Micro-education

A group of three or five friends gather in a restaurant to chat and have a meal. But what will you do if you find that "table fee", "tea fee" and other charges appear on the receipt during checkout? Recently, a restaurant in Nanjing was fined 9,212 yuan for illegally charging a tableware fee of 2 yuan per person.

The "tableware fee" of two yuan per person was fined 9,212 yuan. Recently, Mr. Wang, a Nanjing citizen, was charged for tableware by a merchant while dining. The store did not provide free tableware, but used a tableware disinfection company to deliver it. The high-end sterilized tableware is recycled by the tableware sterilization company for cleaning and disinfection after use. Each customer is charged 2 yuan for each set of tableware without any explicit notification. Wang Xiaowei, director of the Saihongqiao Branch of the Nanjing Yuhuatai District Market Supervision Bureau, said that according to Article 35 of the "Regulations on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests of Jiangsu Province": Catering operators should clearly indicate to consumers the prices, prices, and prices of the goods and services they provide in a conspicuous manner. Quantity and specifications. No fees may be charged without prior express notification. Catering operators should provide tableware that meets hygienic standards, and operators who use centralized disinfection sets of paid tableware should also provide free tableware for consumers to choose from. In the end, the Yuhuatai District Market Supervision Bureau ordered the merchant to make immediate rectifications and confiscated the illegal income of 4,212 yuan. A fine of 5,000 yuan was imposed on the merchant, with a total fine of 9,212 yuan confiscated.

There is a 200 yuan "corkage fee" for bringing your own wine. In August last year, Mr. Deng and his family went to a star-rated hotel in Chengdu for dinner and brought a bottle of red wine. During the meal, Mr. Deng wanted to open red wine for drinking, so he asked the waiter to open the wine. The waiter told him that a corkage fee of 200 yuan would be charged. But when the waiter helped to open the wine, he found that the red wine did not require a bottle opener at all, just a twist of the hand. So a lobby manager came and asked Mr. Deng if he needed a red wine glass. If so, he would charge 200 yuan. Wine glass usage fee. The corkage fee turned into a wine glass usage fee. Mr. Deng was very puzzled. But since we needed wine glasses during our meal, we ended up using them. Later, when I checked out, I discovered that the hotel not only charged the 200 yuan notified service fee, but also charged an additional 130 yuan in other service fees. Mr. Deng was puzzled by the hotel's behavior of charging double service fees and questioned its rationality, so he reported the situation to the Market Supervision Administration. If there is any discrepancy between the service fee on the receipt and the actual service, it is the hotel's responsibility. The hotel's failure to inform consumers in advance violates the consumer's right to know. Later, the hotel refunded the overcharged service fee to Mr. Deng and apologized to Mr. Deng.

Many restaurants in Changsha charge "seat fees" in disguise. On May 6, Mr. Liu, a Changsha citizen, reported that he ate at Juanjuan Restaurant, but when he checked out, he found that the bill had an inexplicable 20 yuan extra "tea fee." However, no service staff informed us in advance before dining. After that, the reporter visited no less than 10 restaurants of various types in Changsha over three days and found that most operators charge tableware fees by default, while charging for tea, rice and other items vary. In addition, some restaurants do not charge tableware fees, and other items are charged on demand. The reporter's investigation found that some restaurants not only set up must-order tableware and paper towels, but also clearly reminded in red on the relevant pages that "the following products are required for consumption in this store." Some restaurants also include "person" charges that are suspected of being "seat fees." , consumers cannot cancel manually. When the reporter was experiencing dining at a certain chain restaurant, he discovered that the set meal for 2 to 3 people sold on the store's online platform openly required customers to pay for 3 seats, which totaled 3 yuan. The Changsha Market Supervision Department stated that openly charging table fees, tableware fees, and charging tea, rice and other fees in disguise has violated laws and regulations and harmed consumer rights, and will require relevant restaurants to make immediate rectifications.

Lawyer: Mandatory charging of "tableware fees" and "corkage fees" is suspected of being illegal. Many restaurants still charge tableware fees, tea fees, corkage fees, etc. Are these fees reasonable? And is it an infringement? What about the legitimate rights and interests of consumers? Lawyers believe that businesses’ forced collection of corkage fees and tea fees infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers to a certain extent and is suspected of being illegal. The hotel's own signs and regulations that "the hotel refuses customers to bring their own drinks" have no legal effect.

According to the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law", operators shall not exclude or limit consumers' rights, reduce or exempt operators' responsibilities, increase consumer responsibilities, etc., through format clauses, notices, statements, store notices, etc., that are unfair to consumers. Fair and unreasonable regulations, formal clauses and technical means shall not be used to force transactions. In other words, no matter whether the merchant informs consumers in advance that corkage fees will be charged, and no matter what form the merchant adopts to charge corkage fees, it is illegal. Unlike corkage fees, merchants can charge appropriate tea fees. Although it can be charged, it is not "you can charge it if you want". There must be prerequisites for charging tea fees. Heng Xiaochun analyzed that according to the "Consumer Rights Protection Law": consumers have the right to know the true situation of the goods they purchase and use or the services they receive; consumers have the right to choose goods or services independently, that is, consumers have the right to themselves You have the right to know and choose the goods you purchase and use or the services you receive. " Therefore, to legally charge tea fees, two prerequisites must be met. First, tea should be clearly informed to consumers in advance as a separate consumption item. If tea is used as a separate consumption item, the consent of the consumer must be obtained, and the consumption must not be violated. The consumer's wishes force consumers to engage in 'bundled consumption'. "

Consumption Reminder: If you find unreasonable charges when dining out, you can ask the restaurant to cancel the relevant charges and protect your own rights and interests. If the restaurant refuses to comply, consumers should keep the receipts and other evidence and file a complaint with the Consumer Rights Protection Association in a timely manner. You can call 12345 or 12315 to make a complaint. The market supervision and management department will also increase the number of complaints against such unfair regulations in the catering industry. Efforts to rectify reasonable charging behavior.