code, and demand that the merchant assume the responsibility of continuing to fulfil the contract, taking remedial measures, and compensating for the damages.

Meanwhile, consumers are advised to collect the following core evidence to prepare for the subsequent defence of their rights. First, the original content of the advertisement: save the short video advertisement recording (which should contain key information such as the broadcast volume and revenue promise); second, the communication record: the chat record with the customer service about ‘upgrading the course in order to make profit’; third, the terms of the contract: read the contract carefully and check whether it contains exemptions such as ‘no guaranteed revenue’; third, the terms of the contract: read the contract carefully and check whether it contains exemptions such as ‘no guaranteed revenue’. Third, the terms of the contract: read the contract carefully and check whether it contains exemption clauses such as ‘no guarantee of earnings’; fourth, evidence of the breach of contract by the merchant in the process of fulfilling the contract: course learning records, actual broadcast data, earnings stream, etc.

In this case, consumers can refer to the following specific steps to protect their rights:

First, seek help from the platform. Consumers should promptly request the platform to intervene and require the platform to disclose the real name, address and effective contact information of the merchant; and clearly put forward their claims to the platform.

Second, request the consumer organisation to mediate, or file a complaint with the Market Supervision Bureau to report that the operator is suspected of publishing false advertisements.

Third, litigation preparation. If the negotiation is fruitless, you can file a lawsuit to the People's Court, claiming that the contract is cancelled and compensation.

The above personal opinion is for reference only. I hope you can be calm and patient, and fully communicate with the operator, and defend your rights rationally according to the law.

Question 3

When a consumer purchased a package on a platform, the package details page before purchase clearly showed that the booked hotel included breakfast service. However, after completing the payment and enquiring about the order, he found that the order information shows that the hotel does not include breakfast. May I ask the lawyer, in the face of this inconsistency of information, how should consumers safeguard their legitimate rights and interests?

Attorney Ge Youshan:

According to the facts described by the consumer, the consumer can claim that the platform or the hotel fulfils the contract according to the promise on the detail page of the package, i.e. providing breakfast service. If the communication does not go well, they can defend their rights by filing a complaint with the market supervision department, appealing to the platform or filing a civil lawsuit.

According to Article 491 of the Civil Code and Article 49 of the Electronic Commerce Law, the contract was established when the consumer submitted the order on the platform, and the breakfast service shown on the detail page of the package constituted the terms of the contract, and the merchant should provide the service in accordance with the service matters set out in the detail page. After the consumer submitted the order, the merchant unilaterally changed the terms of the breakfast, which is a unilateral change to the established contract, unless the platform in advance in a significant way to inform the exception, otherwise the change is not binding on the consumer. The hotel's failure to provide breakfast as agreed constitutes a breach of contract, and the hotel shall bear the responsibility of continuing to fulfil the contract (making up for the breakfast) or compensating for the loss (refunding the corresponding price of the breakfast).

If the platform agreed through the user agreement that ‘the order information is subject to the page after payment’, according to Article 8 of the Measures for the Administration and Supervision of Contracts and Article 1 of the Judicial Interpretation of Online Consumption Disputes, this kind of unilateral interpretation of the provisions or the format terms that aggravate the responsibility of the consumers may be due to the fact that it ‘excludes the main rights of consumers’ or ‘excludes the main rights of consumers’. Such unilateral interpretation clauses or form clauses that increase the responsibility of consumers may be invalidated because they ‘exclude the main rights of consumers’ or ‘exempt their own responsibility’.

When defending their rights, consumers should pay attention to saving evidence such as screenshots of the ticket details page, payment vouchers, and records of order changes, and request the platform or hotel to provide breakfast or refund the difference in breakfast price according to the original agreement. At the same time, you can also request mediation of the Consumer Association or complain to the market supervision department to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The above personal opinion is for reference only. I hope you can be calm and patient, and fully communicate with the operator, according to the law and rational rights.

Question 4

A consumer reported that he had booked a domestic helper to visit his home. After completing the domestic service, the domestic helper asked for an extra charge of 100 RMB on the grounds that the consumer's home was large and the bathroom was dirty and difficult to clean. May I ask the lawyer, in the process of similar service consumption encountered in the service personnel temporary price situation, consumers should be through what way to protect their rights?

Ge Youshan lawyer:

First of all, it should be clear that, like other consumer areas, the operators of the domestic service industry also has the obligation of price indication. The price and prohibit price fraud provisions of the provisions of article 8, the operator shall not be in addition to the price increase in the sale of goods or services, shall not be charged any unspecified costs.

Secondly, operators in the domestic service industry also have the obligation to conclude written contracts with consumers. In accordance with the Interim Measures for the Administration of the Domestic Service Industry, a domestic service agency or a domestic service worker shall enter into a domestic service contract in writing with the consumer, and the domestic service contract shall contain provisions on the cost of the service, the content of the service, and so forth. If a home service agency fails to enter into a home service contract as required, it shall be ordered by the competent department of commerce or the relevant department to make corrections; if it refuses to make corrections, it may be subject to a fine of not more than RMB 30,000 yuan.

Finally, in the field of domestic service, the act of ‘starting from scratch’ by the operator is an act of unfair competition explicitly prohibited by the relevant regulations. Article 12 of the Interim Measures for the Administration of the Family Service Industry stipulates that a family service agency shall not engage in unfair competition by means of lower-than-cost pricing or higher-than-cost pricing in its family service activities, and that it may not behaviour of not providing services as agreed in the service contract.

In this case, a service contract relationship was formed between the consumer and the domestic service provider, the domestic staff had no right to unilaterally change the price, and the consumer had the right to demand settlement at the original agreed price. After the dispute, it is recommended that consumers first fix the relevant evidence, such as saving the service contract, payment vouchers, communication records (including platform orders, chat records, etc.), and if necessary, audio and video recordings of the service process and other factual evidence.

In terms of choosing the way to defend their rights, consumers can negotiate and settle with the domestic helper service organisation, requesting that the settlement be made at the original agreed price, and requesting a refund if they have paid additional fees. If the domestic helper is a self-employed person (e.g. taking orders through a platform), the platform can also be asked to intervene.

As mentioned above, according to the Interim Measures for the Administration of the Domestic Service Industry, domestic service organisations shall be held administratively liable for not signing written contracts and for raising prices.

Consumers can complain to the market supervision department and ask to investigate and deal with the illegal behaviours of the domestic service agencies.

Finally, if the above means of defence cannot achieve the desired results, the consumer can file a lawsuit to the People's Court, requesting the return of additional costs and compensation for damages.

The above personal opinions are for reference only. We hope you can be calm and patient, fully communicate with the operator, and defend your rights rationally in accordance with the law.