Recently, a reply circulated in Zhihu about "What do you think is useless to report, but actually useful?" triggered a heated discussion among netizens. The net post tells the whole process that the client took the restaurant to court because he ate a hair in beef noodles and finally succeeded in defending his rights. Many people rated it as "the most comfortable rights post". A few days ago, Judge Shui of Haishu District Court, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, who participated in the trial of the case, exclusively restored the whole story of the case in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily reporter, and suggested "how to correctly defend rights".
Consumers eat their hair.
Sue the restaurant for a thousand dollars.
On July 2, when Xiao Hai (pseudonym) was eating noodles in a noodle restaurant in Ningbo, he found a hair in the bowl that was longer than noodles, so he called the waiter to ask. Unexpectedly, the waiter was very arrogant. Instead of apologizing, he said, "It’s normal to have a hair! Shall I change a bowl for you? " After Xiaohai refused to change a bowl, the waiter said, "Do whatever you like." Xiao Hai, who was angry, called the consumer rights hotline to apply for mediation, demanding "one refund and three compensation", but was rejected by the restaurant. Finally, Xiao Hai successfully solved the matter through legal channels.
When the reporter of Beiqing Daily contacted Xiaohai, he had returned to the normal pace of life. "I have to work overtime every day and I am very busy." But when talking about the experience of defending rights a month ago, he felt that his "trueness" was necessary.
Xiaohai introduced in the net post that he went to the Haishu District People’s Court in Ningbo to submit the indictment on July 6, and successfully completed the filing procedure with the patient assistance of the staff in the court self-service filing area. On the 11th, the two sides rushed to the court mediation center for mediation again. During the mediation process, Xiaohai invoked Article 148 of the Food Safety Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) and asked the store to "refund one and compensate one thousand", but there was a big gap with the store’s proposal of "refund one and compensate ten", and the mediation ended in failure again.
On July 18th, the People’s Court of Haishu District, Ningbo City filed a case on this matter. Xiaohai, as the plaintiff, insisted on his claim and asked the defendant restaurant to "refund one for one thousand".
The last pre-trial mediation
The restaurant let go and agreed to pay compensation
According to the original plan, the case will be heard on August 15. But before the trial, the case ushered in a turning point.
The judge in charge of hearing the case, Shui Hongdong, told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that the case did not enter the trial because the two sides reached an agreement in the last pre-trial mediation and the store agreed to Xiaohai’s request of "returning one and paying one thousand".
The store persisted for so long, why did it suddenly agree to Xiaohai’s request before the court session? Judge Shui explained: "The attitude of both parties in the pre-trial mediation after filing the case is relatively mild. Although the previous two mediations were unsuccessful, this pre-trial mediation is the last pass. If mediation fails again, it will be pronounced in court. The defendant may also feel that if he can’t adjust this time, he will go to court for judgment. The judgments must be made public according to law and can be found online, which has a bad influence on the reputation of their store. After all, they are a chain store and pay more attention to their own brands. "
Judge Shui said that the final success of pre-trial mediation mainly depends on the communication between the two parties, and the court mediation is also carried out according to the wishes of both parties. "Our mediation also requires that we must follow the law. At that time, the plaintiff directly laid out the specific provisions of the Food Safety Law as the basis, and the mediation process was very smooth. "
Accountability is the right of consumers.
Rights protection cases are on the rise.
According to Judge Shui, although there are not many cases brought to court because of a single hair like this case, similar consumer rights protection cases are very common. "Now consumers’ awareness of rights protection is increasing, and the younger people are, the stronger their awareness of rights protection is, and such consumer rights protection cases are also on the rise in our court."
The special feature of this case is that the amount involved is small, and most people will choose not to do it after such an event. In this regard, Judge Shui believes that choosing to pursue responsibility is the right of consumers. "Some people may think that he is too serious, but this comparison is really in line with the law and is the personal right of consumers. It is still good to have such a positive awareness of rights protection. On the one hand, it can safeguard its own interests, on the other hand, it can also supervise enterprises to operate more legally and in compliance. This is a mutually beneficial thing in itself, which will make the market ecological environment better and better. If everyone doesn’t respond to this kind of thing, then the wrong business will only become more and more rampant. "
Judge Shui said that there was a certain degree of mobility in the case that a single hair finally triggered a lawsuit. "Similar situations are very common in life. If the waiter in the hotel had a better attitude, apologized and gave a new face, the two sides might not have come to this stage of litigation."
Text/reporter Kong Lingqi
judge
The "receipt and hair photos" kept by the plaintiff are of great significance.
After the incident attracted attention, some people thought that it might be Xiao Hai’s "self-directed and self-performed" touching porcelain. In response to this statement, Judge Shui said: "For this case, it is not convenient to express opinions because there is no trial. However, the Consumer Protection Law and other relevant laws clearly point out that consumers are in a weak position and generally need to be inclined to protect them, which is stipulated by law. In addition, from a common sense point of view, I personally think that ordinary consumers will not make similar moves. After all, there are a few people who will do so. "
When it comes to going through legal procedures, some people will inevitably worry that going through legal channels will not only cost a lot of money, but also cost a lot of time. Judge Shui introduced that it is very convenient to go through the litigation procedure now. "Ningbo has now set up a mobile micro-court, which can file a case on the spot, online or by mail. You only need to install a WeChat applet on your mobile phone to go through the whole litigation process. That is to say, the court is in Ningbo, but the party is in Beijing. He can hold a court session directly without going to the scene to participate in the trial, so it is particularly convenient. "
As for the issue of legal fees, Judge Shui said that many consumer rights protection cases are very simple and clear now, and relevant legal provisions can be directly found on the Internet as the basis of litigation. "For example, in this case, neither party hired a lawyer to defend, and the legal fees are not high, only 25 yuan."
Judge Shui suggested that when consumers defend their rights, "the first thing is to enhance their legal awareness and learn to use legal weapons to protect their rights and interests. When you put the legal provisions clearly in front of the other party, he has nothing to say; The second is to keep evidence in time when encountering problems. Evidence is very important, and we all say ‘ Evidence is the soul of litigation ’ The final handling of the case still depends on the evidence given by both parties. Like this case, the plaintiff consciously left a receipt for beef noodles and a photo with hair in it, which played a great role in the final mediation. The third is to enhance their awareness of rights, and not always eat ‘ Yabakui ’ Let’s not make trouble or be afraid of trouble. Now is the Internet age, and everything is very convenient, including court proceedings, which can also be conducted online. "
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