In recent days, ms. Lu, from wuhan, hubei, sent a cell phone worth $7,000 to a maintenance shop located in wumang square, where she was informed, after a “maintenance test”, that a maintenance fee of $14,000 was payable. "this price is too much for me to pay." ms. Lu refused to pay for maintenance and complained to the authorities。
On 10 april, the relevant head of the market regulatory authority of jianghan district informed the journalist that “on 7 april, the complainant, ms. Lu, reached an agreement with the business community after mediation by our staff. It then went to the maintenance shop to retrieve the fixed phone and paid $2,300 for maintenance. An investigation has been opened into the incident to see if there were irregularities in the maintenance shop.”
Ms. Lou told the press about the whole story. On 4 april, ms. Lou's mobile phone screen, which was out of order, searched online for “how to handle mobile card screens” and, in accordance with the guidelines of the internet guest service, came to room 2106, 21st floor, in the wushan square building, 688 liberation avenue, wuhan city。
“i was on my way to the repair shop, and suddenly my cell phone was used, and i thought i'd come, and the online services said i could do it for free once.” ms. Lou said to the press。
After arriving at the shop, mr. Shen, the maintenance staff, inserted his mobile phone into the data line, and said to ms. Lou, “your mobile phone is not functioning right now, and it needs to be opened to see if it is damaged”. The cell phone was then taken into the operating room, about 10 minutes later, and ms. Lu was told that the main plate had been damaged and that $2198 was required for repairs. Ms. Lu agreed to the repairs。
Once again, mr. Shen came out of the operating room and said that the mobile chip had been burned and that recovery data would require the replacement of the chip, with a total of 15 chips and 750 chips. Ms. Lu, considering the importance of mobile data, asked mr. Shen to try to repair the chip and, if not, decide whether to change it。
However, ms. Lu did not realize that mr. Shen, after leaving the operating room for the third time, had told her that his mobile phone had been fixed and that the main plate maintenance was more than 2,000, plus the chip 12,000, totalling 14,000. This price made it impossible for her to accept it, and she tried to complain to multiple parties, and after repeated coordination, she paid the repair shop 2,300 yuan to get her mobile phone back。
Why is it more expensive to fix a phone than to buy a phone? On 10 april, journalists contacted mr. Shen, the maintenance staff. He told the journalist that “ms. Lou's main board of cell phone had a bad water flow, that the main board of repair was priced at more than 2,000, and that more than 10,000 data protection fees were required”. Asked why the cost of data protection was so high, mr. Shen stated that the information was priceless。
Lawyers: the law is not clear
Specific criteria for the protection of cellular data
On 10 april, journalists consulted with lawyer liu qi of the law firm of visd in hubei. Liu qi stated that there was no specific legal standard for the maintenance and protection of mobile phone information. The fees charged by the maintenance staff should be reasonable and legal and should not be set at random or imposed. If a consumer encounters a daily price “information recovery fee” in the maintenance of a mobile phone, it is necessary to first preserve relevant evidence, such as maintenance contracts, billing documents, photographs of the mobile phone before repair, etc., which will help consumers defend their rights。
Liu qi further indicated that if the maintenance staff deliberately set up high fees, fraud of consumers could constitute an offence, but often criminal proceedings could not be initiated because of the small amounts involved. Consumers were advised to file complaints with consumer associations, market regulators or relevant trade associations seeking help and support, such as calling the mayor's hotlines for 12315 or 12345。
