Consumer rights pros battle on (2)

But it is claimed some of these "professional" representatives are exploiting their services to make profit. According to the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers, consumers can receive 10 times the price of a product as compensation if it is found to be counterfeit.

These people don't seek to resolve the dispute first, said Zhang Zengbao, secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Commission of Shanghai's Huangpu district. Instead, they go to businesses and make unreasonable demands.

"In January, a man asked for tens of thousands of yuan in compensation over a packet of food worth just a few yuan after finding faults with the product, and said he wouldn't delete information about the product online until he was paid by the company," said Zhang.

Some of these "professionals" buy goods, thought to be counterfeit, from stores in different parts of the city, and then institute legal proceedings in several district courts at the same time to achieve maximum compensation, he said.

"Consumers can report to us if they find any counterfeit or substandard product. The motivation should not be to make a fortune," said Li Chunyan, a consumer protection official in Huangpu district.