Household electricity maintenance services are closely related to people's lives. In order to address consumer concerns in the course of home-based electrical maintenance, the beijing municipal market supervisory authority recently issued the beijing municipal electronics maintenance services code (hereinafter referred to as the regulations) to explicitly require operators to apply a coded price. What is the impact of this provision on the market for household electricity maintenance? How to clean up the market environment and improve consumption experience? Journalists interviewed。
Protection of consumer rights to information, choice and fair trade
Referring to one of their home electricity maintenance experiences, beijing citizen wang liang lamented: “when a branded gas stove was set on fire, it went out again. After i filled out a report form on the micro-mail public number, the maintenance staff said that the electromagnetic valve and the electronic point firearm needed to be replaced and that 580 dollars had been charged for maintenance, including $80 for door-to-door fees, 160 for the electromagnetic valve and 340 for the electronic light weapon. He said it was the company's flat price, and there was no ticket." wang qing felt that the maintenance costs were high, but he paid for them when he had to cook at home。
Following the departure of the maintenance staff, wang liang's internet query revealed that an electromagnetic valve was not more than $30, and that electronic light firearms were about $30. In contrast, the offer for maintenance staff was prohibitively high. He bought a brand-like stove with a brand-new price of about $2,000, while this maintenance cost $580。
Currently, household electricity maintenance services are subject to market-regulated prices, which are set by the operator on the basis of the cost of operating the services and the availability of and demand for the market. However, individual operators are less aware of the price-fixing and there have been irregularities such as random price increases and price additions。
According to chen weejiang, deputy secretary-general of the research society for the protection of consumer rights and interests of the chinese society of law, the main problem with fees for household electricity maintenance is the lack of transparency in prices and information asymmetries. In addition, the difficulty and high cost of providing evidence for the maintenance of household electricity contributed to irregularities in some maintenance institutions and personnel。
In recent years, consumers have reported a higher number of complaints of excessive charges for household appliances maintenance services, many of which are linked to irregular prices. In addition, some operators provide emergency services, night services, high-altitude operations, etc., and the price of related services is yet to be further regulated。
In order to correct the problem of excessive tariffs in the industry, the regulation requires the operator to make his/her own choice of price tags (including electronic price tags), price plates, price lists (books), display boards, electronic screens, etc., when providing home electricity maintenance services or selling related products, depending on industry characteristics and trading habits. For the simultaneous provision of multiple services or the sale of a number of products of various kinds, the operator can announce the price in advance through the electronic search system. In the case of the provision of services or the sale of products through a network, the operator should also fulfil the corresponding code-coded pricing obligation, through the web page, and by means of a code-coded price in words, images, etc。
According to zhu zhu, deputy director of the centre for the study of communication and law of the chinese university of political science and law, “the requirement that the operator of the electrical and electrical repair service specify the price, and the requirement that the consumer be informed in advance of `door fees', protect the consumer's right to know, to choose and to fair trade, is the greatest highlight of the regulation”
“in cases where consumers encounter unreasonable fees, timely collection of evidence, such as vouchers and officially published rates, is required to consult with maintenance agencies or branders. If this is not possible, a conciliation settlement may be brought before a consumer association or administrative authority; if the conciliation is not yet resolved, it may be submitted for arbitration or court action.” chen yingjiang said。
In accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations, such as the regulations on administrative penalties for price offences and the regulations on the regulation on discretion of prices and the prohibition of price fraud of the people's republic of china law on prices, the relevant head of the beijing municipal market supervisory authority, the operator of the household electricity maintenance service, in violation of the provisions on the price of the specified codes, is legally ordered by the market regulator to correct the situation, confiscate the proceeds of the violation and may be fined up to $5,000。
Increased detection and prevention efforts and effective monitoring at the source
“when the refrigerator was not cooled, i searched the site for the official after-sale number of the brand, called for registration, and soon the maintenance staff arrived.” the beijing citizen zhao zionin recalled that three maintenance staff had come to the door and examined it, said that the main plate of the refrigerator had been broken and that, after some operation, the main plate had been removed, and the maintenance staff said, “the main board had been burned and the replacement one would cost $1,200”
"i was a little hesitant to hear the offer, but the fridge had been removed. The maintenance staff said that if i don't replace it, i'll put it back, but you'll have to pay $800 for the dismantling.” zhao zionin agreed to change to reduce the problem。
Following the departure of the maintenance staff, zhao zionin found that the refrigerator was still unrefrigerated and that she looked closely at her search page and found that the search results were marked with “advertisement”, which was not a true official sale. Later, after she had contacted the manufacturer of the refrigerator for the official sale, the maintenance staff told her that the new master plate was broken and that it would cost $900 to replace it through official channels。
Zhu said: “home electricity maintenance is professional and it is difficult for consumers to determine whether the product is really problematic or whether it is serious. It is only a first step to repair the mess of household electricity repair and to set a clear price, and much remains to be done.”
As a result of the development of the digital economy, a number of household electrical maintenance service operators provide home electrical maintenance services through web search platforms, electrician platforms, etc。
According to chen weejiang, the regulatory authorities are to increase their efforts to detect and combat domestic electricity maintenance that infringes the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. The platform would also need to be brought into the realm of legal regulation so as to truly strengthen regulation from the source。
Professor liu junhai, faculty of law of the people's university of china, considered that “the platform, as the first duty-bearer, should be put on guard for consumers. If the consumer has suffered a loss after having been searched by the platform, the platform shall bear the burden of compensation.”
Experts cautioned that consumers also need to improve their ability to protect themselves by not trusting internet connections when choosing home electricity maintenance services, depending on whether they are official maintenance providers。
Establish sound after-sales service mechanisms and service channels to improve consumption experience with standardized services
“the fee for door-to-door testing is $30, which, if we use our cleaning or maintenance services, can be deducted as coupons and the price of each service can be found on the platform.” in beijing, the smokers in their homes made noises, contacted one of the electric maintenance companies on the service platform, found it reasonable to see the vendor's response, and took a special look at other consumers' comments: they sold more than 7,000 times a year, with a score of 4. 9,99% of users giving a five-star rating. Lin's been ordered。
“the master came to check and said that the smoker was not broken, that it had accumulated too much oil and needed cleaning. The cleaning fee is $150, the entrance fee is 30, and it cost 120, and i think it's worth it。
Journalists are aware that some internet platforms reduce information asymmetries in the market for household electricity maintenance by providing complete information on goods and services, and rigorous scrutiny of consumer evaluations. In order to enhance consumer experience, the mission platform has introduced initiatives such as the standardization of commodity services, visualization of compliance processes and onlineization of information on service providers in areas such as home-based electrical maintenance, laundry care, etc., to improve the efficiency and quality of matching supply and demand。
Liu tao, director of home maintenance operations for woodpeckers, said: “we have explored, together with the platform, three standardized systems for the standardization of cleaning services, the standardization of service charges, and the standardization of service coverage to improve consumption experience with standardized services”
In chen's view, the market for repair and repair of household electric appliances is regulated, and domestic electric power enterprises value their brand image, establish sound after-sales service mechanisms and service channels, continuously upgrade service capabilities and service standards, guarantee service levels for maintenance staff or after-sale agencies, and ensure quality after-sales services for consumers。
The senior engineer of american group quality systems and sustainable development introduced it as a way to improve consumer after-sale service experience, introducing small household electricity and some electricity for 365 days for replacement, and working to create user-centred service closed loops that will lead to intra-enterprise change through user experience reporting, process re-engineering through digital and intelligent methods, and service upgrading。
The relevant industry organizations are also required to set up a system of standards for sound industry services that will lead to self-regulation and regulatory development of the industry. In response to problems in the domestic electrical maintenance sector, the coordination sector is taking action. In recent days, the zhejiang department of social protection commission has focused on interviewing nine enterprises involved in electrical maintenance and making recommendations for overhaul. Within the prescribed time frame, nine enterprises have made the required corrections and have made significant progress in such areas as “untransparent fee rules for minor diseases” and “irregular services”。
Liu junhai said: “cleaning the market for household electricity maintenance requires a concerted effort by regulatory authorities, electric power platforms, domestic electricity enterprises, repair companies, associations, etc., to create a social co-regulating situation and provide consumers with a high-quality service experience.” (lin liège)
