A beloved cat died due to improper care and maintenance, and the cat owner was put on the "blacklist" by the pet hospital...

In order to demonstrate the fairness, impartiality, and openness of the law and to remind and warn the general public, functional departments at all levels will publicize the bad behaviors of some enterprises and individuals. Among the people, such a list is commonly known as "blacklist" or "blacklist". Recently, the name of Ms. Wang Dong (pseudonym), a citizen, also appeared on the "blacklist". However, the person who included her was actually a pet hospital called Hipp Pet Center... What exactly happened to Wang Dong and the pet hospital during this period? Does the pet hospital have the right to do this? As a consumer, how should we protect our legitimate rights and interests?

Cat dies due to improper care and maintenance. Compensation for new cat disease treatment

At 2 pm on November 10, the reporter met Ms. Wang Dong, a citizen. She is 36 years old. When talking about the past of loving cats, she still could not hide her sadness. Wang Dong said that her relationship with the pet hospital started on January 2 this year. On that day, she sent her beloved cat "Lincoln" to the pet hospital for a bath. She and her husband rested and waited in the cat cafe nearby. During this period, the cat suffered a stress reaction due to improper care and maintenance, causing "Lincoln" to suffer cardiac arrest. Although the pet hospital tried its best to rescue him, the cat suffered cardiac arrest again in the early morning of the next day and died after the rescue failed.

After this incident, the two parties reached a settlement through the mediation of the Chongqing Yubei District Animal Health Supervision Office. The main content included that the pet hospital compensated Ms. Wang Dong 3,000 yuan, and she could choose a pet kitten priced at 3,500 yuan for free before November 5 this year, and included a one-month health warranty.

In the mediation agreement between the two parties presented by Wang Dong, the reporter noticed that there was such a clause as a precondition for the coordination agreement: the pet hospital requested Wang Dong to delete comments on the matter on the online platform.

In this regard, Wang Dong explained that after "Lincoln" died, her negotiations with the pet hospital did not go smoothly, so she chose to speak out on the online platform. Although the two parties reached a reconciliation, there was still some grudge between them.

"'Lincoln' was the first pet cat I raised, and it took a long time to get out. Recently, the time to get the cat was about to expire, so my husband and I went to the pet hospital and chose a Ragdoll cat." Wang Dong said that this was a male Ragdoll cat, named "Yoghurt", but within a few days after taking it home, it stopped eating, drinking and defecating, which made her very anxious.

At the same time, the health status of "yogurt" is not ideal, and there are still skin diseases. On November 6, she discovered that "Yoghurt" had blood in its stool. On November 7, she brought "Yogurt" to the pet hospital, but something unexpected happened...

After treating the cat, she was "blacklisted"

Wang Dong recalled that on November 7, she took "Yoghurt" to the pet doctor for examination and treatment. After examination, it was found to be inflammation, and the doctor prescribed some anti-inflammatory drugs, which made her feel at ease. "At that time, the doctor printed out the medical record. The first item in the upper left corner was the client's name, but I found that there was a bracket after my name, which said 'blacklist user'." Wang Dong said that at that time, the pet doctor wanted to snatch the medical record, but she quickly put it away and asked for an explanation. In response, the doctor responded that she did not know.

Medical records show that Wang Dong was included in the "blacklist"

Wang Dong said that in fact she was not satisfied with "Yogurt"'s physical condition, but out of love for cats, she was willing to spend time and energy to accompany "Yogurt" in his recovery, so she didn't care too much. But she was very angry about being included in the "blacklist" and kept asking the pet hospital for an explanation. But the other party's response was that the pet hospital was acquired by a certain company, which may have been caused by the operation of a certain company's staff. Wang Dong could not accept this statement and asked the pet hospital to delete the "blacklist" and apologize to her. During this period, communication between the two parties was not smooth, so she sought help from Upstream News.

Ship Pet Center: Delete the "blacklist" and apologize in writing

On the afternoon of November 10, an upstream news reporter accompanied Wang Dong and his wife to the Ship Pet Center (Jiazhou store). The pet hospital provides pet bathing, physical examination, sterilization, and epidemic prevention. Public information shows that this is a chain pet hospital with stores in Yubei District, Jiangbei District, and Shapingba District. Taking the Jiazhou store as an example, the store has more than 300 reviews on an online platform, most of which are positive, including 18 low scores.

Wang Dong found the staff on the first floor, who said that he had contacted the store manager and was on his way back to the store. The doctor involved was on the second floor that day. Next, the reporter accompanied Wang Dong to the second floor of the pet hospital. At this time, another staff member appeared. Her statement was completely opposite to the staff on the first floor: the staff on the first floor did not know the situation, the store manager was not there, and neither was the doctor involved.

After some negotiation and waiting, the store manager arrived at the scene. The store manager’s surname was Yang, and she was a young woman in her 20s. At first, she was unwilling to be interviewed, and the words between her and Wang Dong were very fierce. The reporter persuaded: "We are all cat lovers, and the purpose of communication is to solve problems..." After some thinking, store manager Yang responded to this matter.

Reporter: Why does Wang Dong’s name appear on the “blacklist”?

Store manager Yang: I really don’t know who added her to the “blacklist”. All staff have the authority to modify the information.

Reporter: Why has this matter not been resolved before?

Store manager Yang: We promise to carry out health warranty within one month, and we will definitely do it. I believe that after this incident, we will have no contact with each other, and they (Wang Dong and his wife) will not continue to choose us..

Reporter: If you were Wang Dong, what would you think if you were put on the "blacklist" by the pet hospital?

Store manager Yang: In fact, we have reported this issue to the company before you (reporter) came, and it’s not that we don’t want to solve it...

It should be noted that during the negotiation process between the two parties, store manager Yang and Ms. Wang Dong would "refresh old scores" from time to time, but in the end, store manager Yang believed that she, as the person in charge of the store, should be responsible for this matter, and was willing to delete the "blacklist" and apologize in writing to Wang Dong on behalf of Ship Pet Center (Jiazhou store). Ms. Wang Dong accepted this.

Lawyer's statement: The merchant's untrue evaluation infringes on people's reputation rights

Regarding this matter, the reporter consulted lawyer Chen Jianjian of Chongqing Zhihezhi Law Firm. He introduced that according to Article 14 of the "Consumer Rights Protection Law": When purchasing and using goods and receiving services, consumers have the right to have their personal dignity and national customs respected, and have the right to have their personal information protected in accordance with the law.

At the same time, according to the Civil Code, reputation is the social evaluation of the moral character, reputation, talent, credit, etc. of a civil subject. Civil subjects enjoy the right of reputation. No organization or individual may infringe on the reputation rights of others by insulting, slandering, etc. Civil subjects can inquire about their own credit evaluation in accordance with the law; if they find that the credit evaluation is inappropriate, they have the right to raise objections and request necessary measures such as correction and deletion. The credit appraiser shall conduct verification in a timely manner, and if the verification is true, necessary measures shall be taken in a timely manner.

Taking this matter into consideration, the behavior of blacklisting customers by merchants is a kind of social evaluation of customers; according to the "Consumer Rights Protection Law", consumers have the right to have their personal dignity respected. The behavior of merchants blacklisting customers falsely or without basis is disrespectful of consumers' personal dignity and infringes on consumers' rights and interests.

According to the Civil Code and our living habits, the blacklist of merchants is a credit evaluation system for civil subjects. As a credit evaluator, establishing a credit evaluation system should comply with the provisions of laws, regulations and living habits. Untrue evaluations by merchants are an infringement of the reputation rights of the parties, and they should bear corresponding responsibilities.