Returning inferior goods in online shopping refunds, convicted of fraud as a cautionary tale.
Compiled from: Shouguang City People's Court
Case review
In August 2022, Xiaoming (pseudonym) successively placed orders and paid for items such as vivo phones and iPhones on an e-commerce platform. After receiving the goods, he applied for returns under the "seven-day no-reason return" policy. Since couriers generally do not inspect packages before sealing, Xiaoming replaced the original items with cheaper similar items during returns. When the e-commerce platform received the packages and found they were not the original products, they contacted Xiaoming, who falsely claimed he had indeed sent the original items and was unaware of any issues in between. The merchants had no choice but to accept the loss. Xiaoming successfully obtained refunds of 1,188.99 yuan, 7,369 yuan, and 7,618.99 yuan on three occasions, while also defrauding one vivo X30 phone and two iPhone 13 Pro phones. Appraisal determined the total value of these items to be 14,701 yuan (after deducting the value of returned items).
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"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 266 [Crime of Fraud]
Whoever defrauds public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated.
[1] Court Opinion
The Shouguang Court, after trial, held that the defendant Xiaoming fabricated facts and concealed the truth to defraud public and private property, with a relatively large amount, and his actions constituted the crime of fraud. The defendant Xiaoming voluntarily admitted guilt and accepted punishment, so he could be dealt with leniently according to law; at the same time, he actively compensated the victim for losses and obtained forgiveness, so he could be given a lighter punishment. The final judgment was that the defendant Xiaoming was guilty of fraud, sentenced to seven months' fixed-term imprisonment, suspended for one year, and fined RMB 5,000.
[1] The author's perspective
The seven-day no-reason return and exchange policy is one of the important rules of online shopping. It not only gives consumers the right to return goods that do not match the order when shopping online but also provides a regret remedy for impulse purchases. However, some malicious and opportunistic individuals exploit this mechanism, along with loopholes such as couriers rarely inspecting packages, to substitute inferior goods for quality ones and swap items, thereby committing fraud for profit.
Therefore, the general public should take this as a warning and not harbor any fluke mentality. Couriers and merchants should also pay attention to inspecting goods to prevent such people from taking advantage.
