Legal details behind Tesla’s refusal to deliver: how to determine whether rejection is legal

On August 17, Tesla responded that it would support consumers who were misled by group buying activities and could not deliver their cars to protect their rights, and would do its best to provide consumers with legal aid. < p > < p > pinduoduo has also said that it regrets Tesla’s refusal to perform the contract with consumers, supports consumers to protect their rights according to law, and will actively implement vehicle delivery. Zhang Yi (not his real name), who was refused to pick up the car, said he did not want to place a new order, adding that he was considering suing Tesla and had contacted a lawyer. < / P > < p > the focus of heated discussion is whether the activity Party’s behavior of placing orders for consumers constitutes resale? Does Tesla have the right to cancel the order? If consumers can not get the car, who should be responsible? < / P > < p > on July 21, the flagship store of Yi Mai auto launched a 10000 person group purchase activity of “Tesla China model 3 2019 standard extended rear drive version” on pinduoduo. The group purchase price was 251800 yuan, nearly 20000 yuan lower than the price after subsidy on the official website. < / P > < p > at that time, Tesla directly stated that the official website of Tesla was the only regular purchase channel for new cars and had never entrusted other platforms or businesses to carry out sales activities. On August 14, Zhang Yi, a Wuhan consumer who participated in the above group purchase activities of pinduoduo, said that after informing Tesla that the order was a group purchase order of pinduoduo, Tesla refused to deliver, and then the order on its official website was cancelled. < / P > < p > the Tesla delivery specialist confirmed: “we suspect that this order was placed by pinduoduo or other merchants in your name. In fact, it constitutes concealing the true order information from our company. Our previous announcement has stated that the group purchase activity of pinduoduo is not authorized. You should ask the payment merchant for vehicle delivery or refund. ” On August 14, Tesla responded to the surging news, saying that Tesla China has publicly and explicitly stated in several channels that Tesla’s official website is the only regular purchase channel for new cars, and has never entrusted other platforms or businesses to carry out sales activities. It is also clearly stated in the car purchase agreement signed by Tesla and the customer. We have the right to unilaterally terminate any order involving resale. < / P > < p > after consumers participate in the group purchase activities of pinduoduo merchants and obtain the subsidy qualification, the merchants help consumers place orders and pay as consumers on Tesla’s official website. Does this constitute resale? In violation of Tesla’s regulations on resale? Zou Jiaming, chief lawyer of Beijing Hechang law firm, believes that pinduoduo’s placing an order on Tesla’s official website in the name of users is not a resale behavior. Because there is no direct transaction between Tesla and pinduoduo, there is no relationship chain of “Tesla sold to pinduoduo, pinduoduo sold to users”. Zhao Zhanzhan, deputy director of Beijing Zhilin law firm, told the surging news reporter that consumers placed an order on Tesla’s official website to buy a car. Pinduoduo and appropriate car were only paid in the payment process of the whole incident, which provided subsidies for consumers and completed the payment on behalf of consumers. This payment method is to ensure the authenticity of platform subsidy consumers’ purchase behavior. In essence, consumers have reached an “advance payment agreement” with pinduoduo and Yiyi. This can not be regarded as the Resale Behavior in violation of its order terms, and the act of paying for pinduoduo and suitable car is not illegal. Liu Bin, a consultant of Beijing Zhongwen law firm, told surging journalists that resale is the act of secondary sale after obtaining the ownership of the goods. If the car purchase agreement is signed in the name of both Tesla and the consumer, and the contract can only bind the signing party, it is obvious that consumers do not have Resale Behavior in this event, and it is more difficult to identify pinduoduo’s behavior as resale. According to Zou Jiaming, Tesla has the right to refuse to deliver to pinduoduo group purchase owners. Zou Jiaming said that the key to the problem is not whether to resell or not, but pinduoduo merchants placed orders on Tesla’s official website in the name of users, which in fact deceived Tesla. Based on this, Tesla has the right not to deliver the vehicle, because it accepted the order only after being cheated. Such a contract is invalid. “The basic principle of civil offer is equal and voluntary. In this case, Tesla is involuntary. Users can only find pinduoduo merchants to get a car, because they buy the car from pinduoduo merchants. ” There are also different opinions. Zhao told surging news reporters that Tesla’s purchase terms do not prohibit consumers from looking for a third party to pay for their cars. Therefore, as long as the consumer places an order and completes the payment, Tesla should fulfill the agreement. Canceling the order and refusing to deliver the vehicle has no basis, which constitutes a breach of contract. Qiu Baochang, an expert in the expert committee of China Consumer Association and President of the E-commerce Law Research Association of Beijing law society, also told surging journalists that the contract signed between consumers and Tesla is legal and effective, and Tesla should fulfill the delivery obligation according to the agreement. It is illegal and without legal basis to cancel the contract just because the third party is entrusted to pay. < / P > < p > Tesla is supported by lawyers. Zou Jiaming said that assuming that a (individual) orders a Tesla car for B in the name of B (individual), there is no problem with such individual behavior. However, pinduoduo orders the customers who participate in the group purchase (under the banner of group buying of 10000 people, in fact, five Tesla cars were sold this time). This is a market behavior, which makes pinduoduo become the agent of Tesla in fact. Zou Jiaming also said that pinduoduo changed the sales price of Tesla Motors in the group buying activities, which should have been the right of Tesla agents to exercise after being authorized. But pinduoduo has exercised this right without authorization, which is illegal. “Pinduoduo is not an agent of Tesla. It sells Tesla cars to users at a low price without authorization. In fact, the price of Tesla automobile is lower than the official price, which disturbs the Tesla market.” < p > < p > there are also views supporting pinduoduo. Qiu Baochang said that there is no case that Tesla has been put together for more loopholes. He believes that Tesla should not discriminate against consumers and treat car owners differently. “Operators who are bigger and stronger in the market all operate according to law, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, attach importance to and respect the consumption experience. Operators must not only rely on temporary technology and sales leading, ignore the protection of consumer rights and consumer feelings, and remember to win the trust of consumers in order to win the market.” Zhao Zhanzhan believes that the prohibition of resale is clearly stipulated in the order terms of Tesla automobile, which is not illegal in itself, but also legal and effective. There is no prohibition in civil law. “Many e-commerce platforms have prohibitive regulations in order to resell similar scalpers to speculate on ticket prices.” Ruan Wanjin, a lawyer from Bank of China law firm in Beijing, told the surging news reporter that whether the resale prohibition clause is effective or not needs to be analyzed in specific circumstances and judged in combination with the signing of both parties to the contract. Ruan Wanjin said that as a standard clause, it restricts the freedom of transaction of consumers, excludes and limits the rights of consumers, and should be invalid; however, if the clause is known and accepted by both parties, the agreement of both parties should be respected.