Three Questions about Mercedes-Benz Rights Protection Event： Why is the service fee charged？ Can you triple the compensation？

　　BEIJING, April 15 (Zhang Xu) Recently, a video of a woman crying about her rights in a Mercedes-Benz in a 4S shop aroused widespread public concern. On the 14th, it became a hot topic in Weibo.

　　According to the crying of the female car owner, she bought a 660,000-yuan Mercedes-Benz as her 30th birthday present. However, before the new car opened the 4S shop, it was found that there was oil leakage in the vehicle engine. The 4S shop said that it can’t refund or change cars, and it can only replace the engine according to the "Three Guarantees Policy for Cars".

　　With the exposure of the conversation between the two sides, the behavior of privately collecting financial service fees involved in the sales process of this Mercedes-Benz store also surfaced.

　　15,000 service fee, who’s pocket?

　　According to the female car owner’s statement, the 4S shop of Xi ‘an "Lizhixing" strongly recommended the installment loan, and finally it promised to use installment payment. When the down payment was paid for the loan, the relevant person in charge of "Lizhixing" suddenly proposed that there was a service fee of about 15,000 yuan, which she did not know before.

Image source: video screenshot

　　In the end, the owner paid a service fee of 15,000 yuan through two WeChat transfers, which flowed into the private account, and only the receipt had no formal invoice.

　　The owner questioned the service content of this service fee. "The information is provided by yourself, the bank runs by itself, and the running water plays by itself, but why pay this service fee? What is the service content of this service fee? " And ask the 4S shop official to give an explanation.

　　In the financial calculator of Mercedes-Benz official website, if the luxury CLS 300 with the same model as the female owner is purchased, the suggested retail price is 691,800 yuan, and the down payment is 207,500 yuan. In the case of 36 months, the interest rate is 4.99%, and the monthly payment is 14,512 yuan. However, Mercedes-Benz official website does not show that there is a financial service fee for Mercedes-Benz.

　　On April 14th, Mercedes-Benz issued a statement saying: Mercedes-Benz does not charge any financial service fees to dealers and customers. At the same time, dealers are required to be honest and law-abiding in the process of their independent operation to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

　　Since Mercedes-Benz didn’t charge it, what does this financial service fee serve and whose pocket does it go into?

　　A 4S shop salesperson told reporters that the money flowed into the 4S shop and would not be invoiced. And some 4S stores will give sales shares, which is also the driving force for many sales forces to persuade customers to buy cars by mortgage.

　　In fact, the so-called "financial service fee" is nothing new. On social media, many netizens said that they had been charged, and a report in Beijing Morning Post in January 2018 had many similarities with this incident.

　　The 4S shop asked Mr. Zhao to pay a "financial service fee" of 3,380 yuan by installment, but due to the quality problems of the vehicle, Mr. Zhao sued the 4S shop to the court. The 4S shop argued that the financial service fee and licensing fee had been clearly stipulated in the contract signed between the two parties, and also showed Mr. Zhao the relevant notice of fees, which Mr. Zhao paid only after he knew about the fees.

　　The court held that Mr. Zhao bought the car by installment loan, and he would pay interest to the bank according to the agreement. There is no legal basis for the 4S shop to collect the financial service fee by itself and it should be returned.

　　In the incident of the Mercedes-Benz owner, according to the owner’s description, the 4S shop did not even inform in advance that there was a "financial service fee", which violated the owner’s right to know.

　　Wang Yazhong, a lawyer of Henan Guoyin Law Firm, said that there is no legal basis for 4S shops to charge "financial service fees" and there are many problems. "Regular fees should be entered into the corporate account and invoiced. The staff requires the owner to enter the private account. This behavior is also problematic in terms of taxation."

　　The reporter noted that in the typical case of consumer rights protection in 2018 released by Hefei Municipal Market Supervision Administration during March 15 this year, 4S stores "illegally charged financial service fees" ranked first in the rights protection list.

　　A number of legal practitioners told reporters that there is no standard document for financial service fees, so it will happen that 4S stores do not provide any financial services and consumers are charged. However, according to the "Measures for the Administration of Automobile Sales" and the "Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and Interests", consumers can refuse the fee.

　　There is no choice but to change the engine?

　　The relevant person in charge of the "Lizhixing" 4S store said in consultation with the female car owner, "Although the oil leakage can only achieve engine replacement in the national three-package regulations, as an emotion, we can’t accept it ourselves and have been actively dealing with it. There is a process in the meantime, only blaming us for being too slow. On April 9, we also negotiated amicably."

　　Can female car owners in Xi ‘an only be forced to accept the option of replacing the engine? The answer is no.

　　"The initiative of the three-guarantee policy choice lies with consumers, not businesses." Pan Helin, a postdoctoral fellow in applied economics at China Academy of Fiscal Science, told this reporter.

　　According to the Provisions on Responsibility for Repair, Replacement and Return of Household Automobile Products, consumers can choose to replace or return the household automobile products free of charge if the fuel of the household automobile leaks within 60 days from the date of issuing the car purchase invoice or within 3000 kilometers (whichever comes first). "So consumers can choose to replace the engine or the whole vehicle, or they can choose to return it, but Mercedes-Benz 4S stores have no right to choose to replace the engine that is unfavorable to consumers."

　　"There is no problem with the National Three Guarantees Law, and enterprises should not take it out of context and become their excuses." The rights-defending female car owner said this to the media.

　　If the 4S shop is fraudulent, can you claim triple compensation?

　　According to media reports, the family members of the female car owners said that they had submitted their claims to the local industrial and commercial departments, and the investigation team said that there would be investigation results in the near future. The female car owner said that in the negotiation on April 13, Mercedes-Benz proposed a refund first, and there was a problem in the follow-up test, and then she paid for it, but she refused. If the test results show that there is indeed a problem before sale, it should be "shoddy, fake one loses three" according to laws and regulations.

　　Some netizens also believe that car owners can apply for triple compensation. In this regard, lawyer Wang Yazhong analyzed that "PDI testing should be carried out before every car is sold. If the 4S shop conducts PDI testing but conceals the fault from consumers for some purpose, there will be fraud. In this case, according to Article 55 of the Consumer Protection Law, three times compensation can be demanded. "

　　It is worth noting that according to the provisions of the new Consumer Protection Law, consumers find defects within 6 months from the date of accepting goods or services. In case of disputes, the operators shall bear the burden of proof on the defects, and consumers are exempted from the obstacles of proof.

　　Industry insiders suggest that car owners actively collect evidence, investigate the history of the car, and inquire about the accident and maintenance of the car; Verify whether the vehicle PDI inspection is true and the qualification of the inspectors; Report the case to the market supervision and management department and ask for investigation and punishment of the 4S shop; Bring a lawsuit to the court in time to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

　　On April 13, the market supervision department once again instructed the "Lizhixing" 4S store to implement the refund of returning the car as soon as possible, and listened to the eight new demands put forward by the complainant. According to media reports, on the 14th, an account with real-name authentication as a female car owner issued a document saying that it would no longer have any unofficial contact with Mercedes-Benz. However, this article was subsequently deleted.

　　As of press time, the two sides have not reached a further settlement. (End)