Buy a 0.3 yuan holly sapling for 159 yuan? Be careful! Complaint about pitfalls in express delivery for payment collection | Express delivery | Payment

Do you have an important express delivery that collects payment of 159 yuan? With the popularization of e-commerce, many consumers cannot remember which express delivery services they have due to buying too many things, and if they are not careful, they may be trapped in collecting payments on behalf of others.

What are the pitfalls in collecting payment on behalf of others?

Recently, Mr. Song, a consumer, reported to a reporter from China News Finance that he was almost deceived by a payment collection service. He received a payment collection express delivery, which required a payment of 159 yuan. The product was marked as "essential in summer, heat-resistant and cold resistant". Upon opening it, it turned out to be a common "holly sapling" in the green belt.

"My family and I have never bought this before. Fortunately, we checked the goods first. If my family was unaware, they might have collected it on their behalf and the money might have been 'wasted'," Mr. Song said.

The reporter searched on some e-commerce platforms and found that 20 similar products were priced at 5.8 yuan. The price of a small sapling is less than 0.3 yuan, far below 159 yuan.

It is understood that many express delivery companies have launched payment collection services, which can provide physical delivery services for e-commerce companies, commercial enterprises, financial institutions, and other units or merchants. After receiving payment on behalf of them, they will settle the payment uniformly.

Screenshot of Black Cat Complaint Website.

The Black Cat Complaint Platform shows that complaints related to payment collection are not uncommon. Some netizens claimed that they paid a deposit of 9.9 yuan to buy an Apple phone on a certain e-commerce platform, and an additional 1600 yuan was paid to collect the payment on behalf of the seller after the goods arrived. When the machine was opened, it was found that the product did not match the description of the seller. The e-commerce platform sealed the seller, and the express platform asked to contact the customer service of the shipping location, but the seller could not be contacted at all.

Can this type of express delivery be traced back to its source?

The reporter noticed that both Mr. Song and many netizens have reported problems with collecting payment on behalf of others. These express deliveries are actually marked with the shipper and shipping address. Can similar express deliveries be traced back?

Regarding this, some staff members of the express delivery platform told China News Finance reporters that theoretically, this type of express delivery can be traced. However, "the express delivery platform cannot guarantee the authenticity and validity of the shipper's information, for example, the shipper may use a fake ID or someone else's ID to ship, or frequently change the shipping location.".

Screenshot of Black Cat Complaint Website.

The reporter also noticed that there were consumer complaints on the Black Cat complaint platform, claiming that "the sender is a false address, false name, or false phone number." The express platform collected a payment of 1980 yuan on behalf of the sender. After unpacking the package, it was found that it was a counterfeit and inferior product, and the sender could not be contacted. The express company was requested to freeze the payment and return it, but the express company did not take action.

Is the express delivery platform responsible?

It is understood that after the express delivery of the payment collection agent is delivered, in addition to the normal express delivery fee, the express platform will charge a certain proportion of the payment amount. Will the courier platform be held responsible if consumers encounter the aforementioned situation?

The above-mentioned express platform staff stated that in fact, this fee is a service fee, such as replacing the merchant in completing the settlement process, helping the merchant expand sales channels, including providing services to some users who are not convenient to use online payments, etc. Therefore, the express platform does not bear the losses caused to consumers by the value mismatch of the goods themselves.

But is the staff member's statement compliant? The reporter noticed that the "Interim Regulations on Express Delivery" and the "Management Measures for Real Name Receiving and Sending of Mail and Express Delivery", which have been in effect for many years, have made provisions for this.

According to the Provisional Regulations on Express Delivery, if an enterprise engaged in express delivery business fails to establish or implement a system of receiving, mailing, and inspection, it shall be punished by the postal management department in accordance with the provisions of the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China and the Anti Terrorism Law of the People's Republic of China. According to the Measures for the Management of Real Name Receiving and Sending of Mail and Express, postal enterprises shall formulate their own real name receiving and sending management systems and measures, and strictly implement them. If the sender refuses to present valid identification documents or refuses to register the identity information of the sending enterprise when handing over mail or parcels other than letters, the sending enterprise shall not accept or send mail or parcels.

How to prevent it?

If the courier finds a significant discrepancy between the value of the goods and the amount of the collected goods during the pickup inspection, will the pickup be interrupted?

"When picking up packages, couriers have the obligation to inspect the goods, but only to check whether they belong to prohibited express delivery items. The rest will be picked up normally, because not picking up packages may also lead to complaints from merchants." The above express platform staff explained, "When actually picking up packages, couriers cannot make accurate judgments about the value of the delivered goods, so they will not terminate the pickup without reason."

Screenshot of Black Cat Complaint Website.

As for how to prevent such fraud, some express delivery platforms have stated, "When consumers receive a package, they first need to inspect the goods. Regardless of the type of package, we encourage consumers to inspect the goods first before signing for it. Secondly, unknown packages should be rejected directly to avoid unnecessary losses."

However, some consumers have reported that many payment collection express delivery services do not support inspecting the goods before signing for them. The reporter also found in the Black Cat complaint that some express delivery orders were marked as "not supporting opening the inner packaging box for inspection to prevent package dropping.". And objectively, this also makes it possible for the situation where the collection of payment on behalf of the goods does not match the price of the goods.

Have you ever encountered a similar situation?