But was "trapped" in the trap of "online lending"?, Create a mobile phone package for mobile | finance | package
I wanted to set up a mobile phone package with a low monthly rent, but I got a series of "sets" and was unwittingly "bought" an Internet loan financial product with installment payment.
There are many tricks in the package
Mr. Wu is a salesperson and due to business needs, he would like to apply for an additional phone card with a lower monthly rental fee. On May 22nd, he came to a Guangdong Telecom business hall in Tianhe District, Guangzhou to inquire about business. The salesperson introduced several packages, with a minimum of 99 yuan. Mr. Wu thinks it's too expensive. After multiple inquiries, the salesperson said there is a package with a monthly rent of 39 yuan.
The set meal started like this.
The first "set": The "package" includes elderly phones.
The mobile phone package usually includes calls, data, and text messages, but Mr. Wu's "package" includes a mobile phone. After he signed various documents and took photos, the salesperson took out an elderly mobile phone and gave it to him. "I'm in my twenties, what's the use of this elderly phone?" Mr. Wu asked if it's possible not to use the phone, and the salesperson said it's a gift.
The second "set": Freeze the amount of Yu'ebao.
The salesperson told Mr. Wu that in order to prevent breach of contract, 273.6 yuan will be frozen in his personal Yu'ebao account. "It doesn't make sense to freeze Yu'ebao when applying for a package." Although Mr. Wu was dissatisfied, the salesperson said that this was the lowest priced package, and he agreed to this "clause".
The third "set": grafting flowers and trees, "being bought" a financial product.
Returning to his residence, Mr. Wu found that the company with 273.6 yuan frozen in mobile phone Yu'e Bao was called "Century Yintong", and the product name was shown as: Guangdong Telecom, Internet finance cooperation and collection of universal packages
"What's this again?" Mr. Wu was confused and quickly took out the agreement signed in the business hall to check. The agreement shows that he is handling an "Orange installment" comprehensive credit financial contract product. This product is a financial contract installment product provided by Sweet Orange Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. and Yi Payment Platform for telecommunications users. Financial services are provided by the aforementioned two entities and third-party licensed financial institutions in cooperation with the two entities. If there is a delay, depending on the severity of the situation, different forms of debt collection reminders such as phone calls, text messages, letters, lawsuits, etc. may be received, and corresponding negative consequences such as credit limit closure may also occur.
Do you still need to become a financial expert and police officer to run a business?
Why are the products displayed differently in the agreement and consumption records? Mr. Wu said in confusion, "After reading the agreement, I became even more confused. Just a simple request for a mobile phone package, how could it end up being a financial installment product? There are also companies like Telecom, Sweet Orange, and Century Bank that I can't understand at all."
Mr. Wu called the telecommunications customer service hotline to file a complaint. The operator asked Mr. Wu why he did not raise any questions during the process of handling the business, and all relevant agreements were signed. Is there any evidence such as recording during the handling of the business? Mr. Wu said that he was just going to apply for a mobile phone package. The salesperson took out several pieces of paper and pointed to the blank space for him to sign, without even saying that it was a financial installment product. Ordinary people do business like this, with a bunch of incomprehensible agreements. How many of them will read the terms one by one? "Do ordinary consumers still need to record when they go to the business hall to do ordinary business? I'm not a police officer handling cases."
Mr. Wu's helplessness reflects the common voice of many consumers. Why is it so difficult to get a low monthly rental package? How many "pitfalls" are buried in package consumption? Do we still need to become financial experts and police officers to run a business?
Afterwards, the reporter went to the business hall as a consumer to handle business, and also expressed the desire to apply for a "low monthly consumption" package. The salesperson first introduced several packages priced above 99 yuan, but also said there were packages priced at 39 yuan. This package has just been launched and cannot be found on the official website or mobile app. This package called Zero Yuan Purchase "Elderly Machine" is mainly aimed at the "elderly" group.
Shouldn't package services be simplified for the elderly population? What is the purpose of financial installment products that young people may not understand, but mainly target elderly customers? What's even more puzzling is that I didn't apply for the package for this zero yuan purchase, but I was inexplicably forced to sell the financial installment product for zero yuan purchase, and it was done without my knowledge.
The essence of being processed is to infringe on consumers' right to know
The reporter found on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and WeChat that many netizens have complained and experienced being processed. During the process of handling mobile phone packages and home broadband services, under the guidance of the salesperson, I vaguely handled financial services such as online small loans and pre authorization freezing, and most of the time I didn't even know what I was doing. It wasn't until I received a debt collection call from a financial company or had a bad credit record that I realized I had been "tricked" in the beginning.
In recent years, telecommunications operators have expanded their consumer finance business and launched many contract purchase services, allowing consumers to handle financial installment services when purchasing a device. The underlying logic of this business is that telecommunications operators maintain long-term customer presence on the network; Mobile phone sales channels have increased sales volume; Financial companies providing installment services have obtained scenarios and customers, reducing default rates; The customer lowered the purchase threshold. However, in reality, there are many controversies arising from contract purchases, most of which are handled without the knowledge or sufficient knowledge of consumers.
The interviewed legal experts believe that telecom operators who only emphasize package discounts and do not raise risks to induce without the knowledge or sufficient knowledge of consumers are suspected of infringing on their right to information, choice, and fair trading.
A person familiar with the situation told reporters that many staff members in business halls handle performance evaluations for financial installment payments. Under pressure, it is difficult for them to effectively promote their business from the perspective of consumers, which is also the reason why consumers are "installment", "loan", and "frozen".
