Tangshanke
There are only a few days left in 2023. Have you received text messages or WeChat messages such as "Countdown to zero points" and "Guidelines for clearing points in 2023, come and collect wool"? As the end of the year draws to a close, some people seize the opportunity to "pick up the wool", while others find that their hard-earned points have been quietly wiped out, while others have fallen into the trap of scammers. A few days ago, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission issued a reminder: Points obtained from consumption have property attributes, and merchants must fulfill their notification obligations in good faith and cannot quietly clear them. (Yangtze Evening News, December 27)
It’s the end of the year again, and the “countdown to zero points” appears again. Some merchants shout loudly, advertise widely, or even bluff, artificially creating a kind of anxiety about clearing points, lest you don't know that your points will be cleared, and they are eager for you to redeem your points. Some merchants are afraid that you will redeem your points, so they either quietly clear the points you have accumulated with great difficulty, or set many additional conditions for you to redeem your points, including setting a very high consumption threshold, or they change the point rules without authorization and adjust the redemption ratio. or value, resulting in a "dilution" in the value of the points property.
In the first "requiring you to redeem" points clearing model, merchants are prone to counterfeiting the three major communication operators, redeeming products with high quality and low prices, stealing consumers' private information, marketing information harassment, and even serial fraud scams. , telecommunications network fraud and other issues. In the second point-clearing model of "fearing you to redeem", merchants are prone to problems such as overbearing clauses, unilateral breach of contract without permission, or infringement of consumers' rights to know and fair transactions. Obviously, these two points clearing models have exceeded the legal bottom line and the bottom line of integrity to a certain extent, are prone to potential infringement risks, and are not very friendly to consumers.
The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee’s reminder is very necessary – clearing points should not become an “annual infringement cycle drama”. In view of the various chaos of point clearing, consumer protection organizations at all levels in various places should use interviews, appeals, etc. to remind merchants, urge and educate merchants to set up reasonable point redemption and clearing rules, and must not change the point rules without authorization; Earnestly fulfill the obligations of notifying points of redemption conditions and points clearing, and cannot clear points secretly. We must avoid using point clearing to sell counterfeit and shoddy goods, infringe on consumers' personal information rights, and set up fraud traps. At the same time, consumer protection organizations should dissect the illegal and infringement routines related to "points clearing countdown" by issuing consumer warnings, help consumers open their eyes, guide consumers to enhance their awareness of prevention and rights protection, and stay away from "points clearing". trap.
Market supervision, Industry and Information Technology, Cyberspace Administration of China, Public Security and other departments, as well as relevant industry associations, need to target the problems that are prone to "point clearing" and establish a long-term mechanism for joint governance. Supervision and inspection of key areas, key links, key periods, and key industries should be strengthened, illegal and infringing behaviors associated with "point clearing" should be investigated and exposed in accordance with the law, and illegal and infringing merchants should pay the necessary legal price.
related network platforms, communication operators, social software operators, etc. should also use "artificial + intelligence" methods to strengthen the screening and screening of marketing information related to "points clearing", and intercept and block those with obvious suspicion of illegality and infringement. information, and promptly report issues such as information released by counterfeit communication operators and sales of low-quality and high-priced products to the regulatory authorities.
Consumption points essentially belong to consumers’ property rights or increments, but cannot become consumers’ property risks or decreases. This should become the consensus of all relevant parties and should also become the direction for relevant parties to fulfill their responsibilities. Photo courtesy of
/Visual China
