3.15 Investigation ｜ What should I do if the ＂400＂ after-sales phone in the cottage is flooded？

Huasheng Online March 15 (Reporter Yu Qian) What should I do if there is something wrong with my home appliances? Searching online for brand customer service telephone repair has become the first choice of many consumers. However, seemingly regular 400 telephones are not necessarily official after-sales hotlines, and there are many hidden dangers in on-site maintenance. Recently, a survey conducted by reporters in the columns of "Xiangwen Complaints Through Train" and "Consumer Complaints" found that the threshold for handling "400" calls was low, and the online search shanzhai hotline was given priority recommendation by search engines.

Search the brand "400" phone online.Encounter a "cottage"repair

At the beginning of March, Ms. Liao, a citizen of Changsha, found that the boiling water temperature of Baxi brand wall-hung boiler, which had been used at home for more than ten years, couldn’t get up, so she asked her husband to search the after-sales maintenance hotline of Baxi wall-hung boiler through the Internet and got a number of 4009918883. After dialing, the other party claimed to be the customer service of the manufacturer, so she could leave her address and arrange a maintenance master to come to the door.

A maintenance master who claimed to be sent by the manufacturer came to the door as scheduled. After a simple inspection, the maintenance master said that the controller was broken and needed to be replaced. The motherboard had some problems and needed to be repaired, which cost a total of 1,600 yuan. After some bargaining, the master finally agreed to charge 1000 yuan.

"The master fixed it quickly. After collecting money and adding WeChat, he left without leaving any documents, which was very casual." Ms. Liao recalled that the more she thought about it, the more wrong she was, and she found the official after-sales hotline 4006688700 from the official website of Baxi brand again. When she asked, she learned that she had encountered cottage maintenance, and the official maintenance quotation was actually half cheaper.

Ms. Liao spits out, "We just believe in online search too much. By default, as long as the phone starts with 400, it is formal."

Inconsistent official identification before and after customer service is false after-sales

On March 14th, according to the telephone provided by Ms. Liao, the reporter contacted the maintenance master and asked if it was "after-sales service of Baxi manufacturer". The master said that he was "from Baxi maintenance center".

As a consumer, the reporter dialed the telephone number 4009918883 that Ms. Liao’s husband called for repair at that time. Without telling the brand of home appliances, the wiring customer service claimed to be "a paid maintenance line, and any brand can be repaired, and orders can be received nationwide". After simply asking about the brand of home appliances, the fault situation and the location, the customer service also called itself the "eight-up special hotline" and told the reporter that there would be a master contact later, and the door-to-door fee would be 40 yuan, and the maintenance and replacement of accessories would be counted separately.

Subsequently, the reporter contacted Manager Pang, the after-sales person in charge in Hunan Province, through the after-sales service hotline 4006688700 displayed on Baxi official website. After listening to the reporter’s description, Manager Pang said that the reporter should have encountered a fake after-sales service of Baxi. "The official after-sales hotline is only 4006688700. After the customer reports for repair, he will receive a feedback message, and then the master with authorized service qualification will come to the door. The specific maintenance fee is charged according to the after-sales manual provided by the manufacturer, and formal documents will be issued after the repair."

"I have received many customers’ reports that the level of after-sales personnel in the cottage is uneven, and sometimes it is still minor and overhauled, but we can’t stop it." Manager Pang said helplessly.

The cottage is recommended first after sale.400 telephoneLow threshold for handling

When the reporter searched for the keyword "brand+after-sales" through the mobile phone, he found that many cottage maintenance information ranked in front of the official after-sales information, and was also marked with "national unified customer service hotline" and "headquarters maintenance". Many consumers said that it was difficult to identify if they did not browse carefully.

Why is the false after-sales hotline recommended first? An advertising agent of a search engine told reporters that the display order may be related to advertising bidding ranking and keyword matching, and the information with high price and high fit will be given priority.

Handling the "400" hotline is also very simple. The reporter’s investigation found that on a shopping platform, as long as you provide the business license, legal person ID card and official seal, you can do it with money. The minimum package is one year in 260 yuan, and the annual fee can be fully deducted. 114 can’t find the real information of the company.

Hunan Consumer Protection Committee reminds: Don’t trust the so-called "official maintenance" of online search.

Some insiders said that in recent years, some home appliance enterprises have paid more attention to marketing than after-sales. With the increase of operating costs, the number of regular home appliance repair stores has been decreasing, which has made some cottage repairs have living space, taking advantage of the characteristics of large market demand, low operating threshold, asymmetric information and high difficulty in illegal accountability, and fooling consumers into paying the bill.

In order to prevent consumers from encountering the trap of "cottage" home appliance maintenance, Hunan Consumer Protection Committee reminds consumers that when choosing maintenance services, whether within the warranty period or not, they should first choose the official after-sales service outlets of the purchased brands, and don’t trust the so-called "official maintenance" searched by the Internet; When applying for repair, we should try our best to explain the fault situation so that the door-to-door personnel can take the spare parts and dispose of them in time; After confirming the identity of maintenance personnel, it is necessary to know in detail the charging standards of maintenance projects and whether formal invoices can be issued. If necessary, you can seek technical support from official customer service and understand the official price charging standards; Consumers should collect relevant evidence for the behavior of raising the price or adding maintenance items in the middle of maintenance service, which can be reflected to the official website of the brand, or through relevant government departments and consumer associations to defend their rights.