On January 28, a blogger posted that he encountered ** "ghost scale" in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
* shows that the blogger is ready to sell the gold necklace to the merchant of ***, and the other party weighs 62 grams, and then he takes out his own electronic scale on the spot and weighs it, and the result shows that it is 77 grams, a difference of 15 grams.
The shopkeeper then threw his ** and the scale to the ground and abused the blogger. The blogger chose to call the police, and after arriving at the scene, he coordinated the staff of the Municipal Supervision Bureau to deal with it, and finally, the identification results showed:The electronic balance has been modified to include a remote decoding circuit board.
* "Ghost scales" are still relatively rare, and for a long time, the phenomenon of "lack of catties and short two" in the farmers' market has been deeply criticized.
On January 20, the Market Supervision Bureau of Sanya City, Hainan Province issued an investigation report saying that in response to the problem of netizens reporting that "buying fruit in Sanya becomes two catties of three catties", the Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau has found the mobile vendor.
Since November last year, the Market Supervision Bureau of Fengxian District, Shanghai has carried out a special rectification action on electronic pricing scales in farmers' markets throughout the district, confiscating a total of 11 unqualified electronic pricing scales and filing 12 cases.
On November 9 last year, the market supervision department of Dalian City, Liaoning Province carried out a special action to comprehensively rectify the order of the electronic scale market in the city, and investigated and dealt with 4 cases of illegal modification and sales of measuring instruments.
What exactly is a "ghost scale"? What are the common cheating methods of electronic scales? How can consumers identify "ghost scales"? How to defend your rights when you encounter a "ghost scale"?
What is a "ghost scale"?
Electronic scales belong to the national key management of measuring instruments. In accordance with the provisions of the Metrology Law, the electronic scale used for the settlement shall be subject to compulsory verification.
The so-called "ghost scales" are those electronic scales that have been manipulated and have some deviations between the weighing display and the actual weight.
What are the common cheating methods of electronic scales?
"Ghost scales" are hidden in the market, it is difficult to detect, some netizens lamented that "'ghost scales' are complicated, and there are many tricks for stealing customers", if you want to protect your legitimate rights and interests and not step into the trap of traders, you must understand the common routines of "ghost scales".
1.Under-scale bedding method
Some unscrupulous traders use coins, cardboard, and foam to raise the corner of the scale, so that the electronic scale is unevenly placed, resulting in a shortage of two catties.
2.Rounding
Using the setting that the electronic scale can only display two decimal places, the unit price is deliberately reduced by 100 times, such as 125 kg of goods, the unit price is 10 yuan a kilogram, and it should be charged 12 under normal circumstances5 yuan, but he deliberately hit ** as 0 on the electronic scale1 yuan a kilogram, so that the electronic scale will automatically put 0125 rounded to 013, you can charge 13 yuan to the customer.
3.Impact method
Through the impact of the force, it is to throw the goods heavily on the scale, and the weighing pan is still shaking when the weight is weighed, and usually the weight of the goods displayed at this time is heavier than the actual weight. Tests have shown that if the actual weight of a piece of meat is 0155 kg, when thrown the scale, it can reach 0198 kg, 43 grams heavier than it actually is.
4.Pallet ** method
That is, when the electronic scale is empty, it shows zero, but when weighing, the pallet is placed on the scale together with the commodity, and the weight of the pallet becomes part of the weight of the commodity.
5.Emphasis is made with magnets
If the weighing pan of the electronic scale is made of iron, it can be weighted with a magnet, and when weighing, use a small magnet to gently pass it at the bottom of the scale, and the weighing will be inflated.
6.Remote control cheats
Install a remote control receiver or install a switch in the electronic scale, set the remote control switch to three gears of a, b c, and the weighing will be inflated respectively.
7.Mask display method
There are weight, unit price, and three items on the electronic scale, and some vendors will deliberately block one of them, some directly block it with paper strips or tape, and some use the messy goods stacked on the stall to deceive consumers by false grid or weight.
8.Chip cheat law
Criminals use technical means to change the electronic chip of the scale, so that the weight is heavier than the actual weight, such as modifying the electronic chip, through the preset button or change the password, the state of the electronic scale can be adjusted at any time, the same is 500 grams of things, press different "keys", the display weight can be changed to 550 grams, 600 grams.
How do consumers identify "ghost scales" in their daily lives?
The phenomenon of "ghost scales" is common in various commodity stalls with high unit prices, such as durian, cherries, seafood, etc., and there are usually three ways to identify "ghost scales".
A look:Look at whether the electronic scale has a CPA logo, see if the green "strong inspection" label within the validity period is posted, and see whether the unit price entered by the merchant is correct, so as to prevent the merchant from cheating when the consumer can't see clearly.
Second listening:Pay attention to whether the electronic scale makes a "beep" button sound before weighing, if there is, it is likely that the merchant is cheating by some means, at this time, you can ask the merchant to reset and re-weigh after the power is off.
Tri-core:Most bazaars and supermarkets are equipped with fair scales, which can be used for weight checking.
How should consumers protect their rights when they encounter "ghost scales"?
In the process of consumption, pay attention to keep relevant evidence such as shopping vouchers, transaction records, certificates** or chat records.
When consumer rights and interests are harmed, consumers may first choose to negotiate with the operator, and if the negotiation fails, they may file complaints, reports, or lawsuits with the relevant departments.
What laws and regulations are violated by using and selling "ghost scales"?
The reduction of "ghost scales" also requires joint supervision by consumers, and the use and sale of "ghost scales" are illegal.
Liu Junli, a senior partner and lawyer at DHH Law Firm, introduced that the use of "ghost scales" by merchants mainly violates the relevant provisions of the "Metrology Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Consumer Rights Protection of the People's Republic of China", and will bear administrative penalties and civil liability.
For businesses that use "ghost scales", according to Article 27 of the Measurement Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 48 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measurement Law of the People's Republic of China, they will generally be sentenced to confiscation of their measuring instruments and all illegal gains, and may be fined less than 2,000 yuan, and criminal responsibility can be investigated if the circumstances are serious.
At the same time, according to the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection of the People's Republic of China (2013 Amendment), the merchant shall also bear civil liability, that is, compensate for the loss, and shall increase the compensation for the loss suffered by the consumer according to the consumer's request, and the amount of the increased compensation shall be 3 times the price of the goods purchased by the consumer or the cost of receiving services; Where the amount of increased compensation is less than 500 RMB, it is 500 RMB.
Merchants who sell "ghost scales" may also bear criminal liability. AllBright Law Offices' partner and lawyer Quan Kaiming introduced that this kind of online sale of electronic scales is illegal, and if the circumstances are serious, there is even criminal liability.
According to Article 27 of the Metrology Law of the People's Republic of China (2018 Amendment), anyone who manufactures, sells or uses measuring instruments for the purpose of deceiving consumers shall have the measuring instruments and illegal gains confiscated and fined; where the circumstances are serious, the individuals or units directly responsible are to be pursued for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law.
Some netizens believe that the repeated prohibition of "ghost scales" also lies in the fact that the punishment is too small.
In this regard, Liu Junli said that the punishment is not small in terms of one order, and now the relevant departments will generally deal with consumer complaints according to the maximum limit. Source: Yangcheng Evening News, Xing**, CCTV News Client, Guoshi Through Train, China Consumer Daily, China Quality News Network, Hebei Market Supervision, Jiujiang Market Supervision Release, Hohhot Market Supervision Administration, Dalian Market Supervision Administration, Sanya Market Supervision Administration, Haibo Bay People's Procuratorate.
*: Luzhong Morning News.