Legal provisions on the expiration of bill of lading

Recently, Qiu Ai Consumer Protection Branch of Yinzhou District Consumer Protection Committee received a complaint from Mr. Wu, saying that he spent 258 yuan to buy a meal coupon for rice dumplings in a hotel. After that, he went out for some reason and never used the delivery voucher. When he came back, he found that it had expired. When communicating with the hotel by telephone, I was told by the hotel that the delivery certificate was expired and invalid, and I could not pick up the goods. Mr. Wu thinks that he has paid the bill of lading for Zongzi, and the merchant has failed to fulfill his obligations, unilaterally declaring it invalid and unreasonable, and demanding delivery or refund. However, the merchant insists that the bill has expired and refuses to deliver or refund.

It is understood that the bill of lading was sold by the hotel before 202 1 Dragon Boat Festival. Due to seasonal supply, the hotel will close once it is out of season, so the delivery period is marked on the back of the bill of lading, and the words expired and invalid are marked. At the time of purchase, Mr. Wu was also informed that he needed to pick up the goods within the marked validity period. Mr. Wu's delivery date has exceeded the marked time limit, the hotel has closed its business, and there are no zongzi to pick up.

Consumer protection staff told the hotel that the bill of lading is essentially a prepaid consumption voucher. According to Article 19 of the Administrative Measures for Single-use Commercial Prepaid Cards (Trial) (revised on 20 16) issued by the Ministry of Commerce, "Registered cards have no validity period; The validity period of bearer cards shall not be less than 3 years. Card issuing enterprises or card selling enterprises shall provide supporting services such as activation and card replacement for bearer cards that have expired. " In other words, if the consumer purchases an anonymous prepaid consumer card, the validity period agreed by the merchant cannot be less than 3 years; If the validity period set by the merchant is less than 3 years, the validity period marked by the merchant itself can be regarded as invalid. If the validity period marked by the merchant conforms to the provisions of laws and regulations, and the consumer exceeds the validity period of the bill of lading, the merchant cannot consider the bill of lading completely invalid.

Prepaid coupons are actually a debt contract. Even after the "validity period" marked on the surface of the certificate, consumers, as creditors, have the right to ask the merchants to perform their debts. Within the validity period, consumers can withdraw the designated goods. If the merchant is unable to provide the goods due to shortage, it is a breach of contract by the merchant. At this time, a refund should be made, or other equivalent goods should be replaced with the consent of consumers. If the consumer comes to pick up the goods beyond the validity period, it is equivalent to the consumer's breach of contract, which means the loss of the consumer's right to pick up the goods, but the loss of the right to pick up the goods does not mean the loss of property rights; If the consumer is overdue in a short time, according to the relevant regulations, the consumer can ask the merchant for a refund or extend the use period.

Therefore, the so-called "expired invalidation" stipulated by the merchants themselves is neither legal nor reasonable. After mediation by the staff, Mr. Wu, a consumer, can pick up the goods at the supplier of hotel zongzi at any time within the legal validity period.

In this regard, the consumer protection staff reminded consumers that they must be cautious in purchasing and using vouchers, and must pay attention to the validity period of goods or services involved in such consumption behaviors, especially paying attention to vouchers with too high amount and too short use time to avoid disputes or losses after expiration. Of course, consumers should bravely say "no" to unilateral business practices such as "overdue" and unreasonable store rules, and learn to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests by legal means.