Seven-day appreciation period for New Year dishes but no returns? Consumer protection office plans to amend the law: cakes, New Year dishes, and music books cannot be returned
The Lunar New Year has not yet arrived, but the battle over New Year dishes among hotels and convenience stores is already under way. However, online purchases of New Year dishes currently fall under the seven-day appreciation period, which has sparked many consumer disputes. The Consumer Protection Division has recently been drafting legislation to exclude some online and TV shopping products from the seven-day appreciation period, such as New Year dishes, cakes, 3C products and books - goods that are "perishable or reproducible." Liu Qingfang, head of the Consumer Protection Division, said that a small number of consumers maliciously return fresh food after opening it, and merchants cannot recover it, so they can only raise the final selling price. In the end, it is still consumers who suffer, and only amending the law can achieve social fairness.
Cakes, New Year dishes, music and books cannot be returned
Article 19 of the Consumer Protection Act stipulates that consumers who purchase through mail order or door-to-door sales may, within seven days, return the goods or rescind the sales contract without stating any reason and without bearing any costs.
However, after the Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 1994, its most recent amendment was in 2005. The competent authority, the Consumer Protection Division of the Executive Yuan, believes that many new forms of online shopping have emerged in recent years, such as New Year dishes or fresh food, and that applying the seven-day appreciation period to them is unfair to businesses. Therefore, it has recently proposed amending the law by adding Article 19-2: "If, due to the special nature of the goods or services, it would be obviously unfair to the business operator for a consumer to exercise the right of rescission under Article 19, Paragraph 1, the central competent authority may, after reporting to the Executive Yuan for approval, announce and exclude its application."
Liu Qingfang, head of the Consumer Protection Division, explained that perishable or reproducible goods may be the first to be excluded from the appreciation period, such as New Year dishes or cakes, because once consumers open and return them, the goods can no longer be used. A small number of consumers maliciously order New Year dishes and then return them, and businesses are no fools either; they will factor returns into their costs and raise the final price, which is even more unfair to consumers and creates a vicious cycle.
He then took 3C products and books as examples. If a consumer pays to download a song, or orders a book from an online store, 7 days is enough time to listen to it several times or finish reading a book. If the appreciation period applies, it is obviously unfair to businesses. In addition, custom-made goods and intimate apparel should also be excluded. Liu Qingfang stressed that the European Union also provides that intimate apparel cannot be returned or exchanged after opening, and that amending the law is meant to keep up with the times.
Because there are so many types of goods, the draft does not explicitly list which items are excluded from the 7-day appreciation period. Instead, each competent authority makes recommendations, which are reviewed by the Consumer Protection Committee and announced by the Executive Yuan. However, this case has not yet been sent to the Legislative Yuan for review.
Taste is too subjective, New Year dish businesses support amending the law
In response, New Year dish businesses generally support the move. Ms. Chen of Xingpenglai Taiwanese Seafood Restaurant, who has been in the New Year dish business for more than 30 years, said that in order to maintain the best quality, the restaurant does not open for two days before New Year's Eve and focuses solely on handling orders. Home-delivered New Year dishes are always blast-frozen, and they have never been returned. But she believes that if fresh items are returned, they are certainly ruined: "After several days back and forth, by then they can only be fed to pigs." Consumers have different tastes. Some dishes are already made to 100 points, yet consumers demand 101 points, so she supports amending the law.
Mr. Zeng of Xindongnan Seafood Restaurant said that the opinions consumers most often raise are mostly related to taste, such as being too salty, but everyone's taste is different. The new law offers merchants more protection, but if there are customer complaints, they will still do their best to assist consumers.
To protect consumer rights, the Consumers' Foundation opposes amending the law
Consumers have mixed views on this. Member of the public Mr. Guo said that the New Year dishes his family orders mostly come from a catering restaurant well known to relatives, and they have also placed orders with hotels. Because they all tasted good, they have never returned anything. But if the Consumer Protection Act is amended, he would not want to buy New Year dishes online, and would rather call a hotel or a well-known regular restaurant to order, as it offers more protection, and he does not want to eat bad-tasting New Year dishes.
Lu Xinchang, secretary-general of the Consumers' Foundation, firmly opposes amending the law. He said that the competent authority has never asked consumer protection groups for their opinions. E-commerce platforms reduce physical contact with consumers through the internet and lower costs, and the seven-day appreciation period is a reasonable design. Moreover, online and mail-order shopping often involve many improperly enticing advertisements, and efforts should be made to educate consumers. Loosening the law now is inappropriate.
He believes that if businesses really do not want a seven-day appreciation period, they can entrust physical storefronts to operate on their behalf, or set up mobile sales vehicles. Difficult consumers are only a minority, and businesses all have consumer data and can build blacklists. "There is no need for the competent authority to be so considerate of merchants."
This year's New Year dishes still fall under the seven-day appreciation period. The Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare said that businesses should proactively disclose in the contract relevant information such as business operator information, product information, payment methods, place of delivery, date and delivery method, and bear the obligation of truthful advertising. When consumers buy New Year dishes or seasonal foods through mail order, they should first understand the catalog contents, contract terms and their own rights; when receiving the goods, they should inspect them as soon as possible to avoid consumer disputes. If there is a consumer dispute, they can call the "1950" national consumer service hotline or directly consult the consumer protection officer or health bureau of each county or city government.