Bandwagon buying sites' ugly underbelly exposed

Aggressive expansion of Groupon-like businesses in China over the last year has spawned more than 3,000 such websites, generating a host of new consumer complaints.

Wang Xing, CEO of group buy site meituan.com, revealed in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) that it has been a common trick of group buying sites to offer discounts on over-priced items, in order to make the deal more appealing.

And these sites also exaggerate data on the number of participants in a deal to attract consumers. "Nearly 90 percent of the group buying websites would use such tricks to attract consumers," said Chen Shousong, an analyst with Beijing-based research firm Analysys International, adding that poor quality products are often substituted for the advertised items.

Zhang Liuqing, a group-buying-site user in Beijing, found herself a victim of such fraud recently.

Zhang bought three pairs of UGG boots from a group buy website called jujingtuan.com before the Spring Festival, at the below market price of 179 yuan ($27.25) per pair.

"But when I got the boots, I found them very crummy (quality), and totally different from those on the web advertisement," said Zhang.

And despite repeated complaints to the website, many of the consumer gripes are never looked into much less actually resolved though they promise any merchandise sold by their company could be returned within seven days.

And this is not the first time that Zhang was shorted in a group purchase, but "since the (amount of money involved) is usually not that much, the websites always go unpunished," said Zhang.

Feng Lin, an analyst with the China e-Business Research Center, said that in order to attract investment, many group buying websites are keen on gaining a larger market share, while the customer experience and after sale services have been largely ignored.

Quality consumers' experience and a trustworthy brand image are crucial in order to excel in the market, said China e-Business Research Center's Feng.

Analysys International's Chen said that the easy access of the market is another reason behind the chaos.

It takes but a few thousand yuan to enter the sector, so all players in the market may not be qualified, said Analysys' Chen.