New Laundry Regulations in Guangzhou: Full Refund of Washing Fee for Laundry Issues

The Guangzhou Consumer Council held a press conference to announce the official implementation of the "Guangzhou Laundry and Cleaning Consumer Dispute Resolution Measures" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), formulated by the Guangzhou Laundry and Cleaning Industry Association through consultation with industry peers and relevant experts. According to the "Measures", consumers can choose between negotiable and non-negotiable cleaning items when sending laundry. For non-negotiable cleaning items, if quality issues are found after cleaning, the merchant should compensate between 1 to 20 times the cleaning fee.
Some legal professionals believe that the "Measures" can serve as part of the contract between consumers and merchants and act as a guideline in judicial trials.
Negotiable pricing for cleaning valuable clothes
The most attention-grabbing part of the "Measures" is the specified compensation solutions when laundry quality issues occur. According to the "Measures", consumers can choose between negotiable and non-negotiable cleaning items when sending laundry.
For negotiable cleaning items, when consumers send clothes considered to have special commemorative significance or are valuable, both merchants and consumers can choose negotiable cleaning. The cleaning fee for negotiable items is negotiated between the consumer and merchant based on the difficulty and risk of cleaning, charged at no less than 10% and no more than 20% of the estimated value of the clothes.
For negotiable cleaning items, even if buttons or accessories are missing after cleaning, or there are still obvious repair marks, the merchant should compensate 30% of the negotiated price of the clothes. If the cleaned clothes do not meet the laundry industry quality standards, the merchant should re-clean them once. If the re-cleaned clothes still do not meet the quality standards, the cleaning fee should be refunded.
For negotiable clothes lost or severely damaged beyond repair due to merchant responsibility after cleaning, the merchant should fully compensate according to the negotiated price of the clothes.
The "Measures" as part of the contract
Both the Guangzhou Consumer Council and the Guangzhou Laundry and Cleaning Industry Association hope that these "Measures" can protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and merchants.
Lu Zhiji, president of the Guangzhou Laundry and Cleaning Industry Association, stated that when consumers send clothes considered to have special commemorative significance or are valuable, if a cleaning dispute occurs, the "Measures" can provide a compensation solution for merchants and consumers. Lu Zhiji believes that after a dispute, a standard recognized by both parties is needed to measure the compensation amount, and the "Measures" can provide such a standard for resolving disputes.
Li Yongqiang, secretary-general of the Guangzhou Consumer Council, revealed that last year Guangzhou had 33 consumer disputes related to laundry and cleaning. On one occasion, a piece of clothing sent for cleaning by a Chinese expatriate living in Japan was damaged. This expatriate had worn the clothing multiple times when meeting national leaders and demanded restoration to its original state, eventually taking the case to court.
Lu Zhiji told reporters that the "Measures" currently apply to more than 100 member units of the Guangzhou Laundry and Cleaning Industry Association and consumers sending laundry. The "Measures" will be posted in laundry shops and serve as part of the laundry cleaning contract.
Li Yongqiang stated that the "Measures" currently belong to industry regulations and aim to become a local technical specification standard.
Partial compensation provisions of the "Measures"
Non-negotiable cleaning:
Maximum compensation for cleaning issues is 20 times the cleaning fee
For non-negotiable cleaning items, the cleaning fee is charged according to the price list publicly displayed in the store. If the cleaned non-negotiable clothes do not meet the laundry industry quality standards, the merchant should re-clean them once. If the re-cleaned clothes still do not meet the quality standards, the cleaning fee should be refunded, except for stains that were noted before cleaning as non-removable or only partially removable.
For clothes with pre-noted quality defects before cleaning, if other quality issues are found after cleaning, the merchant should compensate 1 to 3 times the cleaning fee; if severe damage or loss occurs after cleaning, the merchant should compensate 3 to 5 times the cleaning fee.
For clothes noted as having no quality defects before cleaning, if minor quality issues appear after cleaning, the merchant should compensate 4 to 6 times the cleaning fee; if severe damage or loss occurs after cleaning, the merchant should compensate 6 to 9 times the cleaning fee.
For brand new clothes with tags and no stains or defects noted before cleaning, if damage or loss occurs after cleaning, the merchant should compensate 10 to 20 times the cleaning fee.
Negotiable cleaning:
Maximum compensation for cleaning issues is the full negotiated amount
For negotiable cleaning items, when consumers send clothes considered to have special commemorative significance or are valuable, both merchants and consumers can choose negotiable cleaning. The cleaning fee for negotiable items is negotiated between the consumer and merchant based on the difficulty and risk of cleaning, charged at no less than 10% and no more than 20% of the estimated value of the clothes.
After cleaning negotiable clothes, if buttons or accessories are missing, or there are still obvious repair marks but it does not affect wearing, the merchant should compensate 30% of the negotiated price of the clothes.
For negotiable clothes lost or severely damaged beyond repair due to merchant responsibility after cleaning, the merchant should fully compensate according to the negotiated price of the clothes.
Dispute 1: Is compensation a one-size-fits-all?
The "Measures" stipulate that for non-negotiated washing items, if buttons or accessories are damaged or lost after washing and the merchant cannot replace them, the merchant shall compensate 1 to 2 times the washing fee. For negotiated washing items, if buttons or accessories are missing after washing, the merchant shall compensate 30% of the negotiated price of the clothing.
Many consumers believe that this compensation clause is "one-size-fits-all" and clearly favors merchants. "What if my button is a limited edition worth thousands of yuan? Wouldn't I suffer a big loss?" said consumer Ms. Luo.
Lu Zhiji, president of the Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Association, stated that regarding compensation issues, the "Measures" provide a standard, which, as part of the contract, requires mutual recognition and acceptance. If consumers do not agree, they can refuse the service.
Consumers can choose between negotiated and non-negotiated washing services according to their actual needs. If they consider the clothing very valuable, it is recommended to choose the negotiated service.
Dispute 2: Is the compensation for delayed delivery too little?
The "Measures" stipulate that if the merchant fails to deliver the clothing within the agreed service contract period, a penalty of 2 yuan per item per day of delay shall be paid to the consumer, except in cases of quality disputes.
Consumers believe that the compensation amount for delayed delivery is too low and worry about losses caused by malicious delays by merchants. "Only 2 yuan per day as a penalty is too little. If the merchant delays delivery by a few days, the compensation is just a few yuan, but if I cannot get my clothes on time, my losses are far more than a few yuan," said consumer Ms. Zhong. She believes that the actual losses caused by not receiving the clothes on time should be included in the compensation.
Dispute 3: Do the exemption clauses let merchants off the hook?
Some consumers believe that the "Measures" contain too many exemption clauses—11 in total—under which merchants bear no compensation responsibility. Consumers question that so many exemption clauses allow merchants to shirk many responsibilities. "We send our clothes to the laundry because we trust their professional service. If they damage the clothes and then blame it on natural wear and tear, it greatly undermines consumer confidence," consumers said. They feel that the many exemption clauses in the "Measures" seem to protect merchants' rights more, making it harder for consumers to defend their rights in the future.
Dispute 4: Using washing fees as the basis for compensation?
Some citizens question why the compensation amounts in the "Measures" are based on the negotiated price and washing fees of the clothing, rather than the actual value of the clothing.
In response, Lu Zhiji, president of the Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Association, said that there is no practical unit or standard to measure the actual value of clothes. Clothes begin to depreciate from the moment they are sold, and after some use, they depreciate further. Some clothes have artificially inflated external values, making their apparent value much higher than their actual value. Therefore, the "Measures" provide a standard for compensation.