Whether Should We Protect Consumers’ Rights and Interests

消费者是购买和使用产品和服务的人。我们都是消费者，消费者在一个国家的经济体系中扮演着重要的角色。没有消费者的需求，生产者将缺乏一个主要的动机产生。而今天，侵害消费者权益的现象也不断增多，例如，人们在购买东西时出现质量问题，购买假冒伪劣产品，在餐厅就餐等这些违规行为，一些消费者选择保持沉默，其他人则以错误的方式保护自己的权益。消费者与经营者是相互依赖、相互对立的阵营，而消费者作为弱势群体，往往面临着巨大的风险和损害，本文将重点讨论是否应该保持消费者权益。

Consumer is someone who buys and uses products and services. All of us are consumers, and customers play a vital role in the economic system of a nation. Without consumer demand, producers would lack one of the key motivations to produce: to sell to customers. The client also forms part of the chain of distribution. In any society, all people are required to be as the main client: to maintain survival, first of all, food, clothing, shelter, and these basic requirements must be met. And in society which characterized by the division of economic and social goods, customers get consumption by the exchange of commodities involved. Thus, in modern times, there are two boundaries which are consumers and operators of shared class. Consumers and operators are interdependent and mutually antagonistic different camp, and consumers as a vulnerable group, often face enormous risks and damage because of operator fraud, deception, and malicious acts of negligence. Especially in contemporary society and knowledge economy era industry, consumers and operators have the asymmetry information problem in the same transaction, and disadvantaged clients are more vulnerable while operators have more hegemony. For this reason, the consumer protection movement arose, and it has become a common phenomenon in various countries laws in the world today, there are more and more disputes about the rights and interests of consumers and problems in the handling of such disputes (Bin, 2010). And, today, the phenomena which violating consumers’ rights and interests also continue increasing, for example, having quality problems when people bought things, buying fake and inferior products, and belongings are stolen when eating in the restaurant, etc. After these series of violations, some consumers choose to remain silence, and others protect their rights in wrong ways.

This kind of phenomena brings great influence to consumers: if they meet quality problems, they will suffer some economic losses; if they buy fake and inferior products, they will have health problems even they will be murdered by the products; if their belongings lose when eating or buying, maybe their important certificates will never be got back, thus they suffer losses which beyond compensation. Each of us is consumer, and we are a society cell so that our rights are society’s right. If our rights cannot be protected, society’s right will not be protected either, and if society’s rights cannot be protected, there will be much chaos and panic. The protection of financial consumers is an indispensable guarantee for the sound development of the financial market. (DeJarnatt, 1998) Why do clients’ rights and interests suffer damage? This is because merchants want to higher profit.

Law is a system of rules enforced by governments to govern behavior. Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation, the executive through decrees and regulations, or judges through binding precedent (normally in common law jurisdictions). Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept substitute arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. Consumer rights are afforded when a legislature enacts laws that prevent fraudulent and unfair business practices. This form of law is called Consumer Protection Law. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection helps protect and police consumer rights. Each country and state have their own restrictions on business practices; however, most fraud is prevented when consumers know their rights, do their research and report illegal activities when they happen. It has to be a knowledgeable buyer to exercise your rights.

Consumer Protection Law or Consumer Law is considered an area of law that regulates private law relationships between individual consumers and the businesses that sell those goods and services. Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, including but not necessarily limited to product liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud, misrepresentation, and other customer business interactions. The legal theory of consumer protection law as an emerging discipline becomes increasingly prominent. Revised Protection Law of Consumer’s Rights and Interests came into practice on March15, 2014, requesting the participation of consumers in the development of mandatory standards (DeJarnatt, 1998). For customers, it is a weapon and basis to protect themselves. It’s a way of preventing fraud and scams from service and sales contracts, bill collector regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, personal loans that may lead to bankruptcy. Law of the People’s Republic of China on Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests tells us rights of clients clearly. According to article 7, “Consumers shall, in their purchasing and using commodities or receiving services, enjoy the right to the inviolability of their personal and property safety. Customers shall have the right to demand business operators to supply commodities and services up to the requirements of personal and property safety”. According to article 8, “Consumers shall enjoy the right to obtain accurate information of the commodities they purchase and use or the services they receive. Consumers shall have the right to demand business operators, in light of the different conditions of commodities or services, to provide their prices, origin, manufacturers, usage, functions, standards, grades, main ingredients, date of production, term of validity, certificates of inspection, operation instructions, after sale services or information relating to contents, standards and costs of the services”. According to article 9 “Consumers shall enjoy the right of free choice of commodities or services. Consumers shall have the right to make a free choice of business operators for supply of commodities or services, select freely among varieties of articles or forms of services and decide independently to buy or not to buy any kind of commodities, or to accept or not to accept any item of services. Customers shall have the right to make comparisons, differentiation s and selections when they make a free choice of commodities or services”. According to article 10 “Consumers shall enjoy the right of a fair deal. Consumers shall, in their purchasing commodities or receiving services, have the right to obtain a fair deal prerequisite such as a guarantee of quality, reasonable prices and correct measurement, and have the right to refuse any compulsory transaction of business operators”. (Moore, 2002)So, as mentioned, having quality problems when people bought things, buying fake and inferior products, and belongings are stolen when eating in the restaurant, if customers’ these legal rights are violated, merchants must break the Consumer Protection Law. If consumers let these kinds of illegal things happen, in other words, consumers do not protect themselves in legitimate ways, they will suffer more illegal cases. Thus customers will suffer property damage and mental anguish. 

So in the legal community, all of us should safeguard our legitimate rights in the following three aspects.

First of all, as consumers, they must have some legal knowledge, and they must know laws, understand laws, and legitimize their rights. Customers can use following ways to protect their right. First, understand the People’s Republic of China Consumer Protection Law. Consumer Protection Law clearly state consumer rights, and it is the reason for consumers to protect themselves in permissible ways. Second, understand the products well before buying property. Know the types of goods, specifications, performance, materials, structures, certification, manufacture date, expiration date, instructions for use, service and other related merchandise to their specific situation, trademark, manufacturer, producer, and distributor. Third, save proof of purchase. After the purchase, clients should request sellers’ invoice, receipt or other written proof material, so when compromised, these materials can effectively claim. Auto-negotiate with the businessmen. When consumers find the goods do not conform to their needs, they should communicate with the businessmen for the first time, and pointed out that their products do not meet the purpose and apply for a replacement. This is because business operators shall ensure that the commodities and services they supply meet the requirements for personal or property safety. As to commodities and services liable to harm personal or property safety, business operators shall give the consumers truthful explanation and clear out warnings, and shall explain or indicate the correct ways of using the 

Commodities or receiving services as well as the methods of preventing damage. Business operators shall, upon discovery of serious defects of the commodities or services they supply which are liable to harm personal or property safety even though the commodities are correctly applied or services are received in a correct way, immediately report to the administrative departments concerned and inform the consumers, and adopt measures to prevent damage. Online shopping-seven days no cause to return, and online shopping is very convenient. But the data also brings great challenges, privacy protection is one of them, so consumers should pay attention to protect their privacy. According to Lan (2014), “Special problems arising from online shopping and personal information protection have been outlined and dealt with properly.” From March 15, 2014, for online shopping, if products do not meet consumers’ needs, they can have no reason to return. The premise of no reason to return is that the products have not been opened. And avoid giving your personal information online. One of the best ways to protect your consumer rights is to be knowledgeable about online scanning techniques, which grow more advanced every day. Do not provide your personal, credit card or email address out unless you know you are using a trusted site. Fourth, call 12315 for help. If consumers communicate with the merchant having no avail, they can call 12315 phones to conduct rights through legal channels. This approach is the most direct and effective way to protect legal rights. Unscrupulous businessmen can get the most effective punishment. Before calling 12315, it is best to retain a valid certificate of improper trading businesses. All in all, to be a happy customer civilization. Consumers’ attitudes have a significant impact on purchasing behavior (Wang, 2008). When customer rights are violated, they can protect themselves through various means. At the same time, we have to realize that we cannot use falsify evidence to harm the interests of businessmen. Please remember to be a happy customer civilization. There are two examples: in Beijing, a woman named Hu Juan, she ate in a restaurant. After dinner, she found that her purse lost, and in this time, she had no money to pay the meal and she called the waiter for help. However, the waiter asked Miss Hu to pay the meal and pointed the placard which says “please take care of your property, if you lose something, it is your business”. Miss Hu was very quiet and called the police. At last, the police investigated the case, and Miss Hu did not pay the meal but the restaurant paid her compensation 1000 yuan. Miss Hu knew the law and used it to protect herself successfully. The other example, in Xi’an, a senior high school student named Cuicui who is a boarding students, she bought a new shirt in a small shop when she went back to school, but when she went back to her dormitory, she found it that the shirt had quality problem and she could not put it on. She did not know how to do but cry, and her deep heart, she blamed herself for her wasting money and her low resolution. She suffered property damage and mental anguish. It is clear that Cuicui has no legal awareness so that she cannot protect herself in a legal way. Clients should be afforded the ability to choose their products. This has led to legislation against monopolies. If competition and choice are unavailable for certain products, the customer must be given a fair price and quality. It should make sure all businesses have the proper licenses before buying from them. This is especially critical with medical personnel, lawyers and contractors. Almost any business must register with a state or national agency.

Second, government and related, departments play a key role in the Consumer Protection Law. Client Protection is a group of laws and organizations designed to ensure the rights of consumers as well as fair trade, competition and accurate information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unethical practices from gaining an advantage over competitors. They may also provide additional protection for those most vulnerable in society. Consumer Protection Laws are a form of government regulation, which aim to protect the rights of clients. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products-particularly in areas where safety or public health is a matter, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of consumer rights, and the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace and get help with consumer complaints (Ye, 2006). So, government and related departments should be perfect laws and regulations to help consumers to get their legitimate rights and interest, or consumers have no place to appeal for having no related laws to protect and support them. Otherwise, To Supervise the market, government and related departments should establish the concept of administrative law, let the supervising market in the managerial track, and widen the scope of regulation. To strengthen market supervision, government must standardize governmental enforcement actions, and establish a highly qualified law enforcement team so that to enforce the law and govern for the people. Government and related departments use “category management, distance supervision” concept to strengthen consumer rights protection system and improve the organizational efficiency of consumer protection. Government and related departments should transfer the original invisible market to visible market, to create a more harmonious environment for consumption.

Third, public opinion and supervision of mass media have great influence in our daily life, and we should take full advantage of them. It is essential for building and maintaining long-lasting mutually trustful relationships between customers and merchants with supervision (Pizzutti, 2010), which is similar to Kim’s conclusion in his study (2009). The public opinion and supervision of mass media play an important role in the social life of the modern democratic and rule of law country. Strengthening of public opinion through supervision of mass media is one of the principal integrated parts of social civilization. Media exposure of rights. For background, influential illegal businesses, consultative approach, a variety of activists blocked by a variety of media (television, web sites, microbiology, etc.) exposed their illegal activities, by the pressure of public opinion and the attention of senior government officials to the depth of rights. Customer Protect Laws also protect the public from false or misleading advertising. For instance, automobile dealers have been known to advertise a vehicle at a reduced price in order to draw shoppers to the dealership. Once they arrive, however, that vehicle or sales price is no longer available. The dealer will then pressure shoppers into purchasing a vehicle on less favorable terms. In addition to these “bait and switch” advertising tactics. Consumer rights laws address things like warranty misrepresentation, defective products, forced arbitration clauses, identity theft, and other types of harassment and fraud.

All of us are consumers, and all of us should protect clients’ rights and interests. Consumer protection will encourage fair competition, and restrict unfair competition. Acts which harm the interests of consumers actually is the biased competition, and this kind of behavior must be limited and combat. If left operators detriment of consumers, it will make the most honest operators down and pollute the competitive environment.

Protecting consumer rights will help improve people’s living standards and quality of life. In the past planned economy, because of a shortage of supply, the consumer was difficult to take into account the quality of the goods and services. The state cannot be put on a higher demand, and this is actually a reflection of low living standards. In a market economy, through the protection of consumers’ rights, customers can buy desirable goods and services, and it is o mark to improve the people’s living standards. Protecting consumer rights will help improve the economic efficiency of enterprises and the whole society in our country. Counterfeit products flooding in the city, because the quality of services is not high although there are many different kinds, and the lack of a strong consumer rights protection, the lack of acts harmful to consumers’ rights to crack down and punish is also an important factor. If the government can effectively protect consumers’ rights, then, those who rely on the manufacturing of fake and shoddy products deceive customers’ money by businesses and individuals will not be able to survive. Heavier penalties would be given to business owners in the event a product resulted in the death of a consumer (Xu, 2013). The lawful rights and interests of the majority of enterprises can be adequately protected so that the whole society by a legitimate business, legitimate competition to improve the economic efficiency of good business ethics. This makes it conducive to encourage enterprises to strengthen management, improve product quality and service quality, enhance economic efficiency and promote social progress.

Why is customer protection important? Consumer Protection Laws are designed to prevent some forms of exploitative financial scenarios. In addition, they regulate how financial institutions can collect debts and the interest rates they can charge. Historically, banks and other entities have entered into one-sided agreements with customers facing financial hardship. These regulations are designed to prevent fraudulent situations.

Consumer Protection Laws also guarantee fair competition. If one financial institution uses immoral lending or collection practices, its competitors might have difficulty keeping up and might feel forced into practicing the same iniquitous acts. By implementing and enforcing strong laws, regulators and lawmakers can prevent a race to the bottom.

In 2010, the United States created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to the financial crises that started in 2007. (Kennedy, 2001)This agency provides a number of tools to help people determine how abundant their loans cost over time, and their tools are targeted toward college students and others who might face high interest rates. The bureau allows customers to lodge complaints online, and it has regulatory power to investigate and bring charges against violators.

Consumer Protection Law helps keep people safe from unscrupulous financial arrangements. These regulations are often strengthened in response to widespread financial hardship. Protecting consumers also protect businesses from unethical competition. So, all of us should protect clients’ rights and interests.

Consumer Protection Law provides customers the powerful weapon to against who safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. Development and implementation of the Consumer Protection Law prompt consumers to improve consumers own legitimate rights and sense of self-protection awareness. 

References
Bin, G. U. A. N. (2010). On the Protection of Financial Consumers. Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Social Science Edition),1, 013.
DeJarnatt, S. L. (1998). Once is Not Enough: Preserving Consumers' Rights to Bankruptcy Protection. Ind. LJ, 74, 455.
Kennedy, M. S., Ferrell, L. K., & LeClair, D. T. (2001). Consumers' trust of salesperson and manufacturer: an empirical study. Journal of Business Research, 51(1), 73-86.
Moore, P. (2002). Steal This Disk: Copy Protection, Consumers' Rights, and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Nw. UL Rev., 97, 1437.
Ye_wei, Q. I. U. (2006). Research on Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers. Journal of Chongqing Institute of Technology, 4, 025.
Lan Xinzhen. (2014). Consumer Protection Gets Ahead. Business
http://www.bjreview.com.cn/business/txt/2014-03/24/content_608649_2.htm
Xu wei. (2013). New regulation to protect consumers' privacy. CHINA DAILY.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-11/14/content_17106609.htm
Liao, L., & Zhong, J. (2013). Consumer satisfaction, trust and loyalty in c2c electronic commerce. International Conference on Information Technology & Management Science Proceedings.
Pizzutti, C., & Fernandes, D. (2010). Effect of recovery efforts on consumer trust and loyalty in e-tail: a contingency model. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 14, 4, 127-160.
Kim, D. J., Ferrin, D. L., & Rao, H. R. (2009). Trust and satisfaction, two stepping stones for successful e-commerce relationships: a longitudinal exploration.. Information Systems Research, 20, 2, 237-257.



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