3D movies are highly popular, but do you have to pay for the glasses? That's illegal!

Compiled from The Paper
 
With the strong return of the "Spring Festival film season," audiences are enthusiastic about watching movies. However, many viewers, after stepping into cinemas for the first time in a while, have discovered a new expense—3D glasses may need to be purchased separately.

 
 

Case review
Many cinemas in Shanghai prompt on ticket purchase, seat selection, or checkout pages that "3D glasses need to be brought or purchased at the cinema," such as Wanda Cinema City Jiangqiao, Baoshan, and Wujiaochang branches. Additionally, the checkout pages of Huaning Cinema City Jiuguang Center, Darongcheng, and Taiyanggong branches include sales options for four types of viewing glasses, including adult 3D glasses, IMAX children's and adult glasses, and 3D clip-on glasses, with prices ranging from 5.5 yuan to 10.8 yuan.
 
Staff at Wanda Cinema City Baoshan, Huaning Cinema City Jiuguang Center, and Darongcheng branches stated that 3D glasses are available for free rental on-site, but for hygiene reasons, they still primarily recommend bringing your own or purchasing them at the cinema. Staff at Bona UA Meilongzhen Plaza Cinema said that regular 3D glasses can be rented or purchased, while the more comfortable clip-on type must be bought at 8 yuan per pair.
 
However, when checking online ticketing platforms, there are still many cinemas that provide free viewing glasses. For example, in the Jing'an Temple area of Shanghai, among the five cinemas displayed on the homepage, except for the aforementioned Bona UA Meilongzhen Plaza Cinema, the other four indicate that 3D glasses are provided "without deposit."
 
 
《 [1] The People's Republic of China Consumer Rights Protection Law
[2] Article 26
When operators use standard terms in their business activities, they should prominently draw consumers' attention to content that significantly affects consumers' interests, such as the quantity and quality of goods or services, price or fees, performance period and method, safety precautions and risk warnings, after-sales service, and civil liability, and provide explanations as requested by consumers.
Operators shall not use standard terms, notices, declarations, in-store announcements, or other means to exclude or limit consumers' rights, reduce or exempt operators' responsibilities, or increase consumers' responsibilities in ways that are unfair or unreasonable to consumers, nor shall they use standard terms with technical means to force transactions.
[1] If standard clauses, notices, declarations, or in-store announcements contain the content listed in the preceding paragraph, such content shall be null and void.
 
 
[1] The author's perspective
[2] In fact, the phenomenon of mandatory consumption of 3D glasses during movie screenings has occurred frequently in recent years. Consumers have continuously complained that cinemas do not provide free 3D glasses, even though 3D glasses are an essential requirement for watching 3D films. Since consumers purchase the movie-watching service at the price of a 3D film ticket, the cinema operator should provide all services necessary for viewing the film as agreed, including providing 3D glasses and other viewing facilities. However, if the cinema splits its own obligations and shifts them onto consumers, increasing their burden, this violates the principles of fairness and good faith.

[3] From the above case, it can be seen that cinemas currently offering only paid 3D glasses mostly use standard clauses to "notify" consumers, and they do not prominently remind consumers on the payment page that 3D glasses require an additional fee. This effectively excludes consumers' rights and exempts the operator's responsibilities, constituting a typical "unfair standard clause." As early as 2019, the China Consumers Association stated that this practice might violate the Consumer Rights Protection Law, prompting relevant authorities to strengthen supervision, turning 3D glasses from mandatory consumption to free use. However, four years later, these operators, seizing on consumers' eagerness to watch movies and the mindset of "having already spent a large sum, they'll pay a small one too," have resorted to the same old tricks. In fact, not only does the internet have a memory, but consumers do too; they are not soft persimmons to be manipulated. Faced with these unreasonable and illegal behaviors, consumers should unite in resistance, actively report and complain to relevant authorities, and never tolerate the spread of such practices.