This year's "Double 11" front has drawn foreign ministers. An e-commerce platform started its first wave of pre-sales in mid October, followed by several consecutive rounds of activities, each lasting several days. In the long process of the event, in addition to direct discounts on products, some online shopping platforms have released platform coupons to increase the price of product purchases. However, multiple consumers have reported to reporters from the Rule of Law Daily that the experience of using coupons during the event was very poor, mainly due to the opaque distribution rules of coupons, and even suspected of being "cooked to death". On October 14th, the first day of the "Double 11" pre-sale event, Ms. Tian, a resident of Beijing, snatched a beauty super voucher issued by a certain online shopping platform for a discount of 280 yuan on orders over 2000 yuan. After some calculation, she gathered a product worth just over 2000 yuan, paid a deposit, and made the final payment at 8:00 pm on October 21st. This operation made Ms. Tian feel that she had truly enjoyed the discount. She asked the platform customer service, "Can I still redeem this coupon after reaching the full discount?" After receiving a positive response, she began to grab the coupon at the designated time points posted on the platform, but for three consecutive days, the coupon was "out of stock". I thought the reason why I couldn't grab the coupon was because of my slow hand speed or bad luck, but Ms. Tian searched for "beauty super coupons" on social media and found that she couldn't grab the coupon even if she waited for the time point. However, some netizens went to the activity interface more than two hours after the time point and were still able to get it. She consulted the platform customer service with a question: Can this coupon be redeemed a second time? The platform AI customer service replied that 'each user can only claim it once during the event period, so we should seize the opportunity to claim and use it'. Faced with a completely different answer from the previous consultation, Ms. Tian felt puzzled and consulted the platform's human customer service again. The human customer service denied the claim that AI customer service "can only claim once", stating that "shopping vouchers are issued in limited time and quantity" and that the reason for not being able to grab them is "due to a large number of participants during the event period". Why can someone still grab a ticket that cannot be obtained in seconds after more than two hours The customer service has been using official language to evade Ms. Tian's doubts. Ms. Tian feels like she has been "cheated" and wasted her time. "The rules for grabbing coupons are not clear at all, and the statements between different customer service representatives on the platform are contradictory. From the interview situation, it can be seen that the unclear rules for grabbing "Double 11" coupons exist on multiple online shopping platforms. On a certain online shopping platform, some consumers have been unable to grab a certain coupon and have consulted the platform's customer service. Unexpectedly, different customer service representatives have different opinions. Some people say, 'The system randomly assigns rewards, while others will naturally have rewards. Those who don't have them won't be able to compete no matter how hard they try.' Others say, 'We just have to compete. If we can't get them, we can try a few more times or change our account and compete again.' Others say, 'It may be because we have received too many red envelopes or store coupons in our account. You can try deleting them and compete again.'. Consumers have also reported that the coupons they hard-earned have encountered various problems during use. Ms. Sheng from Ningbo, Zhejiang, snatched a "Double 11" surprise consumption voucher with a discount of 200 yuan for orders over 2000 yuan on a certain online shopping platform, valid until October 20th. On the morning of October 19th, Ms. Sheng selected a flat screen TV on the platform, originally priced at 3689 yuan. At that time, it was clearly displayed that a consumption coupon could be used, and the coupon was 3489 yuan. Because there were still some other items that needed to be purchased, Ms. Sheng added the TV to her shopping cart and planned to settle the bill together tonight. Unexpectedly, when it was time to settle the bill that evening, the TV suddenly couldn't use the coupon. The store customer service stated that the coupons are issued by the platform, and the interpretation right lies with the platform. The platform customer service replied that "coupons are only available for designated products on the platform", but as for why the same product changed from being eligible for coupons to not being eligible on the same day, the customer service cannot explain the reason, only stating that "we are sorry for any inconvenience caused to you". On the same platform, multiple consumers have reported encountering similar situations - products that could have been used with coupons suddenly became unusable. Some consumers also claim that some products show that they can use coupons when making payments, but for some reason, they always display "system reasons" that prevent payment. Cancelling the use of coupons is necessary for successful payment, and "coupons are like a child's play". The unclear rules for distributing coupons on the platform, whether the platform is using big data to kill customers, and the more they need coupons, the harder it is to grab them, and whether the platform can afford to play with coupons given but not used, have sparked many criticisms and doubts from consumers. Wang Yuwei, a partner at Guantao Law Firm, believes that if the rules for distributing and using coupons are not clear enough, a series of problems may arise. From the perspective of consumer rights protection, consumers have the right to know and the right to fair trade. If the rules are ambiguous, on the one hand, consumers' right to know will be violated; On the other hand, due to unclear rules and ambiguity in practical application, consumers' right to fair trade may also be compromised. After all, as consumers, they may face vastly different treatment due to unclear rules. If there is a situation of using big data to 'kill' consumers, it not only seriously infringes on consumers' right to fair trade, but also violates the restrictive provisions set for automated decision-making in the Personal Information Protection Law Wang Yuwei said. Lawyer Wu Di from Beijing Deheng Law Firm said that if the platform does adopt differentiated coupon distribution strategies for different users through big data analysis, resulting in "killing off", it may violate relevant laws and regulations. According to regulations on consumer rights protection and anti unfair competition, platforms have an obligation to ensure the fairness of marketing activities. If the platform uses algorithms to distribute differentiated coupons to consumers, it may be deemed as unfair and unreasonable competition behavior due to the practice of "killing mature customers". In Wu Di's opinion, in order to ensure that consumers can fairly enjoy platform discounts, the platform's discount rules should at least meet the following standards: first, a clear and transparent distribution mechanism. The platform should clearly inform consumers of the time, quantity, collection rules, and conditions for coupon issuance to avoid ambiguity. It should be ensured that the distribution rules are uniformly open to all users, rather than the vague notion of 'system randomness'. The second is to prevent differentiated distribution. If the platform adopts a hierarchical distribution strategy, it should disclose to consumers whether there are differentiated treatments to avoid being perceived as' killing off '. At the same time, it should be ensured that every consumer has equal opportunities to receive coupons and avoid unfair distribution of coupons based on data analysis of user consumption behavior. The third is to ensure the sustainability of the rules. The activity page should clearly indicate the number of times coupons can be used, their expiration date, usage restrictions, etc., to avoid consumers being unable to grab them again after use. If it is indeed a "one-time" use, it should be clearly marked in the rules to protect consumers' right to know. After the rules are clarified, equal opportunities should also be provided for everyone in the specific implementation process. Indeed, in certain specific circumstances, different consumers are allowed to enjoy different rules, but clear information should also be provided to other users to fully protect their right to know and their right to make independent choices, ensuring a fair, just, transparent, and orderly consumption environment Wang Yuwei said. (New Society)