AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/25 Report--

Since the protection of the rights of female owners of Mercedes-Benz in Xi'an, Mercedes-Benz has actually been at the forefront of the wind and waves. Although the Xi'an incident ended temporarily with a settlement between the two sides, the impact of this incident is far from over. In particular, the "hidden rules" of the industry of "financial service fees" have been pulled out in this incident.

A few days ago, some media exposed that Qingdao Tongxin Automobile sales and Service Co., Ltd. forced consumers to buy insurance in the store and charge a service fee for loans to buy cars. At present, the sales staff involved have been suspended. Liu Peng, general manager of Qingdao Tongxin Automobile sales and Service Co., Ltd., said that the next step will carefully sort out the company's internal management process and business process.

In July this year, Mr. Zhang of Qingdao planned to buy a new car at Qingdao Tongxin Automobile sales and Service Co., Ltd. when he selected the model and paid the deposit for the loan to buy the car, the sales consultant told him that he had to buy insurance in the store. Is this really the case? On August 16, the reporter accompanied Mr. Zhang to this store again.

After asking about the specific situation, the reply of the salesperson is: "you can go out and inquire, the 4S store here has a handling fee as long as there is a loan."

Not only Mr. Zhang, but Ms. Li from Hanting District of Weifang also encountered compulsory insurance when she bought a car in Weifang Hongfa Kaidi Automobile sales and Service Co., Ltd.

In 2017, the Ministry of Commerce issued the measures for the Administration of Automobile sales. Article 14 of the measures stipulates that when dealers sell cars, they shall not force consumers to buy insurance or provide them with services such as vehicle registration.

As for the sales staff's reply, the reporter found the local commerce department to understand, Qingdao Chengyang District Commerce Bureau staff said: "if you are forced to buy (insurance), this will not work."

In addition, the reporter also found that some 4S stores call it a financial service fee when charging this fee. The salesperson at the 4S store said that it would be more expensive to buy a car in full than in installments.

Clerk: "I want to earn you 5000 yuan in installments, but I can give you more, or you can pay all the money, but the price of the car is 5000 higher. Let me give you an example. I have to earn this money back."

For this practice of the 4S store, the reporter consulted a lawyer. The lawyer said that through the sales behavior of the 4S store staff, he has a certain degree of compulsion in the process of providing goods or loan services, which is suspected of violating the provisions of Article 14 of the Automobile sales Administration measures.

With regard to the compulsory charging behavior of the automobile sales industry, Zhang Deping, director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, said that there are provisions in the automobile sales management measures, the charging items must be made public in obvious places, the two sides reach an agreement and issue formal invoices. And stressed that "it is definitely not possible to charge for financial services."

Next, the Provincial Department of Commerce for the sales of 4S stores will step up efforts to investigate and deal with. Once a violation is found, from a warning to a maximum fine of 30,000 yuan, the business department will deal with it in accordance with the rules and regulations. It also urges Qingdao to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the city's more than 800 4s stores and conscientiously do a good job in rectification and reform.

In fact, there is no clear definition of "financial service fee" in legal provisions and industry norms, which is usually a means for lenders to charge high interest in disguise, that is, to attract customers by promoting low interest rates in order to obtain high returns at the same time. Fees charged in addition to interest.

And it has also been exposed that many businesses charge "financial service fees" through a variety of "unknown" fees in disguise. Therefore, it is hoped that the relevant departments in various regions should step up efforts to regulate the automobile sales industry, so that consumers can buy cars more at ease.

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