Dongguan Sunshine Network News
Ms. Liang, a retired worker in Guangzhou, registered an account on a third-party platform with the help of her juniors. The first online purchase was made on September 1, 2017: a long coat was purchased for 138 yuan at an online store called “Donna Zilan Flagship Store” on the platform. On September 4, when the goods were opened, the consumer found that it was a short jacket completely different from the one he had purchased, and after communicating with the operator by phone and WeChat without success, the consumer sought help from the Shatin Branch of the Dongguan Consumer Council on September 6 according to the address sent on the courier note.
During the investigation, the Shatin Branch of the Dongguan Consumer Council found that the certified enterprise of the online store “Donna Zilan Flagship Store” that traded with consumers was “Shenzhen Ayis Garment Co., Ltd.”, and its registered domicile was in Shenzhen. After learning the news, consumers who are novice in online shopping naturally feel very incredible – how can the goods be sent from Dongguan, but it is a Shenzhen enterprise? Why is it that the place where the goods are sent is not the business premises of the operator?
In order to further understand the situation, the Council investigated the delivery address and found that it was the warehouse of a garment company in Dongguan. According to the person in charge of the enterprise, the company was entrusted by a number of market entities engaged in online operations, including “Shenzhen Ayis Garment Co., Ltd.”, to collect and deliver some goods for these online stores, and did not participate in the operation of these online stores. After mediation, the two parties settled and replaced the goods.
Consumer Council Comments:
According to Article 35 of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Consumers, online shopping and other virtual purchases implement the “seven-day no reason” return rule (except for customized, fresh and perishable special products). Consumers shopping online, it is recommended to choose a large website with a good social reputation and a perfect after-sales service platform for online shopping, understand the registration information of the certified enterprise “Business License” or the relevant information of the certified individual published by the online store, in the event of a consumer dispute, the online shopping platform can be required to provide the seller’s real name, address and effective contact information, and consumers can also claim compensation from the online shopping trading platform provider.
Lawyer Comments:
Keep snacks in mind when shopping online. Generally, when consuming, they generally do not notice where the merchant is and where the goods are delivered, but according to Article 6 of the Measures of the Administrative Department for Industry and Commerce for Handling Consumer Complaints, consumer complaints shall be governed by the place of domicile or business conduct of the respondent. Therefore, after a dispute occurs, it is necessary to clarify the domicile and place of business of the respondent, otherwise it will face the problem of invalidity of the complaint.
According to Article 31 of the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, “if a business operator uses standard terms to conclude a jurisdiction agreement with a consumer, and fails to draw the consumer’s attention in a reasonable way, the people’s court shall support the consumer’s claim that the jurisdiction agreement is invalid”, and choose the place of performance of the contract, which is the jurisdiction where the consumer is located.
