Author: Liu Xiaojie
[Tianyancha risk data shows that 1.88% of enterprises engaged in matchmaking related businesses have ever had legal proceedings, and 15.51% of enterprises have ever had abnormal operations.]
The marriage market has developed for nearly 20 years, and complaints and revelations about matchmaking services have never subsided. However, the market is still full of chaos and routines, and new inducement portals have emerged on different platforms.
In an advocacy group of nearly 500 people joined by the First Financial reporter, there are consumers who have contract disputes with the matchmaking company. Every day, new members are constantly entering the group. The matchmaking platform they complain about involves "your husband" and other new companies established in recent years.
These matchmaking platforms will release information through the online platform, then add WeChat to "conclude" to the store, and carry out brainwashing marketing for 3 to 4 hours in a closed room offline, forcing consumers to sign contract agreements ranging from thousands to nearly 100000 yuan. Most payments involve borrowing, spending, credit card and other consumer loans under Hongniang's "suggestions".
Most consumers will realize something is wrong after leaving the matchmaking company, but it is often too late, and 30% of the penalty will be deducted for refunds according to the contract. Zhou Jing is one of them. Without starting any service, she would lose nearly 6000 yuan. There is little hope for recovery of losses, and the cost of continuing to safeguard rights is high. Zhou Jing is angry and powerless.
Hua 18888 only introduces 3 people
Back in February 2023, Zhou Jing was somewhat anxious because she was urged to get married during the New Year. She brushed a post on a platform similar to the topic of getting off the hook in 2023, commented on it once or twice with empathy, and unexpectedly attracted a matchmaking salesperson.
The other party pretended to be an ordinary personal account and said that he had many resources to introduce, and there was no charge in the early stage. After adding Zhou Jing's WeChat, I found several suitable male guests' information and said that I could hook up with them. I also said that I had regular stores and could visit them at random.
On February 17, at 19:00 after work, Zhou Jing was invited by "your husband" to the branch in Shenghui Office Building, Qingzhou, Wuhan. Because she was a stranger, Zhou Jing was alert when she first went, but then a fellow villager who shared her happy marriage with Zhou Jing in dialect said many sympathetic words, which made Zhou Jing take off her guard.
Zhou Jing was taken to a small closed room, and was prompted to set the no disturbance mode on her mobile phone so that she could "talk about her heart". Later, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., Hong Niang and the fellow villager took turns to persuade her.
"There were too many routines for me, and it was difficult to distinguish them at that time, and there were such factors as fellow townsmen added to them," Zhou Jing said.
At the beginning, Zhou Jing didn't want to pay, and explained that she didn't have enough cash to pay, but the other party used the position of matchmaker to master income, credit and other information to obtain Zhou Jing's consumption bottom line, indicating that Zhou Jing could pay by means of flowers, credit cards and so on.
"He also gave me an example, saying that one member used their highest package of 28888 yuan, which was also paid in installments with Huabei. He found a boy here, registered as a member last September, and received the certificate during the Spring Festival," Zhou Jing said, "I feel embarrassed that I can't leave without paying. Others have talked to me for so long."
However, what attracted Zhou Jing most at that time was that matchmakers repeatedly stressed that they were aiming at marriage rather than making friends, so the service period ended with obtaining a certificate. They patted their breasts to ensure that they could get a certificate.
Later, without seeing the contract, Zhou Jing mistakenly signed a contract of 18888 yuan to "get the license" in the blank area of the mobile phone provided. "I said I wanted to see the contract, and she said it was all villagers who would not cheat you. Now, paperless contracts are advocated, and when I go back, my mobile phone will receive a link to the contract."
Until she got the electronic contract back home, Zhou Jing was surprised to find that she spent nearly 20000 yuan and enjoyed only three months of service. She only introduced three people. If she didn't succeed, there was no follow-up guarantee. The contract was completely different from what she had talked about before.
The next morning, Zhou Jing found the matchmaker and asked for a refund. The other party said that 30% of the penalty would be deducted according to the contract, that is, Zhou Jing would lose nearly 6000 yuan without starting any service.
"If I knew in advance that the contract was for three people and three months, I would not sign it. I was cheated and asked for a full refund." Zhou Jing said that the other party replied that they were adults and had received higher education. They should have their own judgment and should be responsible for their own signature.
The enterprise is involved in multiple service contract disputes
There are not a few cases like Zhou Jing. After inquiry, the reporter found that black cats complain [Complaint Entrance] On the website, it is estimated that there have been tens of thousands of complaints about the marriage platform, among which "overlord clause", "unequal contract", "false publicity", "induced consumption" and "refuse to refund" are key words.
On the black cat complaint, the number of complaints related to "your husband" has reached 511. As of March 14, there were still new consumer complaints. Although the same experience as Zhou Jing's, they came from different stores, and the amount of complaints involved was 28888 yuan.
"I remember that when I first logged in (complained), there were only 500, but now there are 11 more, less than 20 days." Zhou Jing said.
From February 17 to now, Zhou Jing has tried all the channels to protect rights and complain, but failed. For 30% of the liquidated damages, "your husband" has never backed down. "I called and said that if you don't back, I will appeal. They said that you should appeal. The company is formal. There are 40 or 50 stores in the country. If you don't want to lose the liquidated damages, you can accept the service. It is arrogant to this extent."
At the beginning, matchmakers would say soft words, "I think about you for your sake. I don't want you to be delayed in your youth. After you are 30 years old, either you pick others, or others pick you. Then they say it's a pity that 30% of the money is wasted, and you accept the service." Zhou Jing said that after he clearly refused to accept it, the other party directly said that 30% of the penalty would be deducted according to the company's regulations.
What Zhou Jing didn't understand was that he didn't read the contract and was induced to sign it. The contract content was different from what he said. He didn't accept the introduction service and applied for a refund several hours after paying the money. Why should he deduct 30% of the penalty? What's the confidence of "Your First Life"?
It can be seen from Tianyan's information check that the contract signed with Zhou Jing this time is "Wuhan Your Mister Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd.", which was established in 2022. The legal representative is Wu Shuo, and the suspected actual controller is Chen Wenqiang, who holds 60% of the shares. In addition, Wang Si and Zhong Hongyuan hold 20% of the shares respectively. There is a hearing announcement and a case filing information in the risk information, involving service contract disputes.
After further inquiry, the reporter found that the founder of "Your Mister" was Chen Wenxiu, who served as the legal representative of "Suzhou See You Later Network Technology Co., Ltd." and "Suzhou Your Mister Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd.", both of which were founded in 2019. Chen Wenxiu is also an executive of 7 enterprises, covering Jiangsu, Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi and other places.
From the risk prompt information, we can see that the enterprise where Chen Wenxiu acts as the legal representative and senior manager involves nine court announcements, six indicted information, and 12 filed information, involving service contract disputes.
"See you later" is also a matchmaking brand in the current market, and is also the holding company of "your husband".
Chen Wei, who used to work in the "See You Later" branch, said that he had seen many complaints and had encountered past company disturbances. "In about three months, there were more than a dozen, but a lot of people who did not want to cause trouble ended up. The number is quite large, but I have seen it, and there may be others who do not know the truth."
In addition, after confirming with Zhou Jing, the reporter found that Wang Si and Zhong Hongyuan, the shareholders of "Wuhan Your Mister Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd.", were just the matchmakers and fellow townsmen who persuaded Zhou Jing at that time. But they told Zhou Jing at that time that they worked as part-time workers. "They said they came in through interviews, and now it seems that their words are very rich."
Until March 14, the matchmaker of "your husband" still contacted Zhou Jing to withdraw the lawsuit, but she did not agree. Some consumers will indeed choose to withdraw their lawsuit. Zhou Jing said that they have contacted some defenders around, and the matchmaking company will request to withdraw their lawsuit on the condition of returning 10%~15% of the liquidated damages. In order to recover losses to the greatest extent, consumers have to do so.
Through Zhou Jing, the reporter got through to Wang Si, the matchmaker. After learning that the reporter was the media, the other party said "wrong number" to the reporter, and then hung up the phone.
Then the reporter dialed another person in charge of the refund of "your husband". As for the consumer's complaint, the other party replied, "What we should deal with has been dealt with, and our company is a formal company, which can take formal and legal ways, and (illegal) does not exist."
When the reporter asked whether the 30% penalty for breach of contract was too high, the other party said, "We can go through the formal legal channel, or through lawyers. The law is not up to us, nor is it up to you. We support the formal legal channel, which is his personal rights and interests. No matter where the complaint is filed with the consumer association or where, we will deal with it normally."
There are many "routines" in the matchmaking market
Zhou Jing's experience and the "your husband" matchmaking platform are just a microcosm of the chaos in the matchmaking market.
According to incomplete statistics of Tianyan, in 2022, matchmaking related enterprises will generate more than 40 pieces of information about lawsuits, more than 20 pieces of information about persons being executed, and more than 30 pieces of abnormal business trends.
There are more than 23000 matchmaking related enterprises in China, 49% of which were founded within one to five years, and 14.4% of which were founded within one year. According to the risk data of Tianyancha, 1.88% of the enterprises engaged in matchmaking related businesses have ever had legal proceedings, and 15.51% of the enterprises have ever had abnormal operations.
In terms of black cat complaints, the matchmaking head platform Shijijiayuan, Zhenai and Baihe had the most complaints, with 5941 complaints from Shijijiayuan and nearly 3000 from the other two. In recent years, there have been 1972 complaints from matchmaking enterprises such as "My Good Luck" and 1137 complaints from "MarryU High end Marriage".
"The marriage market is now in a state of lemon market," Chen Wei told First Finance. The lemon market is also called the substandard market. In this market, the seller of goods has more information about the quality of goods than the buyer. Due to the asymmetric information between the buyer and the seller, low-quality goods are flooded.
Chen Wei has been working in the matchmaking industry for 8 years, and has worked in the head of the matchmaking platform for a long time. He introduced the matchmaking market routines for First Finance, including fabricating stories to conclude a meeting, contract pricing of watching people and dishes, brainwashing marketing, bombings in turn to break the psychological defense, and consumer loan combination to increase the price. In addition, after the service starts, he will also look for "trust" Complete the customer meeting task.
At the beginning, the operation process may be to contact the target consumers through some platforms and create a virtual stimulus
After the consumer arrives at the store, he will tell the person that he has something to do or has been introduced. But when he has arrived at the store, the salesperson will carry out the next step of pulling and bombing in turn. "The sales, team leader, director, and store manager will communicate to let you buy this service, which will take about two or three hours."
"If the sales staff can't talk about it, they will contact the minister to force orders and break the psychological defense line by concluding, which many people can't stand," said Chen Wei.
The salesperson will also further attract consumers through a small routine with activities. "The service fee, which was originally 10000 yuan, is very expensive for ordinary people, and can be immediately reduced to 5000 or 3000. Consumers may think that 3000 yuan is enough to try."
In addition, the customer price of the matchmaking service is actually uncertain, and it is often in the hands of the salesperson. On the one hand, we can understand the needs of consumers through work, family conditions, etc., and see whether the demand is large or not; On the other hand, it is based on the consumption ability to determine the maximum amount that can be borne.
In the matchmaking service, matchmakers often find out the economic strength of consumers, such as salary, family situation, and even the credit card limit, with the purpose of understanding the real situation.
Zhou Jing said that in the conversation before signing the contract, matchmaker had looked at her flowers and credit cards under the banner of data review.
Matchmaker claimed that the platform should be responsible for every member, and the review of information was very careful, Zhou Jing said, "For example, if the score of boys' Huabei doesn't reach 600, they won't allow them to register members. This involves personal credit investigation. Then they asked me how many Huabei points I have and the credit card situation. Once I saw the score and the amount of credit are very high, they said that my credit is good. They said that they had met someone who wanted to join them very much, but their credit was bad. They refused to be responsible for other members."
After the preliminary contract is signed, it will be transferred to matchmaker service, but the problem is not over. Chen Wei said that one of the psychological effects of most people's spending money on blind dates is that since they have chosen to spend money, they must find a good one, but this means that it is difficult to find a suitable one. At this time, the marriage company will find a trust.
Chen Wei revealed that some marriage platforms may find relatives and friends to meet with customers, "because the matchmaker's commission is to deduct money once they see each other, and it is not only when they are in love or married that they get the commission. If you meet here, it will not have anything to do with him."
A consumer who has experienced dating service told the reporter, "At the beginning, the platform sent a lot of information about male guests, but when the matchmaker was asked to lead the relationship, either the boy had already left the list, or there were girls who were getting to know, or the boys felt inappropriate and unattractive." After that, the platform arranged some blind dates, Several consecutive male matchmakers have reported that the other side doesn't think it is suitable.
"But when they met, they praised me and showed great interest in me. These boys don't think they are very good. They don't rule out the possibility of no eye contact, but the probability is too high." The consumer began to suspect that it was "trust" until a friend reminded him later.
"It used to be that" spending money to do things "was efficient, accurate and quick, but it also taught me a lesson." The above consumers sighed.
High difficulty in safeguarding rights
"There is no standard in this market. What we play is a sidekick. Basically, as long as we pay the money, more than half of it will go for nothing." As a senior practitioner in the industry, Chen Wei said frankly.
The process of matchmaking service is reasonable. The contract indicates the specific number of people. Each person will sign a form, which is equivalent to completing the service. Legally, the process is no problem.
After experiencing complaints and unsuccessful mediation, Zhou Jing really had to bow to the reality, sign the mediation statement and pay 30% of the penalty to the platform side of "your husband". Because there was no evidence, the platform side was also very strong.
On 12315, Black Cat and other platforms where complaints can be made, Zhou Jing complained about both the Wuhan Branch and Suzhou Headquarters. The reply on 12315 showed that there was no recording or video, so it was impossible to provide evidence and identify the authenticity of Zhou Jing's experience. However, there was no problem in the process of on-site investigation.
"At the beginning, I didn't know that I was cheated, so it was impossible to use my mobile phone for recording. My matchmaker also asked not to look at her mobile phone, saying that she would guarantee the one-on-one consultation service, which means that people like me who haven't found a target for a long time may have a problem. When a friend chats and asks me to go home to look at my mobile phone, I didn't think so much at that time." In this case, The platform also learned that Zhou Jing had no evidence of recording, which may be one of the reasons for their strength.
In the cases contacted by reporters, under the complaints of consumers, some platforms will choose to return 10%~15% of the liquidated damages. Zhou Jing is one of the few consumers who have done all they can and still deducted 30% of the liquidated damages.
You Yunting, senior partner of Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, told First Finance that the 30% penalty for breach of contract was obviously too high before the service started. If such cases were brought to court, the court might adjust them. The maximum deposit contract agreed in the Civil Code is 20%. He believes that 20% of the deposit contract is a more reasonable proportion as liquidated damages.
During the mediation process, Zhou Jing once proposed a 30% penalty for breach of contract, which was unreasonable, but the mediation party replied that "they have no right to claim the merchant, and the contract says that the other company has stipulated that they can only follow this".
The reporter contacted relevant departments about Zhou Jing, but no response was received.
For Zhou Jing, if he does not sign the mediation statement, he can only arbitrate later, but it is not an appropriate choice
For consumers like Zhou Jing, one of the main reasons for the difficulty in safeguarding their rights is that it is not cost-effective for ordinary people to apply for lawyers and arbitration committees for a long time and high costs.
"The platform can send professionals to arbitrate, but I can't spend a long time with them. I still have my own life and work. I can't stop because of this matter. In the end, it's just that I'm vulnerable. They don't have to work hard, and it's their own who won't be good." Finally, Zhou Jing said, just spend money to buy a lesson, and don't trust others easily in the future.
At present, 70% of the money that should be returned by Zhou Jing has not yet arrived. The platform side said that it would take more than 20 days to go through the process of refunding, and has always asked Zhou Jing to withdraw the lawsuit, saying that it could be expedited. Zhou Jing did not compromise.
You Yunting believes that this kind of service of the matchmaking platform may have routines or fraud, but if there is no fictitious information to defraud money, it should not constitute fraud. Unless the high-quality single information is false, the victim can indeed report the case to the public security and be treated as fraud.
As for whether the 30% penalty is reasonable, You Yunting believes that the competent department, such as the civil affairs department, needs to define the payment requirements for matchmaking services. If this happens frequently, the competent department should intervene.
At the two sessions of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress held recently, Zhou Yu, a representative of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, put forward a proposal to strengthen the management of marriage websites. Those who do not meet the requirements must be rectified, and those who do not meet the requirements should be offline.
Zhou Yu suggested that a complaint agency and a complaint hotline should be set up to accept complaints, and marriage websites should be required to disclose complaint channels in a timely manner. For common complaints, the relevant departments should take corrective measures on the relevant platforms after investigation and verification through unannounced visits in a timely manner.
"Marriage websites should not mislead consumers to pay fees by falsifying false information or other improper means. If such problems occur, they should be punished accordingly, and at the same time, they should beware of some matchmakers who do not have job qualification certificates." Zhou Yu said.
Since the rise of such marriage platforms as Century Jiayuan, the matchmaking market has developed for nearly 20 years, but it is still in chaos and needs to be standardized.
(Zhou Jing and Chen Wei are pseudonyms)
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