Claiming that "you can learn by reading", the layers of charging are a "bottomless pit" and it is easy to get into a trap and difficult to refund.
There are so many AI short video training routines
As AI short dramas and short videos become more and more popular, training companies for AI short video creation have also emerged. However, the Beijing 12345 citizen hotline has received complaints from trainees who received training, saying that these training companies have induced trainees to "fall into the pit" step by step through the lavish publicity in the live broadcast room. Some anchors claim that "you can learn by reading" and induce middle-aged and elderly people to sign up for classes; some have promised that there will be no secondary charges, but have advanced to charge multiple times during the training; others claim that they can terminate the contract at any time if they are not satisfied, but when students find that they have been "riddled", it is difficult to apply for a refund. Beijing Daily reporters launched an investigation into this.
Routine 1: Inducing middle-aged and elderly people to sign up for classes, claiming that “you can learn by reading”
Ms. Zhang, who is in her 50s, came into contact with short video training purely by chance. One day while she was watching videos, she suddenly came across a promotional live broadcast about AI short video training. The anchor talked endlessly in the live broadcast room. Ms. Zhang still remembers that one of the anchor's gimmicks at that time was that there was no age limit. After training, you can make money by posting videos, and the daily income can even reach hundreds or thousands of yuan.
The reporter’s investigation found that there are many live broadcasts promoting AI short video courses on platforms such as Kuaishou and Douyin. Some anchors claim that the courses are "restricted to occupations and ages," while others clearly state that people in their 60s and 70s can also learn, as long as they "can read and learn". Faced with the doubts of the middle-aged and elderly people in the live broadcast room, an anchor played the emotional card, claiming that the income of middle-aged and elderly people will decrease after retirement, and they can make money by taking AI video courses, and the students' video accounts will become "permanent pension accounts, and can even be said to be cash cows."
The promotion in the live broadcast room moved Ms. Zhang. She wanted to earn some pocket money and reduce the financial burden on her children. Ms. Zhang recalled that there was a shopping cart at the bottom of the live broadcast page. After filling in her personal information and paying 99 yuan, it didn’t take long for a teacher from the training company to add her WeChat account. After some promotion from the teacher, Ms. Zhang felt that her mood was "suddenly aroused." I tried a few classes for free. While explaining video production and delivery, the instructor also focused on describing a blueprint for making a lot of money. What surprised Ms. Zhang even more was that the 99 yuan she initially paid through the shopping cart in the live broadcast room was refunded, which made her feel that the training company was "very sincere" and did not look like a lie. So under the constant lobbying of teachers from the training company, Ms. Zhang paid another 2,880 yuan in training fees to the training company and signed the contract online. The payment merchant information shows that the training company is called Beijing Chenyang Gaosheng Technology Co., Ltd.
However, Ms. Zhang found that AI video production is not as easy as the anchor said, and some aspects are difficult to learn. Ms. Zhang said that she has taken more than 20 courses, but so far has not been able to independently edit and publish a work. Many middle-aged and elderly consumers also reported similar problems through the 12345 hotline.
The reporter's investigation found that some anchors will add product links to the shopping cart in the live broadcast room, guide users to pay, obtain the user's personal information, and then go to private messages to encourage users to sign up for classes. These anchors often create a tense atmosphere, claiming that "if you take the photo now, you can have class tonight" and "if you miss this registration, you will have to wait another month", constantly urging users to place orders and register quickly.
Routine 2: Promise no secondary charges and then promote “advanced services”
The screenshot of the chat record provided by Ms. Zhang shows that the teacher of this training company also claimed that "we only charge this one fee, and there will be no secondary charges in the future."
According to Ms. Zhang, after taking a few more lessons, one of the teachers claimed that the account positioning course was basically over and was about to enter the "practical account trading" stage, asking everyone to purchase an "advanced service package" worth 7,998 yuan. The chat records provided by Ms. Zhang show that the teacher claimed that everyone may have ideas about the price and the economy may be tight, so he specially applied for a discounted package of 3,999 yuan at half price for everyone. After Ms. Zhang refused, the teacher still said, "If you want to do it, let's put together half of it first, and I'll let you follow suit." Ms. Zhang believed that the training course violated the previous promise of no secondary charges. In addition, the corporate account used for learning had been banned by the platform many times. The teacher had previously promised to provide free video materials, but later asked the students to edit their own videos. Ms. Zhang felt increasingly unreliable and did not dare to continue paying.
Similar to Ms. Zhang’s experience, Ms. Yang was initially impressed by the short video training delivered online. After paying a fee of 99 yuan, a specialist contacted her, registered and paid online, and signed a training contract with Beijing Zhiyuan Xuetong Technology Co., Ltd. Ms. Yang said that after she paid a fee of 4,880 yuan, the 99 yuan she paid in advance was also refunded. After that, Ms. Yang paid 2,980 yuan and 1,560 yuan respectively under the teacher's lobbying for "service upgrade", totaling nearly 10,000 yuan.
Not long after, a teacher asked everyone to buy a "matrix mobile phone" worth more than 3,000 yuan, claiming that one mobile phone could log in to multiple accounts and be used to promote merchants, allowing everyone to earn higher profits. It was only then that Ms. Yang realized that this company was unreliable and induced students to pay fees multiple times. It felt like a "bottomless pit" and clearly violated the promise they made when they signed up for training.
Routine 3: Claim to make hundreds of yuan a day, but actually earn less than 40 yuan a month
The screenshot of the chat record provided by Ms. Yang shows that after paying the fee, the teacher promised that if he is not satisfied with the income and has not even earned back the deposit, he can apply to terminate the contract at any time and the deposit will be fully refunded. Some teachers claim that they don’t need to shoot videos or edit them themselves. Ms. Yang said that the teacher did cut the video and sent it to her at the beginning, and she was only responsible for posting it on her personal account. Later, the teacher asked her to edit the video, and she actively participated.
Previously, the teacher claimed that he could earn up to more than 100 yuan a day after training, but the actual income from the works he edited and produced for more than a month was less than 40 yuan in total. Moreover, this profit of less than 40 yuan also includes the interactive blessing of Ms. Sheep’s relatives. Such returns are clearly not in line with expectations.
In this way, Ms. Yang came up with the idea of refunding the money. She believes that the teacher's promise at the beginning that "you can apply to terminate the contract at any time" should mean that you can apply for a refund. The fully refundable deposit should refer to the initial 4,880 yuan paid. However, when she applied for a refund, the company staff said that "the authority has been activated" after the fee was paid, and refunds were not supported.
Screenshots of the live broadcast provided by Ms. Zhang show that the teacher claimed at that time that the company would continue to provide order resources and practical guidance. There is no doubt that students will earn long-term profits if they attend classes and operate normally. If the students do not receive business orders and make no profits, the company will refund their fees. Ms. Zhang also proposed a refund, but the teacher she contacted before didn’t even answer the phone and was no longer able to be contacted. She didn’t know how to contact the company.
The reporter found that in recent times, many consumers have reported the chaos of short video training to Beijing’s 12345 hotline. The reporter found through multiple interviews that most of these users reported problems such as "old people can't learn", "promised no secondary charges, but subsequently increased the fees" and "promised guaranteed benefits, but subsequent benefits fell far short of expectations."
respond
It’s “normal” for sales staff to exaggerate. Users dissatisfied with the refund plan can sue
In response to the issues reported by Ms. Zhang, the reporter contacted many parties and finally contacted Beijing Chenyang Gaosheng Technology Co., Ltd. Its staff responded that their training courses were mainly aimed at young people. When they were streaming on the online platform, they were targeted at people aged 30 to 50, but there may be some older people who also signed up for training and did not understand the relevant operations. The company does provide users with edited video materials, but users need to create them again, because if users all use the same material, the platform will prompt a violation, so users are required to add everyone's avatar to the video so that it will not be repeated. However, there are always people who find it troublesome and are unwilling to take further steps.
For users who questioned the issue of corporate accounts being frequently blocked, the staff member explained that it was a problem with the platform, not the company. If the account is banned, the company will promptly notify the user to add a new account, so you can rest assured in terms of after-sales service.
The staff member admitted that the company has indeed launched advanced courses and provided software to help users quickly generate multiple videos, making it easier to create videos. However, users can voluntarily choose whether to pay subsequent related fees, and it is not mandatory. "You can pay if you want, or it doesn't matter if you don't want to." As for the "no secondary charges" promoted in the early stage, the staff member said that it is normal for some sales staff to have similar claims. After all, the company cannot control the sales staff in order to earn commissions, and it is impossible to supervise their communication with users one by one.
As for the income issue, the staff member said that users need to post more works and link to more products every day to increase the number of views. As long as the user publishes according to the business order, puts up the link and someone purchases and writes it off, 100% of the commission will be given to the user. The staff said that the income of each student is different and 100% income cannot be guaranteed, but some students can even earn 200,000 yuan a month.
The staff member also said that if users no longer want to learn, they can apply for a refund for the remaining courses. In addition, the cost of providing users with services such as streaming and increasing followers will be incurred, and corresponding fees will also need to be deducted when refunding. The staff member said that users can just contact their service teacher for a refund. However, when the reporter raised the issue that some students could not contact the service teacher, the staff member said it was "impossible." The staff member said that users can apply for refunds in accordance with the contract. If the user is not satisfied with the company's refund plan and requires a full refund, they can consider filing a lawsuit against the company to see how the court will rule. If the court decides to refund the fee in full, the company will refund the fee in full.
The reporter also contacted Beijing Zhiyuan Xuetong Technology Co., Ltd. mentioned by Ms. Yang through the Tianyancha App, reflecting the difficulty in refunds encountered by users. A staff member of the company said that feedback would be provided to the relevant person in charge.
Lawyer's point of view
The company should be held accountable for the salesperson’s promises
Wang Zhiye, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, said that consumers of short video training often encounter disputes such as "promise to guarantee income", "promise not to charge twice", "shrunk course service", and "rejection of refund due to non-refundable agreement".
Wang Zhiye believes that the sales staff are soliciting training business for the company, which is a performance of their job duties, and the promises made to external parties such as refunds without profits are official behaviors, and the company should be responsible for the above promises. If a salesperson promises that there will be no secondary charges, but then adds layers of fees, or promises to guarantee profits, it is illegal propaganda and suspected of fraud. Consumers can complain and report to the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau in accordance with the law. If the course service shrinks during the performance of the contract, it is a breach of contract by the company, and the training fee for the unprovided service should be refunded. If the failure to provide course services directly results in the failure to achieve the purpose of the training contract, consumers can also request to terminate the training contract and receive a refund. It is an unfair clause to refuse a refund based on a no-refund agreement. This agreement exempts the company from its own responsibilities and increases the consumer's liability. Consumers can claim that this clause is invalid during the process of claiming a refund.
Wang Zhiye suggested that if multiple people are deceived or the company loses contact after receiving payment, consumers can also report the case to the public security agency. In addition, consumers should pay attention to keeping recordings, chat records, payment records, contracts and other relevant evidence during the signing and performance of contracts, and promptly assert their rights when disputes arise.
