Brick Selection for Decoration·Issue 5
On the morning of March 15, the China Consumers Association released the "2022 "Together Promote Consumption Fairness" Consumer Rights Protection Year Theme Survey Report". The report pointed out that compared with previous years, consumers' dissatisfaction with the two major categories of "housing and decoration materials" and "property services" has deepened.
According to data from the "Sichuan Province 2021 Consumer Satisfaction Index Report", among the eight commodity categories surveyed, the housing and building materials category had the lowest satisfaction score in 2021, falling below 80 points.
As an important category under "Housing and Decoration Materials", ceramic tiles often have problems with rights protection. In order to help everyone avoid "traps" when buying ceramic tiles, among the "Top Ten Typical Cases of Consumer Rights Protection" released by local consumer associations this year, Zhongtaojun selected five typical cases about ceramic tile consumption for analysis. .
Case 1:
Shifting goods as good
[Case Brief] Mr. Yang from Jinan, Shandong Province purchased a well-known brand of ceramic tiles due to quality problems, and the dealer delayed it for a year Many will not be dealt with. In the face of Mr. Yang's complaint, many parties including the brand's manufacturer and distributors argued over who should bear the responsibility. On March 10, Manager Liu of the brand’s after-sales service department stated that he had reached an agreement with the complainant, Mr. Yang, that Mr. Yang’s losses would be fully borne by the manufacturer. At present, the brand has officially terminated the contract with the dealer involved.
Regarding the cause of the incident, Manager Liu explained: "The products ordered by Mr. Yang were not in stock, so the dealer used defective first-class products to replace the high-quality products previously promised to Mr. Yang, including the dealer's replacement after the tiles had problems. The bricks are also first-grade. The dealer concealed this fact, which is a way of passing off inferior quality."
【Legal Basis]Article 140 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates: Producers and sellers adulterate or adulterate products, pass off fake products as genuine, and pass off substandard products. Whoever sells unqualified products or passes them off as qualified products with a sales amount of more than 50,000 yuan but less than 200,000 yuan shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention, and shall also or solely be fined not less than 50% but not more than twice the sales amount.
[Consumption Reminder]If the ceramic tiles have clear quality problems, such as in this case, they are classified as "first-class products" according to national standards. ” and “high-quality products”, in this case, rights can be protected through legal means. However, since there is no unified national standard for issues such as color difference and style, disputes between the two parties are mainly resolved through negotiation.
Case 2:
After-sales vacancy
[Case Brief]On November 15, 2021, Mr. Lin complained to the High-tech Zone Branch of Ziyang Market Supervision Administration. It is said that the floor tiles were purchased from a ceramics business department in Yanjiang District, Ziyang City, and they deformed after being applied for a period of time. After discovering the problem, I asked the master to repair it, but it was very difficult to repair because it had been extensively deformed. The person in charge of the business department refused after-sales service. Mr. Lin thought it was unreasonable and hoped that the relevant departments could help safeguard his rights.
After the staff organized patient mediation between the two parties, the two parties finally reached an agreement: the operator would compensate the consumer for floor tiles, equivalent to 5,500.00 yuan in cash; the consumer would delete the information about the ceramic business posted on Douyin, WeChat and other platforms. In response to the unfavorable remarks of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the tiling master Tang Mou laid the tiles for free, and he purchased cement, river sand and other materials by himself.
[Legal Basis]Article 23 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates: Operators shall ensure that The goods or services provided should have the quality, performance, purpose and validity period under normal use of goods or receipt of services. Article 24 stipulates: If the goods or services provided by operators do not meet quality requirements, consumers mayThe country stipulates that the parties agree to return the goods, or require the operator to perform obligations such as replacement and repair.
[Consumption Reminder]In this case, the tiles and services provided by the operator had quality problems, and the consumer requested repair, replacement, Return of goods or compensation for losses are reasonable demands. The after-sales service problem of ceramic tiles has always been a problem for the industry and a pain point for consumers. In order to solve this problem, in recent years, brands such as Jianyi, Dongpeng, Marco Polo, New Pearl, Nobel, Oceano, Eagle Brand, Shunhui and other brands have successively launched delivery models of finished ceramic tiles.
Case 3:
Sales Fraud
[Case Brief]A’s business department is a merchant in the market of company B. Company B promises on its website to operate merchants in the market Jointly and severally liable for the activity. On May 10, 2018, Zhang purchased a certain brand of floor tiles from Business Department A. Business Department A issued a sales bill to the plaintiff stating the amount of various types of floor tiles of a certain brand purchased by Zhang from Business Department A and the deposit payment status. Commitment: "The products provided are all products produced by a certain brand, and you will be fined 100% for any counterfeit products." After three deliveries to the plaintiff's home, Zhang discovered that some of the tiles delivered by Business Department A were not of a certain brand, so he raised an objection to Business Department A. During the trial, both parties confirmed that some of the various ceramic tiles delivered to Zhang’s home were indeed not from a certain brand. However, the business department argued that the processing plant had taken the wrong product, and the owner of the processing plant also testified in court.
[Legal basis]Article 55 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates: Operators provide goods If there is fraud in the service or the service is fraudulent, the consumer shall be required to increase compensation for the losses suffered by the consumer. The amount of the increased compensation shall be three times the price of the consumer's purchase of goods or the fee for receiving services; if the amount of increased compensation is less than 500 yuan, It's five hundred yuan. If the law provides otherwise, such provisions shall prevail. At the same time, according to relevant legal provisions, if one party intentionally informs the other party of false information, or deliberately conceals the true situation, inducing the party to make a wrong expression of intention, it can be deemed as a fraud.
[Consumption Tips]InIn the ceramic tile market, there are so many no-name ceramic tiles pretending to be big-name brands. Therefore, consumers should clarify the information about the goods they purchased and carefully check whether the goods meet their requirements when receiving the goods. If there is a situation where the goods are not on board, consumers should promptly use legal weapons to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Case 4:
Manufacturer error
[Case Brief]In December 2020, consumer Li went to a store on the first floor of a shopping mall in Fengnan District, Tangshan City. A brand tile counter purchased a certain model of tiles, but the actual tiles received did not match the model of the tiles ordered. 250 of the 286 tiles were not of this model. The model numbers were the same, but the letters in front were different. After the ceramic tiles were delivered to the consumer's home, neither the consumer nor the merchant inspected the goods, resulting in the consequences of installing the wrong ceramic tiles. After negotiating with a certain brand counter to no avail, the consumer complained to the Fengnan District Consumer Association.
After investigation, the cause of this incident was that the manufacturer sent the wrong goods. After the goods arrived, the merchant and the consumer did not communicate with each other, and neither party inspected the goods, resulting in a situation where the ceramic tiles were already on the wall. The staff of the Consumers Association promptly contacted the relevant person in charge of the merchant. After communication, he agreed to accept the mediation of the Consumers Association, and finally the two parties reached a settlement.
[Consumption Reminder]Manufacturer errors also occur from time to time. Since the responsibility for such problems is clear, consumers can leave it to the dealer to handle it. It should be noted that consumers also bear certain responsibilities. If they blindly emphasize the dealer's mistakes, they may over-protect their rights. At the same time, Zhongtaojun once again reminds consumers to carefully check whether the goods meet their requirements when receiving the goods.
Case 5:
If the tiles are improperly laid and fall off, the merchant will be held responsible
[Case Brief] Mr. Chen signed an all-inclusive house decoration contract with a decoration company. During the renovation process, the work was stopped due to quality problems with the ceramic tiles, insufficient quantity of ceramic tiles, and inability to purchase the same style, so the work was not completed on the agreed time. Mr. Chen had several unsuccessful negotiations with the decoration company, so he sought help from the market supervision department. After mediation, both parties reached an agreement: the problematic tiles in the kitchen were laid byThe decoration company is responsible for replacing the balcony tiles. The decoration company organizes workers to dismantle and lay them, and gives Mr. Chen 500 yuan to buy new tiles. The bathroom tiles are returned and replaced by Mr. Chen, and the decoration company organizes workers to lay them.
[Legal Basis]In accordance with Article 11 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" "Consumers who purchase, "Anyone who suffers personal or property damage when using goods or receiving services shall have the right to obtain compensation in accordance with the law." The trading company should bear the economic losses caused by the hollowing out and falling off of Mr. Chen's wall tiles.
[Consumption Tips]In the process of decorating a house, you must pay attention to the following points: First, when choosing a decoration company , do not choose a company without decoration qualifications, as after-sales service cannot be guaranteed; secondly, sign a formal decoration contract with the decoration company and keep it properly. The content of the contract must be clear and comprehensive, and the contract terms must not be rash or vague, and must be Relevant information such as decoration materials, construction quality, maintenance services, construction period and liability for breach of contract are fully fixed in the contract. If there are additional items outside the contract, a supplementary contract should be signed in a timely manner to avoid disputes; thirdly, strict control must be carried out during the decoration process. In terms of quality, consumers must personally inspect and accept the quality of raw materials and decoration, keep invoices and receipts, and collect photos of the house before and after decoration to leave strong evidence for future rights protection.
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At present, the problem of difficulty in safeguarding the rights of ceramic tile consumers is still prominent, and the satisfaction index of consumers with ceramic tile consumption has not increased but declined. However, in an industry context where overcapacity and product homogeneity are very serious, as market competition continues to intensify, ceramic tile brands have paid more and more attention to service, and the problem of difficulty in safeguarding the rights of ceramic tiles in the future may be fundamental. changes.
