Website Addressing Consumer's Complaints Meets Cold Shoulder

While the hotlines of the Consumers' Association are heavily crammed everyday with complaint calls, its online service has been given a cold shoulder since it was launched one month ago.

The webmaster of the web site, www.12315.com, said although the website has received a total of 6,936 clicks, only one visitor made online complaint.

Experts say this around-the-clock online service should have been a more effective efficient channel than telephone as it provides complete guide on commodity laws and complaint procedures to the consumers, giving them a clear idea about their rights as consumers and the necessary evidence to be collected for a complaint. All these instructions are usually not available with telephone complaints.

However, as the development of the Internet is still in its initial stage, most of the ordinary people lack access to it and many think it's too expensive. However, experts predicted that as time goes on, an increasing number of consumers will turn to this new method.

People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/