The cause of the incident

In January, Mr. Zhou made up his mind. After comparing on Taobao, he decided to book the "Panda Fox" at the relatively cheap "Fox Place". The total price 1,300 yuan. The deposit was 200 yuan, but due to the discount of 40 yuan, the actual payment was 160 yuan. After paying the deposit, Mr. Zhou joined a buyer WeChat group established by the store with more than 300 friends.

What happened?

In February this year, Mr. Zhou received a courier, which contained information about raising foxes printed on two pieces of A4 paper. At the end of March, the two parties originally agreed to deliver the baby foxes immediately after selecting them, but the store informed the group that it would be postponed to mid-to-late April. The store did not provide any explanation as to the reason for the delay. Mr. Zhou has no choice but to continue waiting, but until now, the store still has not informed him of the time to select the fox. Mr. Zhou wanted to get a refund, but was told by the store that the deposit could only be resold to others and could not be refunded. After logging into Taobao, Mr. Zhou found that because he had already received an express delivery and it took too long, he could no longer apply for a refund or give a negative review.

Incident handling process

Mr. Zhou found a reporter to report the matter. After receiving the feedback, the reporter immediately sneaked into the WeChat group. After investigation, it was found that the seller used four steps to attract a large number of buyers, and then swallowed the "deposit" and made the "transaction successful" without refund.

Step one: Total discounts attract netizens to make reservations. Pets, unlike other commodities, have formed a reservation pattern. When buyers shop online, they often prefer to compare prices with three. Step 2: After the buyer pays the deposit, the store will send a copy of fox breeding related knowledge. After the express delivery is sent, the Taobao system will receive the goods and "successful transaction" by default. As time goes by, the system will give the store a positive review by default. Step 3: The delay in selecting the fox caused some netizens to give up their deposits. Slowly, more and more buyers agreed with the store that the time to select the fox expired, and the store directly extended it unconditionally. Because the store couldn't give an accurate time, some netizens felt cheated and voluntarily gave up their deposits and quit the group. Step 4: Foxes in other stores cut prices and deliver goods to stabilize people's hearts. So, does the store have foxes? Is it a scam? Just when the buyer's heart was unstable, he began to ship small quantities. At the end of April, the price of Fox in other online stores had been reduced to 800 yuan. At this time, the seller began to ship small quantities, which made it difficult for buyers to tell whether it was a scam.

Results of the incident

After investigation and interviews by reporters, it was found that many buyers who received foxes said that the shipping addresses of the packages were different, and they suspected that the stores purchased the foxes from other farms. The baby foxes are then shipped directly from the breeding farm. The store also uses a "futures" trading method, waiting for the price to drop before changing hands to take advantage of the difference. Liu Yangdong, director of Chongqing Fusheng Legal Services Office, said that because the seller had shipped goods to some buyers, his behavior was on the legal sidelines and could only be classified as an economic dispute, which was somewhat different from pure contract fraud. If the buyer fails to deliver the goods within the agreed time limit, the buyer has the right to request a refund of double the deposit. As for the buyer who has collected the full payment of 1,300 yuan and still fails to deliver the goods after the expiration date, the buyer has the right to demand a full refund and at the same time compensate for the loss of capital occupation and liquidated damages. However, because the two parties are trading online, execution is difficult. It is best to pay through the online shopping platform. If you encounter a situation like Mr. Zhou's, you can only report it to Taobao customer service. After recording, the customer service staff said that they have notified the seller to handle it. The reporter called 12315 for consultation, and the staff said that they need to find out the address of the e-commerce store before they can call the relevant number to complain. The online store "Husuo" does not provide detailed address information, only showing it in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. In addition, many buyers pay directly through WeChat. This transaction method is not protected by the online shopping platform. Once the store does not deliver the goods, buyers have no way to complain. Therefore, it is best to pay through the online shopping platform. If the store does not deliver the goods, the buyer can apply for a refund in time to avoid further losses.