General Administration of Market Supervision： Ten Characteristics of Consumer Complaints in 2022

　　Cctv newsAccording to the website of the General Administration of Market Supervision, in 2022, the national market supervision departments received a total of 29.4077 million consumer complaints, reports and inquiries through the national 12315 platform, telephone, fax and windows, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%. Among them, there were 13,103,800 complaints and 4,722,300 reports, which saved economic losses of 4,519 million yuan for consumers and effectively protected their legitimate rights and interests. It mainly presents ten characteristics:

　　First, the acceleration of consumer complaints, the recovery and expansion of consumption needs balanced development.

　　From the trend of the past three years, due to the cross-regional expansion of platform economy, the cross-regional flow of population capital and the cross-regional allocation of market factors, the consumption of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Beijing is accelerating. There is a positive correlation between the number of consumer complaints and the level of consumer activity. The proportion of consumer complaints in the four provinces and cities in the country has increased from 31.8% in 2020 to 45.16% in 2022. To some extent, the accelerated gathering of consumer complaints reflects the unbalanced development of the supply side of consumption, so it is necessary to further restore and expand consumption in the central and western regions and promote higher quality and more balanced development.

　　Second, recover the loss of over 10 billion yuan, boost confidence and release vitality.

　　In the past three years, in the face of the impact of the epidemic, the downward pressure on the economy and the impact of the international situation, improving the consumption environment, stabilizing consumption and promoting consumption have become important supports for stabilizing the economic market and safeguarding people’s livelihood and well-being. Market supervision departments at all levels have handled a total of 74.5229 million complaints, reports and consultations, recovering economic losses of 14.472 billion yuan for consumers, effectively defending consumers’ legitimate rights and interests, and protecting consumption power and economic endogenous motivation. We will strengthen the maintenance of commodity services concerned by the masses. For example, the mediation success rate of fiber products, medical devices, production, maintenance and repair services has increased significantly compared with the previous year, with an increase of 15.51, 13.15 and 12.26 percentage points respectively.

　　Through the continuous evaluation of "five-level circular linkage", the disposal efficiency of the national 12315 platform has been greatly improved. The timely handling rate of complaints and reports was as high as 98.99%, an increase of 12.55 percentage points; The highest satisfaction of the masses is 4.74 points (out of 5 points). At present, the platform has accumulated 16.0108 million registered users, with an average annual growth of 3 million, and has become a consumer rights protection platform trusted by the people.

　　Three, rapid response, strong disposal, complaints and reports of epidemic-related materials fell rapidly.

　　After the promulgation of "Article 20" and "New Article 10", the focus of epidemic prevention shifted from prevention and control of infection to medical treatment. The demand for epidemic-related drugs and medical supplies surged, the supply was not smooth, the price fluctuated abnormally, and product quality problems frequently occurred. At one time, the number of related complaints and reports increased by spurt. From November 10, 2022 to the end of 2022, the national 12315 platform received 241,100 related complaints and reports, up 3.88 times year-on-year, 2.95 times quarter-on-quarter, and the highest peak reached 19.5 times. Among them, there were 141,800 complaints and 99,300 reports, recovering economic losses of 4,981,700 yuan.

　　The market supervision department responded quickly, launched a special campaign to stabilize the price and guarantee the quality of epidemic-related drugs and medical supplies at the first time, promptly checked the complaints and reports of epidemic-related drugs and medical supplies, and fully protected the health and safety of the people, with a total of 12,900 cases filed. As of February 10th, the reports on epidemic-related prices, unfair competition and advertisements, online transaction supervision, product quality, and the production and circulation of drugs and medical devices have dropped by 99.14%, 87.87%, 73.89%, 88.35% and 87.79% on an average daily basis, and the demands for epidemic-related drugs and medical supplies have returned to daily life, and the market order tends to be stable.

　　Fourth, the downward pressure on the economy has increased, and after-sales problems such as non-delivery and non-refund have become more prominent.

　　In 2022, the national market supervision department accepted 13.1038 million consumer complaints, a year-on-year increase of 43.84%, and the growth rate was enlarged compared with 2021. From the complaints, there were 2,987,000 pieces of quality, 2,489,600 pieces of after-sales service, 1,159,100 pieces of contract and 1,090,600 pieces of food safety, accounting for 58.96% of the total complaints. Among them, the problem of after-sales service grew fastest, and the masses reflected it most strongly, with a year-on-year increase of 57.67%.

　　After-sales service status is directly related to operators’ confidence and expectation. Affected by the epidemic, the problem of after-sales service has been highlighted. Consumer demands mainly focus on non-refund, non-delivery, non-performance of the "three guarantees" commitment, non-implementation of the seven-day unreasonable return obligation, and untimely delivery. From the perspective of commodity categories, it is mainly concentrated in mobile phones, shoes, coats, furniture and automobiles, accounting for 25.61% in total; Printed matter, dairy products, computer peripherals, air conditioners and luggage increased by 154%, 120%, 98%, 98% and 90% respectively.

　　Fifth, the proportion of commodity complaints increased, and the consumption of new energy vehicles was short-lived.

　　In 2022, the national market supervision department accepted a total of 8,623,200 commodity complaints, accounting for 65.81% of the complaints, up 4.37 percentage points from the previous year; There were 4,480,600 service complaints, accounting for 34.19% of the complaints. The increase in the proportion of commodity complaints reflects the prominent product quality problems under the downward pressure of the real economy. Among them, the top complaints are: ordinary food, clothing, shoes and hats, household items, household appliances, transportation and communication products, accounting for 58.43%. The top service complaints are: catering, accommodation, sales, Internet services, culture, entertainment and sports, beauty salons and baths, accounting for 46.37%.

　　It is worth noting that with the rapid increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, consumers’ requirements for quality are also constantly improving. In 2022, the platform received 16,000 complaints and reports about new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 62.84%. Among them, contract problems, quality problems and false propaganda problems grew rapidly, increasing by 126.33%, 77.35% and 75.65% respectively. Consumer demands focus on: imperfect after-sales service, failure to fulfill the "three guarantees" commitment; Sudden flameout, oil leakage, abnormal engine sound, brake steering failure and battery module damage during driving; Publish false information, induce consumers to sign unfair format clauses, and reduce the responsibility of car companies.

　　Six, new consumption hotspots are constantly emerging, and the accompanying consumer disputes are rising.

　　In recent years, "new consumption" is becoming the "accelerator" of economic development. While meeting the diversified needs of consumption, some new situations of infringement and new problems of rights protection are gradually exposed, reflecting the new pain points of consumer rights protection.

　　In 2022, new model problems such as digital collection (NFT) rose, making supervision more difficult, with 59,700 related demands (only 198 in the previous year), mainly focusing on non-delivery, non-refund, malicious price gouging, high handling fees, and arbitrary closure of consumer accounts. Under the craze of "blind box", consumer demands reached 41,400 pieces, up 61.72% year-on-year. IP cross-border co-branded products set off a buying frenzy, with 38,100 related demands, up 66.96% year-on-year. Some merchants took the opportunity to raise prices, but the problems of uneven product quality, fake and shoddy products, delayed delivery and lack of after-sales service were outstanding. Behind the fiery outdoor sports such as camping, the demands for sunscreen products and mosquito-repellent products increased by 99.12% and 149.62% respectively. Ice and snow sports are popular, but the related demands are as high as 8677, up 60.51% year-on-year. The quality problems such as ski clothes and skis are outstanding, and the tickets, deposits and safety issues of ski resorts need urgent attention.

　　Seven, online consumption continues to escalate, and consumer satisfaction still needs to be improved.

　　With the continuous development of e-commerce in China, the epidemic situation catalyzes online consumption habits, and the online shopping field ranks "half of the country’s consumers’ demands". In 2022, the online shopping demand increased by 56.38% year-on-year, which mainly has three characteristics:

　　(1) The format of "cloud consumption" has expanded rapidly, and complaints have grown rapidly.

　　Various "cloud consumption" modes, such as live delivery, cross-border e-commerce, fresh e-commerce, online shopping, online entertainment, and private kitchen customization, have emerged, which has become a bright spot in the growth of weak consumption last year, but related demands are also rising. There were 220,900 requests for live broadcast with goods, up 1.15 times year-on-year and 5.01 times higher than that in 2020. There were problems such as no products, shoddy products and false propaganda. Cross-border e-commerce demands were 334,500, up 42.63% year-on-year and 1.47 times higher than that in 2020. The problems of negative after-sales service, failure to fulfill warranty commitments and counterfeiting of overseas products were prominent.

　　(B) There are many new types of price fraud, and supervision and law enforcement are facing new challenges.

　　Technologies such as big data algorithm of platform economy improve transaction efficiency, and it is also easy to induce new price fraud. The online shopping price demand was 106,700 pieces, up 99.03% year-on-year, which mainly included the problems of killing big data, changing trading conditions in real time, "marking low and closing high", concealing preferential threshold conditions, and the preferential treatment for non-members was greater than that for members, which brought higher challenges to the price supervision and law enforcement in the platform economy field.

　　(C) Video membership service routines, consumer experience needs to be improved.

　　At present, paid members have become the "standard" of video websites, but there is a lack of "standard" of member services, with 8534 related demands, up 103.82% year-on-year. The problems reflected by consumers mainly focus on: unreasonable advance on demand, suspected of repeated charges; The "free advertisement" is not honored, and the video is inserted with advertisements; The prompt of automatic renewal is not obvious, the way of cancellation is difficult to query, and consumers are easy to buy by mistake. Others rely on word games such as adjusting fees and changing rights to make up for losses and reduce users’ trust.

　　Eight, "ODR" continued to expand, and diversified solutions to disputes steadily improved.

　　Market supervision departments have vigorously promoted the construction of online consumer dispute resolution (ODR) mechanism, and the success rate of settlement and consumer satisfaction have made steady progress. 114,000 ODR enterprises have been developed in various places and settled in the national 12315 platform, and 3,094,800 disputes have been directly negotiated with consumers online. Compared with the traditional administrative mediation method, the average processing time is 7.69 days, which is greatly reduced by 14.2 days; The success rate of reconciliation increased by 11.25 percentage points; Covering 97% of cities, an increase of 2.36% over the previous year, fully releasing the institutional innovation advantages of ODR. On the whole, ODR’s social influence is constantly expanding, and the enthusiasm of market participants for voluntary participation is constantly improving, which has made a useful exploration for diversified solutions to consumer disputes and social co-governance.

　　Nine, "sunshine" consumer complaint information, effectively strengthen the source of governance.

　　The General Administration continued to promote the publicity of consumer complaint information, formulated a publicity system and built a publicity system, and launched pilot projects in some cities in Jilin, Guangdong, Sichuan and Xinjiang from November 2022. At present, 20,817 complaints from 14,114 enterprises have been publicized, effectively strengthening social supervision and credit constraints, and improving the transparency of the consumption environment, the integrity of operators and the satisfaction of consumers. After publicity, the success rate of complaint mediation in the pilot area increased by 8.39 percentage points compared with that before publicity and 5.97 percentage points compared with the same period of the previous year; The average complaint settlement time was 11.77 days, 2.17 days faster than the same period of the previous year; The consumer evaluation was 4.8 points (out of 5 points), 0.1 points higher than before publicity.

　　X. Complaints and reports have become an important channel for discovering illegal clues, and the social supervision role of consumers continues to emerge.

　　Consumers actively played the role of social supervision. In 2022, they reported 4,722,300 illegal clues to the market supervision department, up 40.34% year-on-year, including 2,027,300 illegal advertisements, 723,100 violations of consumers’ rights and interests, and 341,800 illegal food safety behaviors. Judging from the increase, reports of unfair competition, trademark violations and online trading violations all increased by more than 60% year-on-year.

　　Market supervision departments adhere to the people’s livelihood orientation, strengthen the analysis and judgment of complaints and reports, and severely investigate and punish violations of laws and regulations according to law. 281,100 cases were filed for reports of illegal advertisements and false propaganda; 63,000 cases were reported and filed against violations of consumers’ rights and interests, mainly involving the sale of products that do not meet safety requirements, counterfeiting and cheating consumers; 48,700 illegal reports on food safety were filed.