Recently, the Jingtaotao platform has been embroiled in a public opinion storm due to its "All Citizens Refund Only" campaign.
Some bloggers have exposed that the platform failed to refund as promised after users placed orders, involving an amount as high as 2 billion yuan, which has caused users to worry that the platform might "run away".
The person in charge of Jingtaotao responded that some users could not get a refund because the platform was taken away by "wool parties" about 180 million yuan, leading to the internal risk control early warning to start, which in turn affected the progress of user refunds.
In response to the "wool party" wool pulling behavior, what remedial measures has Jingtaotao taken?
What is the company's main business?
What is the profit?
On September 23, the financial investment reporter tried to contact the official customer service of Jingtaotao for the above questions, but the phone could not be connected.
Gong Jiaxuan, a lawyer from Beijing Qiancheng Law Firm, said in an interview with the financial investment reporter that if the "wool party" organizes on a large scale, uses technical means to interfere with the normal operation of the platform, and even fabricates transactions to defraud refunds, it may constitute the crime of fraud and the crime of destroying computer information systems.
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However, if the "wool party" only reasonably uses the public preferential rules of the platform for shopping and applies for refunds without violating public order and good customs, it usually does not constitute illegality.
Gong Jiaxuan believes that in this incident, if Jingtaotao still vigorously promotes the "All Citizens Refund Only" model in the face of its own inability to maintain the "All Citizens Refund Only" model for a long time, and induces users to invest a large amount of funds, it may constitute false propaganda and fraudulent behavior.
According to the "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China", the platform has the obligation to provide true and accurate information, and shall not make false or misleading propaganda.
If the platform's behavior constitutes fraud, users have the right to request the cancellation of the contract and demand the platform to compensate for the losses caused by its fraudulent behavior according to the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China".
The financial investment reporter noticed that Jingtaotao's "All Citizens Refund Only" campaign is very complicated.
First, to enjoy the "All Citizens Refund Only" benefits of Jingtaotao, users need to purchase membership qualifications.
The membership fee ranges from 188 yuan to 28888 yuan, divided into 9 levels.
Members at different levels enjoy different refund amounts and rules.
Taking the fifth level as an example, the membership fee for the quarter is 3888 yuan, and the total refund amount for the quarter is 300,000 yuan, with a monthly limit of 100,000 yuan and a single product limit of 10,000 yuan.
However, purchasing a member does not mean that users can refund at will within the limit.
Jingtaotao's rules state that members need to complete "supporting member tasks" or "supporting point tasks" after signing for the goods before they can apply for a "refund only".
The higher the member level, the larger the refund amount, but the corresponding tasks are more complicated.
For example, members at the fifth level need to purchase an additional 564 yuan of activation codes for each order to apply for a refund.
In terms of price, the "All Citizens Refund Only" price for a certain brand of wet toilet paper series wet wipes (40 pieces * 5 packs) on Jingtaotao is 207 yuan, while the price of similar products on the market is about 18 yuan; the official price of iPhone 15 Plus (256G) is 6999 yuan, and the price of the "All Citizens Refund Only" channel is 47988 yuan, with a huge price difference.
Jingtaotao customer service said that after users confirm receipt of the goods, complete the task and apply for a "refund only", it is expected that a special person will review and process the refund within 72 hours.
However, during the activity period, due to the surge in refund orders, it may cause a delay in refunds.
For the specific content of supporting member tasks or point tasks, Jingtaotao customer service did not give a clear reply, only saying that members can check the task details on the order page.
In other words, only by paying money can you know what the task is, and to get the money, you must purchase goods whose price is far higher than the actual value; moreover, even if you buy these goods, the money may not be cashed out.
This method is very similar to the anti-fraud movie "Plants and People" that was popular some time ago, and it is a typical pyramid scheme.
"Plants and People"'s Butterfly International claims to be an "international big company", but what is the origin of Jingtaotao?
There is no source to verify the financing information.
Although it is called "Jingtaotao", in fact, Jingtaotao has no relationship with JD and Taobao.
The data of Qichacha shows that Jingtaotao is affiliated to Shanghai Jingduobao E-commerce Co., Ltd. Shanghai Jingduobao E-commerce Co., Ltd. was established in May 2019, with the legal representative being Lin Jinfan, with a registered capital of 100 million yuan, belonging to the retail industry, and its business scope includes online sales, domestic trade agency, information consultation services, etc.
In July this year, the official website of Jingtaotao Alliance stated that Jingtaotao, an innovative e-commerce platform that has successfully implemented the "All Citizens Refund Only" rules, has recently completed an angel round of 500 million yuan of financing, with investors including AccelCapital (Accelerated Capital), Sequoia Capital (Sequoia Capital), and Zhongqing Investment.
After this round of financing, the valuation of Jingtaotao is about 5 billion yuan.
The official website of Jingtaotao Alliance also stated that in the first month, the Jingtaotao APP has 20,000 high-end users and more than 1.5 million mass users, with a retention rate of 96% in the second month, among which the average order price of high-end users reaches 50,000 yuan.
However, the financial investment reporter did not find any news about Jingtaotao's financing on various platforms.
Previously, Sequoia Capital also publicly stated that it has never had any relationship with Jingtaotao and has even warned Jingtaotao by phone.
As for the valuation of 5 billion yuan mentioned on the official website of Jingtaotao, there is no evidence to verify.
The financial investment reporter contacted the headquarters of Jingtaotao Alliance in the identity of a victim, asking about the authenticity of the valuation and the refund-related matters, but the operator said "not clear yet", and then called the superior to answer the reporter's questions.
This superior calls himself "Mr. Liang".
According to Mr. Liang's introduction, Jingtaotao Alliance is not the official website of Jingtaotao, but the distributor of Jingtaotao, and he himself has been trapped in the Jingtaotao platform for more than 200,000 yuan.
When answering the phone, Mr. Liang first asked how much money the reporter was trapped in the platform, and then asked how the reporter knew about the platform?
And at the end of the call, he told the reporter the correct website address of Jingtaotao and gave the official website phone number of Jingtaotao.
According to the address and phone number said by Mr. Liang, the financial investment reporter found the official website of Jingtaotao, but the website is not stable and is about to collapse.
Although the website contact number is the same as that said by Mr. Liang, the phone can no longer be connected.
Lawyer's opinion: If there is no actual profit model to support, Jingtaotao may constitute the crime of fraud.
In this incident, whether Jingtaotao platform and "wool party" are suspected of illegality?
Gong Jiaxuan, a lawyer from Beijing Qiancheng Law Firm, said in an interview with the financial investment reporter that it can be analyzed from the following aspects.
First, Jingtaotao attracts users through the "All Citizens Refund Only" model.
If this model cannot fulfill the refund commitment in actual operation, or the platform still vigorously promotes it in the face of its own financial situation that cannot support this model, it may constitute false propaganda or fraudulent behavior.
This not only violates the relevant provisions of the "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China", but may also lead to users suffering economic losses based on incorrect cognition.
Second, the contract relationship formed between users and Jingtaotao, if the platform fails to fulfill the refund obligation as agreed, it will constitute a breach of contract.
Users have the right to demand the platform to bear the liability for breach of contract according to the relevant provisions of the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China", including compensation for losses, etc.
Third, if the "All Citizens Refund Only" model relies on the funds invested by new users to pay the refunds of old users, and lacks a sustainable profit model, it may constitute a Ponzi scheme.
Once the capital chain is broken, not only will users suffer losses, but the platform may also violate the crimes of fund-raising fraud in the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China".
The product prices on the Jingtaotao platform are generally higher than the prices of the same products on the market, and attract users through "refund only", which may constitute price fraud.
In addition, this pricing strategy may also constitute unfair competition against other e-commerce platforms, disrupt market order, and violate the relevant provisions of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China".