Mr. Ni has recently called Yangpu District Consumer Council to report a case: He bought a T-shirt at more than RMB300 from a department store and didn’t check whether there were quality flaws. He washed the T-shirt out of sanitary concern before he found a hole in the back of the T-shirt. He requested to return the T-shirt for refund but was refused by the seller.
Over the mediation process, Yangpu District Consumer Council learned that the T-shirt has been washed and the tags have been cut down and thrown away. When the consumer negotiated with the seller by himself, the seller said the quality problem of the T-shirt was hard to be identified and could not offer a solution unless the consumer could present the tags.
The Council contacted the seller and stated that as the T-shirt has only been washed once in clean water, it would be impossible for the consumer to cut a hole by himself from common sense. The Council suggested the seller offer the consumer a proper solution.
After mediations, the seller invited the consumer to come to the store with the T-shirt for further negotiation.
In the end, the seller agreed to exchange the T-shirt for the consumer who was satisfied with the result. Clothes are daily consumables. The Council reminds citizens of checking quality of the clothes on the spot carefully when purchasing and keep the tags and invoices well in case quality problems will be found later.