Cut off the gray industrial chain of "professional shopkeepers"
An education and training institution suddenly closed down, hundreds of parents suffered heavy losses, but the manipulator behind the scenes had already "escaped" - this is not a movie plot, but a real case that happened around us. Recently, the Shanghai police uncovered a new type of "professional shopkeeper" contract fraud case: three education and training institutions were continuously "taken over" and closed within half a year, causing more than 600 consumers to suffer property losses. This case once again revealed a corner of the gray industrial chain of "professional shopkeepers" and sounded the alarm for the whole society: this "cancer" must not be allowed to come back.
The so-called "professional store closers" are a team that specializes in planning "escape" operations for businesses that are poorly managed or even deliberately making money.
The state allows companies to change their legal representatives and improve corporate bankruptcy mechanisms to help poorly operating business entities exit the market legally and compliantly. However, this is used by some criminals as a tool for malicious infringement and money-taking to escape. Their operating methods often have fixed routines: first change the legal representative and transfer the store to a "backer" who has no actual ability to repay debts; after taking over the business, they naturally do not solve the problem, but instead engage in low-price promotions to create the illusion of a prosperous business and induce consumers to concentrate on recharging; when the funds are obtained, they suddenly close and lose contact, leaving behind a shell company and tearful consumers. This well-designed scam makes investigating cases very difficult and safeguarding rights extremely difficult.
In recent years, "professional shopkeepers" and the gray industrial chains derived from them have become a "cancer" that harms the market. First, it seriously disrupts the market order. While honest operators are still struggling to survive, some people are making easy profits by collecting money and running away. This effect of "bad money drives out good money" is extremely unfair to law-abiding businesses. Secondly, it greatly damages the social credit system. Prepaid consumption is a transaction model based on trust. When "running away" becomes "business", the trust cost of the entire society will be infinitely increased. Consumers will not dare to easily apply for cards or renew, and ultimately the entire consumer ecology will be damaged.
To completely curb the chaos of "professional shopkeepers", we must show the determination to draw out the bottom line and use a combination of supervision and punishment.
On the one hand, we must be serious about the word "punishment". The cross-departmental collaborative supervision mechanism must be improved. Public security, market supervision and other departments must form a joint research and judgment and rapid response mechanism, follow clues such as the whereabouts of funds and business transactions, and conduct in-depth investigations to uncover the actual controllers hiding behind the scenes. If it is verified, he will be severely punished in accordance with the law, including fines and compensation. If he is suspected of illegal activities such as fraud, he will be held accountable in accordance with the law. Only by truly raising the cost of violating the law can we truly create a deterrent and make those who want to reach out their hands afraid to do so.
On the other hand, we must make a fuss about the word "prevention". We need to plug loopholes at the source and move supervision forward. Relevant departments need to strengthen supervision of corporate capital flows and be alert to the risk of corporate capital chain breaks. When some companies with abnormal performance propose registration changes, qualification review should be strengthened to prevent some insolvent people from acting as legal representatives of companies with operating difficulties or even debts.
Consumers themselves also need to be more cautious. When facing prepaid consumption, you must remember: Don’t just listen to verbal promises, write down the service content, fee standards, refund methods and liability for breach of contract in black and white. This is not a formality, but the most powerful evidence for future rights protection. Don't take the risk on yourself just because you are greedy for discounts.
Don’t let the “professional shopkeepers” come back. This is not only the individual demand of consumers, but also the consensus of the whole society. When the convenience of the system does not become an opportunity for evil, and when every malicious escape cannot escape the law, the foundation of trust in the market can be re-established. Allowing law-abiding people to operate with confidence and consumers to consume with confidence is the good business environment we expect.
