Industry News

Recently, the Anhui Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee released an analysis report on consumer complaints for the third quarter of 2026. In the third quarter, the consumer protection commissions at all levels in Anhui Province accepted 4658 consumer complaints and successfully resolved 3591 of them. The report summarizes the characteristics of complaints in this stage, highlighting health therapy, underage consumption, prepaid consumption for recharge and cashback, and prize sales in live streaming rooms as the four major consumer dispute hotspots, and issuing relevant consumption tips to operators and consumers.

 

From the perspective of complaint nature, quality, after-sales service, false advertising, contracts, prices, and safety issues rank among the top 6 complaints, accounting for over 94% of the total number of complaints. Among them, quality issues account for the highest proportion, reaching 39.22%; After sales service issues followed closely behind, accounting for 23.68%; False advertising, contracts, prices, and safety issues account for 9.38%, 8.91%, 7.02%, and 6.5% respectively.

 

Divided by categories of goods and services, there were 2801 complaints related to goods, accounting for 60.13% of the total number of complaints; 1724 service related complaints, accounting for 37.01%; The rest are other types of complaints. In the category of product complaints, food, household electronic appliances, clothing, shoes and hats, daily necessities, and transportation ranked among the top 5, with a total of 2396 complaints, accounting for 85.54% of the total number of product complaints. In the complaints of segmented products, there are more complaints about ordinary food, clothing, edible agricultural products, shoes, and food related products.

 

In terms of service complaints, life and social services, education and training, cultural and sports entertainment, housing decoration and property management, and sales services ranked among the top 5 complaints, with a total of 1511 complaints, accounting for 87.65% of the total number of service complaints. In segmented service complaints, there is a high incidence of sales disputes in catering, accommodation, training, property management, and storefront sales.

 

The report found that the four major hotspots of consumer disputes are concentrated.

 

Health therapy consumption poses hidden safety risks

 

Summer is the peak season for health and therapy consumption, and many consumers choose to opt for activities such as massage and cupping at health clinics. Some institutions have problems such as improper operation by employees causing personal injury, fabricating the qualifications of practitioners, exaggerating the effectiveness of physical therapy, and claiming that ordinary food has therapeutic effects. A consumer in Huainan City was scalded by a staff member while pulling out a fire can at a physical therapy store. After unsuccessful negotiations with the merchant for compensation, they filed a complaint. After mediation by the Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission, the merchant refunded the consumption amount of 139 yuan and compensated an additional 2000 yuan.

 

The Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission reminds that physical therapy projects such as massage and cupping are not operated without thresholds. Operators must obtain corresponding qualifications, and employees should also hold certificates to operate in a standardized manner. It is strictly prohibited to exaggerate the health benefits. Consumers should verify the qualifications of institutions and personnel, and not easily believe in the promotion of "guaranteed treatment" and "special effects". Disease diagnosis and treatment should go to formal medical institutions, properly retain consumption vouchers, and promptly obtain evidence and protect their rights in case of injury.

 

High incidence of consumer disputes among minors

 

The problem of minors' unauthorized consumption during the summer has been exposed. Many minors purchase electronic products such as mobile phones, recharge games, or give live streaming rewards without their parents' knowledge, which has led to a large number of complaints. Some merchants knowingly sell high priced products to consumers who are minors or unaccompanied, and when parents request refunds, they evade responsibility from multiple sources. A 12-year-old consumer in Linquan County spent 480 yuan to purchase a second-hand mobile phone without their parents' knowledge, but their parents and the merchant refused to negotiate a refund. After mediation by the Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission, the consumer returned the phone and the merchant refunded 380 yuan.

 

The Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission suggests that when operators sell large amounts of goods to minors, they should fulfill the obligation of careful review, confirm whether they have obtained the consent of their guardians, and cannot refuse reasonable return requests on the grounds of second-hand or special prices. Parents should strengthen supervision and do a good job in educating minors on consumer behavior. If there is a large amount of irrational consumption, you can first negotiate with the merchant. If the negotiation fails, you can protect your rights through the National Consumer Association Smart 315 Platform or Consumer Association organizations.

 

Recharge and cashback prepaid consumption traps are numerous

 

The disputes over prepaid consumption in the fields of beauty and hairdressing, fitness, and education and training are prominent. Merchants use high rebates and high percentage cashback as bait to attract consumers to store large amounts of value, relying on verbal promises to agree on cashback rules; When consumers apply for redemption, they delay or even refuse refunds for reasons such as queuing, using up credit limits, and business adjustments, and arbitrarily change the consumption accounting rules. Consumers in Lu'an City participate in the "queue free" recharge activity at hair salons, recharge 3000 yuan, and the merchant promises to refund up to 90% of the amount. After consumers make purchases, merchants delay cashing out. After mediation by the Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission, the consumption items will be settled at the member price, and the merchant will refund the remaining amount.

 

The Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission stated that the high cashback model is prone to exceeding the business capacity of merchants and poses a risk of capital occupation. Consumers should not impulsively recharge large amounts. They should prioritize controlling the recharge amount, shortening the consumption cycle, implementing cashback, refund, and breach clauses in written agreements, and keeping payment records. Once a merchant goes missing, they should promptly file a complaint or seek legal recourse to protect their rights. Business operators should operate with integrity and shall not use prepaid marketing to occupy consumers' prepayments.

 

Complaints about prize winning sales tactics in live streaming rooms

 

Winning sales such as lucky bags in live streaming rooms and comment lottery have become common means of attracting merchants, but many activities have problems such as unclear rules, inconsistent promotional promises and actual prize redemption, and performance discounts. Merchants use lucky draws to attract traffic and impose restrictions when redeeming prizes, unilaterally lowering the redemption standards. Consumers in Fengtai County drew a 1000 yuan voucher marked with no threshold in their home live broadcast room. The customer service confirmed online that there were no usage restrictions, but when the consumer went to the store for consumption, the merchant requested that it could only be used for whole house customization. After mediation, the merchant allowed consumers to use the voucher normally as promised in the live broadcast room.

 

The Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission pointed out that online prize sales must fully and clearly disclose information such as prizes, winning probabilities, and usage restrictions. Online promotion and offline execution standards must be unified, and the consequences of operational errors cannot be passed on to consumers. Consumers should verify the rules in advance when participating in the live broadcast lottery, take screenshots to save the activity page and consultation records, and promptly report to the platform or regulatory authorities in case of merchant breach.

 

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