CCTV Beijing, January 31 news (reporter Chen Yue) Chinese New Year's Eve dinner has entered the countdown, a takeaway platform data shows that since January 2024, the number of national catering merchants online Chinese New Year's Eve dine-in ** has increased nearly 4 times, and the number of related ** orders has increased by more than 300%. The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is a time for family reunion, but the "routine" of booking a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is also difficult to prevent: some ordinary restaurants have set minimum consumption standards, and the per capita consumption must reach hundreds of thousands of yuan to book a private room; Some have launched a variety of **, most of which start at 2000 yuan, and most of the dishes in ** are not in the daily menu; How much to pay for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner and whether the deposit can be refunded are all decided by the restaurant.
Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is hard to find.
Lawyer's Statement: How much should I pay as a deposit? Can I get a refund?
There is no holiday on Chinese New Year's Eve this year, and my parents have not yet retired, so it is too late to go home from work and cook Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. I thought about ordering a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner at the restaurant, but the box was long gone. Mr. Wang, who lives in Beijing, told reporters.
Recently, a reporter from the Central Broadcasting Network called the order ** of a number of restaurants, and was told that the box for the dinner period of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner has long been booked, and some restaurant boxes have been booked even on New Year's Eve, and the restaurant lobby is also full during the ** period of Chinese New Year's Eve, and only a few restaurants still have a small number of seats. The person in charge of one of the restaurants said: "We have three times to book on the Chinese New Year's Eve: 11-14 o'clock, 16-18 o'clock, and 19-21 o'clock. Now the afternoon and evening are fully booked, and there is only one box left at noon. The reporter asked "whether it is a bit rushed to eat for only two hours within the limited time", and the person in charge of the restaurant said: "There is no way, there are still customers waiting in the back, and the staff have to go home for the New Year in the evening." ”
As the Spring Festival approaches, Chinese New Year's Eve dinner reservations are "hard to find" and enter the "seller's market", followed by a variety of routines. The first is the deposit routine. When booking a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, most restaurants require a deposit.
A reporter from CCTV called the order of a time-honored East Third Ring Branch, and the staff responded: "The 6-person box is 2980 yuan, and the deposit is 1000 yuan. A well-known Xinjiang brand restaurant in the South Fourth Ring Road said, "No matter what price the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is booked, you need to pay a deposit of 1,000 yuan, if you cancel within a week of the dining time, the deposit will not be refunded, and you can refund it if you submit it one week in advance." ”
A lawyer in Nanjing explained to a reporter from CCTV: "The amount of the deposit shall be agreed upon by the parties, but it shall not exceed 20% of the amount of the subject matter of the main contract, and the excess part will not have the effect of the deposit." According to this calculation, the ** deposit of 2980 should not exceed 596 yuan, and the excess part does not have the effect of the deposit, if there is something to cancel the order, the restaurant should theoretically refund the part of the deposit that exceeds 20% of the subject matter of the main contract, that is, 404 yuan.
Hurricane", setting a minimum consumption in disguise?
Lawyers suggest that you can defend your rights in these situations.
The family usually gathers for dinner in this restaurant, but when I booked today, I found that the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner *** was three times more expensive than the usual consumption of the same number of people! Mr. Wang complained, "But there is no way, other restaurants have also hit**, either there are no seats or **is too expensive, I will eat at home next year." ”
For Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, the first impression of most consumers is "expensive". After comparing the Chinese New Year's Eve meals ** of many famous restaurants, the reporter of the Central Broadcasting Network found that ** is basically more than 1,000 yuan, except for the classic dishes of each store, most of them are new dishes specially prepared for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and consumers have no way to compare prices. On the other hand, some catering stores have set minimum conditions for private room consumption, and consumption has been virtually raised.
Gu Rong, a lawyer at Shanghai Rongli Tianwen (Changzhou) Law Firm, told a reporter from CCTV: "Article 26 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection" clearly stipulates that operators shall not make unfair and unreasonable provisions to consumers in the form of standard contracts, notices, statements, store notices, etc., otherwise the provisions will be invalid. This shows that the merchant does not have the right to require the consumer to pay the minimum purchase amount, otherwise it will infringe on the consumer's right to choose independently and to trade fairly. The Ministry of Commerce and the state have also jointly promulgated the "Measures for the Management of the Catering Industry (Trial)", which clearly stipulates that "catering operators are prohibited from setting minimum consumption". Secondly, the behavior of merchants setting up 'low consumption' may also constitute inducing and misleading consumers to overorder, which violates the provisions of Article 28 of the Anti-Food Waste Law. ”
According to Xu Feng, a lawyer at Shanghai Jiucheng Law Firm, according to the provisions of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection of the People's Republic of China", the behavior of using the box with the minimum consumption standard or ** is suspected of infringing on consumers' right to make their own choices.
The Beijing Catering Industry Association also called on the whole industry to maintain the Beijing Chinese New Year's Eve dinner market, and the association said that it is strictly forbidden to "seasonal prices", strictly prohibit non-pricing, strictly prohibit fictitious original prices, false discounts, low bids and high knots, and do not fulfill ** commitments and other ** frauds. In addition to providing a variety of forms of Chinese New Year's Eve meals, catering enterprises should also provide à la carte menus suitable for special needs.
The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission also issued a document in response to the "pain points" of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, calling on businesses not to set minimum consumption in disguise, and the regulatory authorities to accurately enforce the law, forcing catering operators to avoid routine points, infringement points, and waste points.
Xu Feng reminded consumers: "Article 9 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection stipulates that consumers have the right to choose goods or services independently. Consumers have the right to independently choose the business operators that provide goods or services, to choose the types of goods or services, to decide whether to buy or not to buy any kind of goods, and to accept or not to accept any kind of services. Consumers have the right to compare, identify and select goods or services when they choose goods or services independently. ”
*: CNR).