Wang Xiaobo said that people live to perform, so they lose themselves. In the eyes of eager parents who want their children to become dragons, “performance” is no longer a restraint, but a shortcut to maximize their children's talents.

The market has moved, various children's film and television training institutions have sprung up, and more and more refund disputes related to training have appeared on consumer insurance platforms.

Case 1: If the model card is not taken, 3,000 yuan will be charged for refund

On the morning of April 10, 2022, Ms. Wan took her children to participate in the catwalk audition in Yintai City, Linping, Hangzhou. After the performance, she and the children were taken to a director's office.

The director first praised the child for a good meal, and then put forward suggestions for the child on how to exercise his temperament and improve his image. Ms. Wan said that they had just the right psychology for their parents to hope that their son would become a dragon.

In just an hour or so, Ms. Wan signed up before she had time to think about it, and she didn't even have time to take a closer look at the contract. In the next month, Ms. Wan never took her children to class.

In the later stage, the teacher invited them to take the model card. Ms. Wan said that thinking that the course had not been arranged and the class had not been established, she refused to take the model card.

Later, Ms. Wan decided to take her children back to her hometown for development, and a dispute arose when she asked Hangzhou Qinghe Film and television training institution to withdraw her time. The director of the organization said that parents need to pay a 3,000 yuan model card fee for withdrawing from class, and a 30% penalty for breach of contract must be deducted. Ms. Wan said it was unreasonable.

The children have a great sense of camera and are very talented in acting. If the other party is carrying a camera and there is an interviewer holding a microphone next to him, this sentence is even more convincing.

Immediately, the other party will take out his business card and indicate that he is the radio director of a popular local children's program and would like to invite your child to participate in the audition. At this time, the vague “star dream” in the parents' minds became clear. Invitations for children's performances like this can be seen everywhere on the streets of Shenzhen.

Case 2: If you fail to attend a class, 8940 yuan will be deducted

On April 30th, Ms. Li accepted the invitation to participate in the Shenzhen Baby GO audition organized by Shenzhen Baoshen Culture and Media Co., Ltd.

After the audition, a director of the company surnamed Ye said that the children in her family are very eloquent and hope that the children will join their training team. As a result, Ms. Li paid a training fee of 29,800 yuan, for a total of 160 classes and 80 classes, each of which was 1.5 hours long.

The content of the training includes model training, hosting, hip-hop dance, and vocal music. Ms. Li specifically mentioned that the other party took out the contract and signed it for them after paying the fee.

There was an emergency at Ms. Li's home that afternoon, which caused Ms. Li to have no time to take her children to the training course later. So on the morning of May 1st, she communicated with the director surnamed Ye and applied for a refund to cancel the contract.

At the beginning, the director surnamed Ye expressed his understanding and asked them to meet and talk to the company on May 4. After the meeting, the other party said that if you want a refund, you need to pay a 30% penalty, which is 8,940 yuan.

Ms. Li said that this contract is a format clause prepared by the training company in advance, and she has not communicated with her about the refund of 30% of the penalty for breach of contract. The child did not start to schedule and attend classes. It took less than 24 hours from the payment to the request for a refund, and it did not cause actual losses to the company, so the deduction of 30% belongs to the overlord clause, which is unreasonable.

Training refunds become the norm in the industry

In recent years, due to the frequent occurrence of uncertain factors such as the epidemic, refunds for parents have become the norm.

Similar jurisprudence has appeared in Dalian City, Liaoning Province：

In September 2019, Zhang purchased 120 courses for his children at the local Kiss Kangaroo Culture and Art Training School. The class service is valid for 30 months and the class fee is 13,000 yuan. After the agreement was signed, Zhang took his children from October 2019 to November of the same year, basically in accordance with the frequency of one class a week, a total of four classes, due to the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, did not attend class. Zhang sued the court on the grounds that the agreement with the organization could not be fulfilled due to force majeure, requesting that the contract be terminated and the organization be required to refund the remaining class fees.

The court held that the educational target of early education is younger children, so early education has a strong time-bound nature. In the current situation of the epidemic, the time for the end of the epidemic cannot be estimated, and it is impossible to achieve the purpose of the contract by changing the training period. The occurrence of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is a force majeure. The "Course Service Agreement" involved in the case cannot continue to perform the contract due to Force majeure. Zhang's litigation request for cancellation of the contract is now supported.

The court's final judgment: 1. Cancel the "Course Service Agreement" signed by Zhang and the training school, and 2. The school will return Zhang's remaining class fees of 12,528 yuan. The case acceptance fee of 570,000 yuan shall be borne by the school.

The specific problem is analyzed in detail, and in response to the feedback of the two complainants, Consumer Protection has called the parties concerned to communicate an effective solution. We will also continue to follow up on the incident and provide them with timely help.

At the same time, I hope that parents who plan to sign up for training courses for their children should carefully check the contents of the contract before signing up and paying the fee, and pay attention to the relevant liquidated damages clause in the contract. If you think the standard is too high, you can negotiate with the merchant to modify the terms and write them into the contract to protect your legitimate rights and interests as much as possible. When consumers' rights and interests are violated, they shall protect their rights reasonably and lawfully.