It only takes 2 minutes from payment to application for refund, but a 50% handling fee is charged; application for refund due to family changes or physical reasons was still rejected after showing relevant certificates; return tickets are not eligible for refund at all; the same concert project was Different cities have different refund rules...
A reporter from "Rule of Law Daily" recently interviewed and found that consumers have a lot of complaints about the refund system for performance tickets, especially the high handling fees. They donāt understand that it only takes a few minutes from placing an order to canceling the order, and there is still a week or even more than half a month before the performance, which does not affect the secondary sales of tickets at all. Why do they charge such a high handling fee?
According to statistics from the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission, a total of 9,208 cultural ticketing complaints were received in the first half of 2023. A high proportion of complaints were caused by the inability to refund or transfer tickets after real-name ticket purchases. The "2023 China Performance Consumer Insight Report" also shows that about 40% of consumers encounter difficulties in purchasing tickets and cannot return or transfer tickets.
Why is it so difficult for consumers to withdraw their performance tickets? Who makes the refund rules? How should the refund mechanism be improved?
Cannot attend the show after a relative dies.
Refunds encounter a "tug-of-war"
"A relative dies, and the concert tickets cannot be refunded even after providing the death certificate and household registration information." When the reporter contacted Chen Han on a social platform, she had just posted this post asking for help. .
At the beginning of this year, Chen Han, who lives in Guangdong, purchased tickets for Rainie Yangās Foshan concerts on March 23 and Jolin Tsaiās Foshan concerts on March 30 on January 24 and February 29 respectively. In mid-March, Chen Han's grandfather passed away suddenly. Due to the need to attend and observe the funeral, and because the two tickets she purchased were "real-name" tickets that could not be transferred, she had no choice but to apply for a refund to the ticket purchase platform before the performance.
did not expect that the road to refund would be so tortuous:
customer service initially agreed to the refund application, but the premise was that "the death certificate and kinship certificate of the deceased need to be provided";
followed the customer service request, she provided her grandfather's death certificate, but the kinship The certificate needs to be issued in the community, and the community where she lives requires relevant express regulations or official letter certificates, but the customer service cannot provide it, saying that "it is okay to take photos of the household registration page of yourself and the deceased";
Chen Han accordingly submitted the death certificate and household registration booklet. All the information was uploaded, but two days later I received a text message from the ticket purchase platform that refused to apply for a refund. The reason was that "the performance ticket is a valuable voucher for watching the performance, not an ordinary commodity. It carries cultural services and has characteristics such as timeliness and scarcity." , this order does not support returns or exchanges," and suggested that Chen Han adjust his time to watch the show normally.
"Why was it that I promised to submit proof that my refund application would be approved, but then it was rejected after I submitted it?" Chen Han asked the customer service, and the reply he received was to wait for feedback. In desperation, she tried to contact the organizers of the two shows. Because
could not find effective contact information through public channels, she called 12345 in Jinan City, where the organizer of Rainie Yang's concert is located, and Guangzhou City, where the organizer of Jolin Tsai's concert is located, to inquire. At the same time, she called 12345 in Beijing, where the ticket purchase platform is located, to complain.
On March 22, Chen Han received a call back from Jinan 12345 staff, saying that the organizer of Rainie Yangās concert could not be contacted and the companyās registration location had been abandoned for a long time. Chen Han asked the ticket purchasing platform again for the organizer's contact information, but the feedback he received was "the contact information cannot be found." That night, Chen Han once again applied for a refund from the ticket purchase platform for Rainie Yang's concert tickets, but was still rejected.
In the process of applying for refunds during these two times, the ticket purchasing platform first refused to refund on the grounds that the express delivery had been sent (reporter's note: Chen Han purchased paper tickets), but Chen Han never signed for any performance paper during the appeal period. Express delivery of pledged tickets; later it was said that "the organizer did not agree to refund".
During Chen Hanās communication with the customer service of the ticket purchase platform, the organizer of Jolin Tsaiās concert contacted Chen Han and agreed to refund the ticket after deducting a 20% handling fee. After the organizer of Jolin Tsai's concert agreed to refund, Chen Han once again asked the ticket purchase platform to provide the contact information of the organizer of Rainie Yang's concert and provided evidence that the organizer did not agree to the refund. The other party instead told her that "it will contact the organizer through cooperation channels." square". On March 24, Chen Han received a notification that the full refund for Rainie Yangās concert was successful.
For nearly a week, Chen Han said that he seemed to be engaged in a long-lasting "tug-of-war for refunds". During this period, he not only had to repeatedly argue with the platform, but also had to follow up on the progress of complaints and contact the organizer. It was too tiring. Chen Han felt very aggrieved: "The definition of special circumstances cannot be entirely decided by the organizer, right? Why can't consumers even deduct handling fees when they have special circumstances, and are directly refused to refund tickets?"
's experience with Chen Han In comparison, Zheng Xin from Henan has a deeper understanding of the difficulty of refunding tickets.
html On March 20, Zheng Xin purchased tickets for Deng Ziqiās performance in Hefei on March 31 on a ticket purchasing platform. That night, Zheng Xin suddenly felt unwell and needed to be hospitalized after examination. She applied for a refund to the ticket purchasing platform, and the other party responded that 80% of the handling fee would be deducted."According to customer service, the ticket purchased for 1,399 yuan can only be refunded for 280 yuan." Zheng Xin felt that it was "too much of a loss" and asked again if she could get a full refund after providing proof of hospitalization. The other party said that they need to provide a complete and valid machine-printed certificate and payment certificate stamped by the hospital, and only after verification can they confirm whether they will be fully refunded.
After Zheng Xin provided the corresponding proof as required by the other party, she received a message that refused to refund: "Because the refund rules have been announced in advance on the website, your order does not support full refund." In the meantime, Zheng Xin tried to contact the organizer, but couldn't get through.
Because it was a "strong real-name" ticket that could not be transferred, and she could not bear to lose thousands of yuan, Zheng Xin had no choice but to leave the hospital early and go to the show with her still-unrecovered body.
A consumer applies for a refund due to family accidents or physical illness, but the other party refuses to refund after presenting relevant certificates. Is it reasonable?
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association, analyzed that after consumers purchase concert tickets, they are equivalent to signing a consumer contract with the ticket seller. Under normal circumstances, both parties should abide by the contract. However, if one party is unable to perform the contract due to force majeure, the contract can be terminated. For example, in major family events such as the death of a relative, consumers have reasons to terminate the contract, whether emotionally or legally, without bearing corresponding liability for breach of contract.
"If the seller or ticketing company stipulates that once a ticket is sold, it will not be returned or exchanged, nor will it be rebooked, it is suspected to be an unfair and unreasonable format clause, commonly known as the 'overlord clause', which obviously limits the rights of consumers. It reduces the responsibility of operators. According to the Consumer Rights Protection Law, it is not legally binding," Chen Yinjiang said.
The refund reminder is not eye-catching
Different cities have different rules
In addition to not supporting refunds and charging high handling fees, many consumers have complained about the lack of detailed refund rules and different refund rules for the same concert in different cities.
On a third-party complaint platform, reporters noticed that some consumers reported that after they discovered that they had bought an extra performance ticket, they immediately approached customer service to request a refund, and were told that they needed to pay a 50% handling fee. However, he did not see the refund related prompt on the purchase page, and he could not view the refund details when paying.
Wang Lin in Beijing encountered the problem of different refund rules for the same concert in different cities. On the evening of March 20, Wang Lin spent 1,380 yuan to help her family buy tickets for JJ Lin's Tianjin concert on April 14 on a ticket purchasing platform. Later, because her family suddenly had something to do and couldn't go, she quickly contacted the platform's customer service to refund the ticket. What left her speechless was that at JJ Lin's concerts in Jinan and Suzhou, no matter whether the tickets were sold for the first time or the second time, refunds could be made unconditionally within 24 hours or even 48 hours. Only the Tianjin station did not support refunds. "Why are the refund rules so different in different host cities?"
Zhang Min from Jiangsu even encountered the problem that "the refund deadline is earlier than the return ticket (referring to the purchased concert ticket that cannot be used on the day of the concert or needs it due to personal reasons) Refund the ticket, return the ticket to the ticket sales platform or ticket office for others to purchase) "on sale time".
At 12:20 noon on March 21, Zhang Min grabbed the return ticket for Zhang Jie's concert in Shanghai on March 23, but a new work arrangement suddenly appeared, so she had to apply for a refund, but the customer service said "the deadline for refund has exceeded" grounds for refusal.
Zhang Min read the refund notice carefully and found that the return ticket he purchased went on sale at 12:20, but the refund time had already ended at 12:00 that day.
reporters noticed that the product details page of Zhang Minās concert ticket purchase showed that ārefunded tickets generated from March 18th to 21st for this performance will be released for resale at 12:20 on March 21, 2024.ā In addition, the ticket purchase instructions for the concert also show that "the ticket sales channel for the second March 23 event will be closed at 12:00 on March 23, and refunds will be stopped at 12:00 on March 21."
Zhang Min said that after clicking to purchase the return ticket, the ticket purchasing platform jumps directly to Alipay face recognition payment, during which there is no pop-up window showing the non-return and refund rules, "and the refund rules on the details page do not clearly state the return ticket." With the refund rules, doesnāt this mean that return tickets cannot be refunded? Then why not explain it directly and also introduce a so-called refund policy to mislead consumers? "
reporter downloaded the ticket purchase app mentioned by Zhang Min and found that currently various Performance refund services are mainly divided into "conditional refund" and "refund not supported". These return and exchange rules mainly appear under the performance address bar on the product details page and in the small "Service" column under the performance information on the payment page. They can only be opened after clicking You can see detailed "Conditional Cancellation" rules, and you can also see an introduction to the performance cancellation rules in "Details" by scrolling down on the product page. In addition, some concerts have set up "Instructions for Viewing" pop-up windows, which will pop up automatically after clicking on the product. Consumers can scroll down to read, and click the "Confirm and Know" button before further purchasing tickets. However, these "conditional withdrawal" rule reminders are not eye-catching and are difficult to spot if you don't look carefully.
Regarding this kind of phenomenon, Chen Yinjiang believes that if a consumer requests a refund due to some non-force majeure factors, it is a unilateral breach of contract, and he must bear certain liability for breach of contract and compensate for the corresponding losses. However, refund information is information of important interest to consumers. Operators must remind consumers of relevant refund rules in a conspicuous or effective way to ensure consumers' right to know.
Xiang Min, a lawyer at Beijing Yunting Law Firm, believes that paying the refund handling fee is actually the liability for breach of contract stipulated between the ticketing platform and the consumer when unilaterally terminating the contract. The liability for breach of contract is predicated on loss, and in principle it requires certain rationality.
"Since a performance has a certain cycle from early promotion, ticket sales to the official performance, if the ticket is refunded after it is sold, the time left for selling the ticket again will be shorter and shorter. The ticket sales unit must conduct necessary and reasonable measures on refunds. Appropriate restrictions also urge people to make rational choices. If a check is canceled due to personal reasons, the handling fee will be reasonable," Xiang Min said.
Mr. Chen, who runs a small performance venue in Shanghai, told reporters that most of the time it is the organizer who sets the rules for ticket purchase and admission requirements for a performance, and whether "strong real names" are required, and sometimes it is necessary to refer to the rules of the event. Venue conditions. They sometimes organize some music parties, and generally tickets cannot be refunded. If you really can't come, you can only let the ticket purchaser resell them on their own.
āWe have to pay a lot of expenses in advance to prepare the venue and invite singers for promotion, which will be subsequently spent from tickets and other income.ā Mr. Chen said, āIf refunds are opened, there will be great uncertainty in our operations. ā
A performance dealer who has been performing for artists for a long time revealed to reporters the reason for ānon-refundable ticketsā: Performance tickets are scarce and time-sensitive, and once time passes, the tickets become waste paper. Holding a concert is usually not something that can be done by just one company. Instead, many companies and platforms work together. Coupled with the high cost, it becomes more difficult to "agree to refund". At the same time, it is also to prevent malicious competition and "scalper" vote speculation.
Improve the ticket sales mechanism
Unify the tiered refund standards
In September 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Standardized Management of Large-scale Commercial Performance Activities to Promote the Healthy and Orderly Development of the Performance Market", which requires more than 5,000 people Guidance is provided on the standardized management of large-scale commercial performance activities, clarifying that "Performance organizers should establish a refund mechanism for large-scale performance activities, set reasonable tiered refund fees, and protect the legitimate refund rights of ticket buyers."
"Tiered refunds can avoid some irregular behaviors to some extent, but it has not yet formed a unified system and unified standards, and it will still have some impact on consumers." Mr. Chen said frankly that currently, different sites for the same project The tiered refund rules are also different. For example, the refund rules for a celebrity concert in Guangzhou are unconditional refunds within 48 hours of pre-sale, and a 20% handling fee will be charged for refunds 10 days before the performance. However, at Suzhou Station, tickets will be refunded unconditionally within 48 hours of pre-sale. A 50% handling fee will be charged from 23 days before the performance to 10 days before the performance. Refunds will stop on the 9th day of the countdown.
reporters also found during the interview that the refund period can be as long as 2 months before the performance, or as short as 2 days; the handling fee ranges range from 20%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 80% of the ticket price. Some interviewees pointed out that the "strong real-name" ticket purchasing principle adopted by most performances has become the biggest obstacle to ticket refunds.
In response to this phenomenon, many interviewed experts suggested that the real-name system for refunds and changes and the ticket sales mechanism should be improved, the rules for refunds and changes should be further refined, and a formal circulation space should be created for ticket products to solve the problem of consumersā pre-emptive concerns when purchasing tickets. Act out uncertain contradictions, fully protect consumers' right to know and choose, and allow consumers to buy with confidence.
Xiang Min believes that timeliness, exclusivity, limited nature, etc. are not unique characteristics of concert ticketing. Airline and railway ticketing also have the same features. Ticketing platforms can learn from the tiered refund fee calculation methods of aviation and railways, etc., and formulate them based on the principle of fairness and reasonableness. Cancellation and modification rules shall be disclosed to consumers for easy access and information.
"Consumer refunds that result in inability to sell tickets in time may cause losses to the platform. Refunded tickets and resale may also increase the operating costs of the platform. Therefore, it is recommended to improve the ticket sales mechanism, such as a waitlist ticket purchase system, to ensure that people continue to purchase tickets after they are sold out. They belong to the waiting list. As long as someone refunds the ticket, the waiting person will be able to obtain the ticket in turn, which will reduce the loss of the ticket party and correspondingly reduce the refund handling fee," said Zhang Yuxia, senior partner of Shanghai Shenhao Law Firm. .
Xiang Min suggested that the refund rules should be as detailed as possible. Even if the ticketing platform formulates a return and exchange policy for the tickets sold based on the actual situation, the refund rules should be formulated based on the situation. For example, if the consumer cannot be blamed, the refund will be in full; both parties agree that both If you need to bear the risk, the refund will be based on the proportion; if it is a risk that the consumer should bear, the refund cannot be made, etc.
Chen Yinjiang emphasized that the real-name ticketing system has played a certain role in curbing "scalpers", but the cost of refunds caused by non-transferability should not be unilaterally borne by consumers. Since the real-name system for ticket purchases is to be implemented, operators should take supporting measures and consider the subsequent protection of consumer rights and interests. If consumers do encounter some force majeure factors and are unable to attend the show, the operator needs to provide them with convenient refund channels.
(The consumers interviewed in the article are all pseudonyms)
Author | Rule of Law Daily All Media
