A few days ago, Liang Jingru’s fans collectively launched a rights protection incident, which became a hot search. Fans said they spent 1,000 yuan to buy tickets for Liang Jingru’s Shanghai concert. After arriving at the scene, they found that the view from the seats to the center stage was completely blocked by the pillars erected in the venue area. Even if someone bought a high-priced seat in the first row of the infield area, they still couldn’t escape the "interference" of the pillars. The consumer experience was greatly discounted, so they got together and filed a "refund" application with the organizers.
Sun Qingyun, reporter of Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News
Watching singers becomes watching pillars, and the organizers put the "responsibility" on consumers
Ms. Liang’s May 20 concert at Mercedes-Benz Culture in Shanghai was her "first stop" in China, according to the organizers.
Ah Shui (a pseudonym) and her friends are both "post-95s". They have loved Liang Jingru since childhood, and they belong to the generation that grew up listening to her songs. So when she quickly grabbed the concert tickets, she was very excited. Moreover, she got 1,599 yuan for the infield ticket, the first row of the first game. But when they arrived at the scene, they found that "the pillar is too big, and it can be blocked from the first row to the last row. The further you go, the wider the range. If you are unfortunate enough to buy a spot in the fifth-floor stand, you can only admit that you are unlucky, because you can only see Liang Jingru’s lower body."
From the photos and videos taken by the audience at the scene, it can be seen that the live stage of Liang Jingru’s Shanghai concert is set up with a "four-sided platform". The stage is in the center of the venue and can be filled with spectators around. Compared with the "three-sided platform", the design of the "four-sided platform" can increase the capacity of the audience on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is convenient for the audience from every angle to watch the performance "without dead ends". However, in Liang Jingru’s Shanghai concert, "large pillars" were erected around, causing the vision of many spectators to be blocked.
Ah Shui introduced that in addition to the four large pillars, there is also a lighting device on the top floor of the stage, which presses the singer’s space even more narrowly, so that the audience who buys high-level seats can’t see the singer himself at all, and can only see the "set".
When Ah Shui posted her experience on the social platform, many people came to complain, and she realized that this was a real consumption "pit".
On June 8, Ah Shui told reporters that her rights group had received "no refunds" from the ticketing party one after another.
What she couldn’t accept was that the organizers and ticketing parties put all the "costs", "losses" and "responsibilities" on the consumers’ heads – they didn’t inform the consumers in advance that the tickets they bought were "pillar tickets", the price was not discounted, there was no staff to help adjust seats after the opening, and the artists didn’t even apologize.
"I think the most important thing is that when the ticket is issued, you should tell me that even if there are parentheses on the back of the ticket, and the prompt of’bad sight ‘is marked, then at least I can be mentally prepared and decide whether to grab it or not." Ah Shui said.
There are many "pillar tickets" for concerts. Why don’t the organizers mark them when selling tickets?
At present, there are more than 400 people in Ah Shui’s rights protection group, and some of them are onlookers. Mr. Jiang, the owner of the group, told reporters that because he was dissatisfied with the consumption experience of the "Pillar Ticket" concert, more than 400 other netizens formed another rights protection group. "As of May 31, the number of rights protection we actually received in the form of a questionnaire was 480 +, and no one successfully defended their rights."
On May 20, Mr. Jiang went to Liang Jingru’s concert with his lover, traveling all the way from Taizhou, Zhejiang to Shanghai. "It was a special day. We were fans of Liang Jingru, and we watched her first concert in our lives. That day, choosing to go to Shanghai to see her, was very meaningful to both of us."
At that time, he didn’t actually grab the admission ticket, but increased the price by 1,000 yuan to enter by purchasing invitations, two for 4,600. "After seeing the location, my heart was really broken."
Unlike Ah Shui, Mr. Jiang immediately realized that this arrangement was not reasonable for consumers, so before the opening, he went to the staff at the scene, but was eventually told: no positions can be changed, there are not so many vacancies, "He asked us to stand behind and watch, not to occupy the safe passage."
In this way, out of love for idols, Mr. Jiang and his lover chose to temporarily endure their grievances. After listening to this flawed concert, "I am in a position where I can’t see the singer himself for almost two-thirds of the time, and I can see the back the most."
The reporter searched on social platforms and found that the audience’s dissatisfaction with "pillar tickets" was spreading. Liu Ruoying’s concert in Beijing and Zhang Xinzhe’s concert in Shanghai… all had audience members who tweeted, "This kind of perspective, the organizer sells this kind of seat without writing a clear note, won’t your conscience hurt?"
Lawyer analysis, defective seats, consumers should be informed in advance
For this flawed concert, Ah Shui hopes to get a full refund compensation from the organizers in the end, "because the time and energy spent on rights protection is really a lot."
Mr. Jiang learned that after May 20, Liang Jingru held a second concert in Shanghai on May 21. The organizers and ticketing parties did not change, but some of the audience who bought "pillar tickets" learned about their flawed consumption experience before entering the venue, contacted the organizers in advance, and received full refund compensation, or changed to seats with unaffected views.
He hopes that the organizers will soon publish the working map of the refund area and determine a refund ratio plan. However, he is angry that the organizers have not given a direct response and solution even after the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission intervened.
According to the poster of Liang Jingru’s concert, the organizer of the Shanghai venue is Shanghai Rubik’s Cube Pan Culture Performing Arts Co., Ltd., and the organizer of the whole process is Yongdaoxing Entertainment Co., Ltd. On June 9, the reporter made multiple calls to the two companies, but no one answered. The barley network that provides ticket sales did not reply.
Ah Shui sighed helplessly: The current offline performance market seems to be like this. Obviously, consumers spend money to shop, but the final interpretation right has always been in the hands of the organizers, "What kind of tickets can be refunded? It is said that it does not meet the refund requirements, so what is this requirement?"
Ding Jinkun, a lawyer at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, believes that the concert "pillar ticket" is a defective seat, which should be discounted compared with other seats, and consumers should be informed in advance to allow consumers to have a choice. However, because they have already listened to the song, the contract has been fulfilled. "It cannot be refunded, but part of the discount can be refunded. The audience will give a method for calculating the proportion of the refund, and the organizer will also give a method to see which is more reasonable."
Zhao Liangshan, a lawyer at Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm, told reporters that as far as this incident is concerned, the organizers did not inform consumers in advance of the fact that the pillar blocked their line of sight. According to Article 8 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, the organizers violated consumers’ right to know.
According to Article 10 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, consumers have the right to arm’s length transaction. If the organizer sells the seat ticket with the column blocking the view at the normal fare, it violates the consumer’s arm’s length transaction right. "The consumer has every legitimate reason to ask the organizer to refund the ticket."