[315 Special Report] After reading this report, the post-00s generation says they want some "peace and quiet"

[4] Passing off substandard luxury cars

[5] Health and wellness scams targeting the elderly

[6] Food safety with no bottom line

Medical beauty ruins a lifetime

When it comes to how many consumer traps exist, they are truly countless. Although relevant authorities have been strict with related illegal and non-compliant behaviors, consumer traps keep emerging endlessly, making them hard to guard against. If you too are a victim of consumer traps, then this freshly released "315 Chinese Netizens Internet Consumption Complaint Research Report" is a must-read:

Men are the main force in internet consumption complaints

Most complained-about products are "mobile phones and digital devices"

The "315 Chinese Netizens Internet Consumption Complaint Research Report" (hereinafter referred to as the report) shows that in 2018, among online consumption complaints, the ratio of male to female complainants was 7:3. In terms of average complaint amount, men's complaint amount was about 1.5 times that of women (with average complaint amounts of 9,157 yuan and 6,170 yuan respectively). This shows that men's spending power in internet consumption is indeed much higher than women's!

When it comes to specific complained-about products, except for clothing, shoes, and hats, where the ratio of male to female customers is roughly equal, in other complaint categories, the proportion of male customers is higher than that of female customers. Among them, the category with the highest proportion of male customer complaints is mobile phones and digital devices, accounting for 80% of the gender ratio in consumption complaints. Additionally, other categories with relatively high proportions of male customer complaints include fee deduction, alcoholic beverages and food, games, and virtual goods.

As for female customer complaints, clothing, footwear, and hat products account for a relatively high proportion, which should be consistent with women's daily consumption habits.

The most internet complaints come from the post-90s generation.

The post-60s generation has an average complaint amount exceeding ten thousand yuan.

The report points out that from the age perspective of consumer complaints, the post-90s generation accounts for 35%, becoming the largest group of internet complainants; the post-00s generation follows closely with 27.1%. This is also the first time the post-00s generation has surpassed the post-80s generation, becoming the second largest group in internet consumer complaints. In terms of complaint amounts, the average losses for the post-90s and post-00s generations are 10,135 yuan and 7,252 yuan respectively. It is worth mentioning that the most complained-about consumption type for the post-00s generation is game value-added services (such as paying for games, purchasing game cards, etc.).

Although the post-90s and post-00s generations have many complainants, their average complaint amounts are far less than those of the wealthy and leisurely post-60s generation. Among the numerous complaints from the post-60s generation (including post-60s+, note: post-60s+ refers to the post-60s generation and older), the main complaint types focus on "medicines and health products," with the reasons for complaints being disputes over "medicines and health products." Consumers believe the merchants' claims that "the effects are good and require multiple courses of treatment." Moreover, due to the high repurchase rate of such products, the average complaint amount for the post-60s generation is relatively higher.

"Your account balance is insufficient."

"Unclear deductions" cheat post-00s

According to the report, among internet consumption complaints, the most common issue is "unclear deductions," accounting for 34.2% (Note: unclear deductions mainly refer to situations where consumers have their accounts charged without their knowledge, confirmation, or understanding of the reason). In terms of age groups for "unclear deduction" complaints, 72.8% are post-00s, who are the most severely affected (three seconds of sympathy for post-00s).

It is understood that the main way post-00s are cheated by "unclear deductions" is through mobile communications (i.e., phone bills), accounting for 81.3%. Over 40% of the reasons are "charges from mobile software." These apps are typically downloaded by consumers after being lured by "free download" or "seven-day trial" offers without their knowledge, and then they are notified of charges.

Additionally, post-90s, post-80s, post-70s, and post-60s share a common complaint reason: "description does not match the product." Regarding this type of complaint, relevant parties interpret it as being due to the unique nature of the internet, where many merchants, in order to boost sales, excessively beautify product posters and detail images that consumers rely on for judgment, and exaggerate related products in descriptions, leading to disputes between consumers and merchants over "description does not match the product."

Post-90s pet owners fight for love

Post-80s, with a Zen attitude, start health preservation early

The report also pointed out that among pet-related consumer complaints, those born after 1990 accounted for 57.7%, the highest across all age groups. The complained-about products were mostly pet food and pet supplies. Additionally, clothing, footwear, hats, alcoholic beverages, and food were also categories with a high proportion of complaints among the post-90s generation (accounting for 44% and 39.1%, respectively).

Among consumer complaint categories for the post-80s generation, 39.1% were related to medicines and health products, with an average complaint amount of 10,133 yuan. These products are often promoted for multi-course use, leading to significant consumer spending.

It can be seen that the laid-back post-80s generation has started to focus on health maintenance early.

Online shopping carries risks; consumption requires caution.

If disputes arise, protect your rights according to the law.

While online shopping brings convenience to our daily lives, it also hides many pitfalls. It is naturally difficult for us ordinary people to discern them, so once encountered, we must know how to defend our rights. Zhiming lawyers remind you that when shopping online, consumers should request formal invoices from merchants to prove the existence of a sales contract relationship. If the merchant cannot provide one, consumers need to retain other evidence, such as chat records, photos, and courier delivery receipts from the shopping process, to prove the occurrence of the purchase.

Once a consumer dispute arises with a merchant, the consumer should first negotiate with the merchant and preserve evidence of the communication (such as recordings or screenshots of chat records). If the merchant denies this evidence, the burden of proof will shift from the consumer to the merchant.

In addition, appraisal results from authoritative agencies are also very important evidence, sometimes even determining the outcome of a lawsuit. Therefore, after a dispute with a merchant that cannot be resolved through negotiation, the consumer can directly go to court and, after entering the appraisal process, send the product to an institution recognized by both the court and the merchant for testing.

It is worth noting that consumers must not unilaterally submit the product for testing, as this may lead the merchant to request a secondary appraisal process, wasting resources and potentially affecting the direction of the lawsuit.

　　 Consumer rights protection is no small matter; Zhiming lawyers are here to help you.

Some consumer dispute cases handled by Zhiming lawyers

1. In 2000, the first wave injury case in China at Shenzhen Xiaomeisha Resort.

2. 2001 Tianhong Shopping Mall Lottery Invalid Number Infringement Case

3. 2004 Certain Brand Milk Powder Quality Dispute Case

4. 2006 Successfully Handled Audi Car Spontaneous Combustion Infringement Claim Case

5. 2009 Lawsuit Against China Mobile for Fraudulent Infringement and Overcharging Mobile Call Fees

6. 2010 Ms. Chen's Lawsuit Against Hospital for Infringement and Misdiagnosis Leading to Death Claim Case

7. 2013 Chen Moufeng's Lawsuit Against Precious Metals Online Trading Dispute Case

　　等……

　Finally, Attorney Zhiming wishes all consumers happy online shopping and smooth rights protection!

Data in this article is sourced from 360 the published " 315 Report on Internet Consumption Complaints by Chinese Netizens"