“I bought a type of herbal tea from online that was said to be helpful for hair growth. When I was hesitating whether to buy it, the shop assistant assured me that if it did not work within half a month, I could ask for a full refund. They sent with the parcel a letter of commitment about the refund. I drank it for half a month but felt no effect at all, so I decided to ask for a refund. But the seller cannot be found,” complained Mrs. Jia from Suzhou, Jiangsu, to a reporter with jxntv.cn on December 26, 2014.
 
A deal resulting from an advertising webpage
The woman in her sixties told the reporter that on November 27, she visited an advertising webpage publicizing a type of herbal tea for hair growth. Troubled with little hair as she got on in years, she was attracted to the advertisement and immediately contacted the online shop assistant. “The assistant said that within half a month, new hair would grow. Otherwise I could ask for a full refund,” said Mrs. Jia, “and she promised to send me a letter of commitment with the parcel of herbal tea.” Mrs. Jia eventually bought RMB720 worth of it that would last for one course of treatment.
 
Failure to contact the seller
“I felt no effect at all after drinking the tea for half a month,” said Jia, who therefore called the shop, “I was told that someone would contact me to pay back my money, but no one called me yet.” She called the shop quite a few times later, but none of the calls were answered.
 
The photos about the herbal tea shows that except for the product name handwritten in bold characters on the outer packing, nothing was said about it. Obviously, it was a “3-without product” (“Sanwu chanping” in Chinese pinyin, i.e., product without information about the production date, the producer, or the production license).
 
A false address
On December 26, the reporter went to Nanchang to check the place that Mrs. Jia offered, only to find the house number was faked. Later, the reporter tried to call the shop, but still no one answered.
 
Mrs. Jia said she had already reported the case to Nanchang Administration for Industry and Commerce, but had not yet received any reply from the agency.
 
Lawyers warn of advertising webpage deceit
According to Xiong Hengming, a lawyer from Dacheng Nanchang office, the online shop’s behavior constitutes consumer fraud, against which consumers can file complaints and seek double refund.
 
As regards problems of false address, attorney Xiong says that relevant authorities can locate the IP address of the shop and close it down. The attorney also suggests that online shoppers go to authoritative websites and be careful of webpage advertisements.