Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    THE upcoming Chinese New Year can be joyful, with family reunions and relaxing holidays, but it is also a period when traps may be set for some careless consumers. The city’s consumer council released several pieces of advice yesterday to help residents be cautious around the Spring Festival holiday.

    With the holiday coming, more stores, hotels and airlines are promoting their brands with discounts or coupons. Many of the stores put time limitations or other conditions by which consumers can enjoy their discounts.

    Thus it would be better if consumers read all of the conditions before rushing to pay for the seemingly cost-effective deals.

    Especially when booking a family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, consumers should pay close attention to the restaurant’s hygiene conditions, capacity to serve customers and operating license for a catering business.

    Prices of dishes, private room number, time duration of dinner and extra cleaning fees should also be inquired about before making reservations for the biggest dinner of the whole year, reminded the council.

    Shopping for the Spring Festival is one of the most important events on the to-do-list of most Chinese families, but it is crucial for consumers to be fully clear about the rules about the discounts or promotions at some malls and especially online shops that sell goods at extremely low prices.

    Keeping receipts and screenshots of shopping records from the online shops can help consumers protect their own rights if they find that the products are not what they had expected to get. It is recommended that consumers purchase goods from online stores with higher credibility rankings.

    The consumer council also suggested that residents be careful about purchasing memberships at beauty salons, barber shops and gyms during the Spring Festival as this is the hot season for these stores to lure customers with low-priced prepaid membership cards. Contracts for consumption, which include all of the conditions for use, transfer and termination of the membership cards, should help customers avoid being trapped in conflicts.

    Moreover, traveling instead of staying at home during the Chinese New Year holiday is becoming more trendy among Shenzhen residents, but it can also be risky if they purchase low-priced package tours promoted by travel agencies.

    One more trap phone users may easily fall for is the “Battle of Red Envelopes.” It is a long-time tradition for Chinese people to distribute lucky money inside the envelopes, also called “hongbao,” to wish people good luck during the Spring Festival, and now more people are doing it online via WeChat, Alipay or other mobile phone apps.

    Some scammers might take this chance to swindle people out of money by spreading hongbao or QR codes through which phone users can win lucky money. Residents should be extra wary of strange links and text messages in order to protect their property, suggested the council.