It only takes 2 minutes from payment to applying for a refund, but a 50% handling fee is charged; applying for a 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... According to media reports, consumers have a lot of complaints about the refund system for performance tickets, especially the high handling fees. ("Rule of Law Daily" on April 17)
Since last year, as the domestic performance market has continued to boom, the problem of difficult and expensive refunds has repeatedly attracted attention. According to statistics from the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission, a total of 9,208 complaints about cultural ticketing 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 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.
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", requiring that "performance organizers should establish a refund mechanism for large-scale performance activities and set up Set reasonable tiered refund fees to protect ticket buyers’ legitimate refund rights.” Judging from the actual situation, the phenomenon of "once sold, non-refundable" for performance tickets has been greatly reduced. However, the refund mechanism for some performances is unreasonable and lacks unified and standardized charging standards, which affects the function of the refund mechanism to a certain extent and damages the purchase price. The due rights and interests of the ticket holders. The refund mechanism of
is unreasonable. On the one hand, it is reflected in the excessively high charging standard and lack of gradation. Some consumers reported that after discovering that they had purchased an extra performance ticket, they immediately approached customer service to request a refund. Although it only took 2 minutes from payment to requesting a refund, I was told by the other party that I needed to pay a 50% handling fee. Without affecting the secondary ticket sales on the platform at all, such a starting standard for refund fees is obviously unfair and difficult for consumers to accept.
Secondly, the refund rules are inconsistent, and even the refund standards for the same concert in different cities are very different. For example, if a ticket is refunded 10 days before the performance, a celebrity concert in Guangzhou will charge a handling fee of 20%, while the handling fee in Suzhou will be as high as 50%. Generally speaking, the current performance refund rules are varied, with the time period ranging from 2 months to 2 days from the performance; the handling fee ranges range from 20%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 80% of the ticket price. . The refund standards are completely decided by the performance organizers themselves, which cannot form a fixed understanding in the minds of consumers. It is also easy to cause conflicts and disputes due to different rules and even fights with each other.
From a contractual perspective, consumers purchasing performance tickets are equivalent to signing a performance contract with the organizer. Before the contract is performed, both parties have the right to change or terminate the contract. Of course, as the defaulting party, consumers who apply for refunds need to bear certain liability for breach of contract, but this does not mean that the organizer can charge handling fees at will. At present, further improving the performance tiered refund system to better reflect the principles of equal rights and responsibilities and risk sharing will help create a consumer-friendly performance market ecological environment and promote the healthy and orderly development of the performance market.
In fact, timeliness, exclusivity, limited nature, etc. are not unique characteristics of performance ticketing. Airline and railway ticketing also have the same characteristics. At present, the tiered refund system for air tickets and train tickets has been implemented for many years and has become relatively mature. Relevant departments and industry associations can learn from the refund rules for train tickets, air tickets, etc., to formulate a reasonable refund and change system for performance tickets, and set a tiered refund rate based on the length of time until the performance. Unified refund standards can not only effectively standardize the performance refund mechanism and protect consumers' legitimate refund rights, but also help guide early refunds, speed up ticket turnover, allow more time for secondary ticket purchases, avoid waste of performance resources, and thus achieve the goals of organizers and consumers. the best fit for the interests of the investors.
text/Zhang Tao
picture source/Visual China
