No-questions-asked refunds for online goods
Print Edition
ONLINE shoppers will be entitled to no-questions-asked refunds within seven days of purchase, under a new local law proposed by legislators.
The Shanghai People’s Congress approved the first draft amendment of the city’s consumer rights protection law yesterday.
A no-questions-asked refund initiative was introduced by the local industrial and commercial authority in March.
However, this was only as a rule, and has failed to be implemented effectively.
“The number of complaints concerning online shopping from local consumers has increased dramatically in recent years, so it’s essential to amend the law to protect their rights,” said Chen Xuejun, director of the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
The current consumer rights protection law was approved in 2002.
The draft, which also applies to items bought through television shopping, lists items excluded from the no-questions-asked refund.
These include perishables, newspapers and magazines, bespoke items, audio-visual products that have been unwrapped and computer software.
Online shopping was the subject of the most complaints from consumers received in 2013 by the bureau.
With grievances including dissatisfaction with after-sales service, product quality and late deliveries, the bureau had 20,420 complaints about online shopping — up 18 percent on 2012.
These doubled in the month the bureau introduced its no-questions-asked refund rule on March 15.
Between March 15 and April 14, the local consumer rights protection commission received about 3,600 complaints, or almost twice the number for the previous month.
However, about 20 percent of requests were rejected as the rule was difficult to implement among online businesses, said officials.
One main problems is that sellers argue that products are not returned in the same condition as they were sold.
So the draft law approved by local lawmakers yesterday stipulates that for a refund to be given items must have “no dirt and damage and can be resold.”
As most returned goods would be resold to other consumers, this clause aims to protect these buyers, Chen said.
Local legislators will re-evaluate the draft law after several rounds of discussions that could take months. Then they will give final approval.
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