Online shopping takes most of the flak

Local consumer rights protection authorities received 478 complaints during the Spring Festival holiday, up 26.46 percent on last year, with online shopping taking the flak most.

Among the complaints, 61.09 percent were filed against services, with online shopping, online services, telecommunication services and restaurants garnering the highest rates of complaints. The other 38.91 percent were about merchandise, with food, communication products, audio-visual products, clothing and shoes being complained most. No major consumption disputes happened during the weeklong holiday.

As online shopping became more popular, so did complaints about it. There were 87 complaints about online shopping, up 31.82 percent from last year, during the holiday.

Most online consumers complained about arbitrary cancellation of orders by sellers, untimely delivery, and dissatisfied after-sales service.

As online tourism bookings gain in popularity, several complaints were made about unreasonable cancellations of itineraries, hotels, flights and tourist attraction tickets booked on the Internet.

Food complaints rose sharply by 35.9 percent to 53 from last year's holiday, mainly about spoilt products and shelf life.

There were 64 complaints about mobile phones, digital TV sets and computers, accounting for 13.39 percent of all the cases filed during the holiday. Most complaints about returns and exchange of products with quality problems had already been settled after mediation by consumer protection committees.

In order to better protect consumers' lawful rights, a new consumer protection law will come into effect on March 15.

The law demands the burden of proof lies with sellers of durable goods, including TV sets, computers, refrigerators and washing machines, if the goods were found defective by consumers within six months.