Chapter 393: Fang Dazhuang Has Started Warming Up!

Everyone is a working stiff; why should a working stiff make things difficult for another working stiff?

Is this statement correct? It has some merit, because if you make things difficult for others today, then perhaps one day others will make things difficult for you.

After all, everyone is a member of this social system; perhaps one day you will change from the one being served to the service personnel.

But just because of this, can we not seek Legal Aid?

As long as you seek Legal Aid, the other party will exert pressure layer by layer, and it will still fall upon the grassroots Employee. What will you do then?

At its simplest, you file a complaint against a Company, and the result is that the other party sends staff to talk to you, crying and kneeling before you to make you withdraw it, saying that if you persist, they will be fired, and then their whole family will have nothing to eat.

What will you do?

Zhou Yi had already learned the situation from Chu Lan, smiled, and said: "It is precisely because of this that we must be serious when we should be serious."

"Do you believe it? If no one goes to be serious, then today this hole might only be one centimeter wide, but tomorrow it will become one decimeter, one meter!"

Fang Dazhuang had explained this principle in detail during a previous instance of being serious: if you do not occupy the high ground of rights, then it will be occupied by others.

Big Data Price Discrimination, personal information infringement, Right to Know, right of choice, etc. —perhaps sometimes it feels like these are unimportant, but capital is out to make money!

Before, when he, Zhou Yi, was being serious, he had encountered many Company Employees, and quite a few had used methods of moral kidnapping.

But he rejected them all!

If those people who were inexplicably disciplined could all stand up and say they would file a Lawsuit, then naturally there would be a solution.

But the reality is that most people have no way to file a Lawsuit.

One can only say that the construction of the legal system has a long way to go, and one cannot have both fish and bear's paw.

Public opinion on the internet is spreading more and more; unlike before, this time, everyone is spreading whatever they want regarding Tenda.

Don't ask why.

Consequently, more and more discussions have appeared, and many people have begun to think that this kind of matter cannot simply be subjected to moral kidnapping, but one cannot completely say that the logic holds either.

After all, anyone can talk about principles, but if one really encounters it themselves, they would certainly be thinking about letting the other party cut them some slack.

Even though this matter is not a conflict between them at all.

Then, under such circumstances, the source of the error has begun to be criticized by everyone in various ways.

Carriers, after all, are targets; in this day and age, who doesn't curse a few times?

But when there are many people complaining, this becomes public sentiment!

Especially on the internet, where three people can create a tiger; the original matter changes flavor as it is passed along.

Originally, it was said that if there were no Mediation, the relevant Employees of Nudong Company might be disciplined.

This doesn't even need anyone to leak it; any working stiff could guess it.

But as it was passed along, it became that these Employees had already been disciplined in various ways, and their leaders would often give them a hard time in the future.

This heat is growing greater; after all, how should one put it? Everyone is a working stiff, and everyone worries about encountering such a thing one day.

Then, Hong Zong of the Handong Province Company took notice.

"How are they doing things in Jingzhou? Making such a fuss over a matter like this?" Hong Zong was there, flying into a rage.

Whether a Company should refund money is something that can be argued in Court, but because the Employees cannot handle the Mediation and then have to be disciplined, that is where the problem lies.

Although many companies now have such problems, you can't say it out loud, right?

Even the private advisor knows to turn off the lights, okay!

Because everyone knows that this has nothing to do with the Employees; they were following regulations and could only act according to regulations.

Consequently, under Hong Zong's phone call, Manager Fan of the Jingzhou branch was scolded once again.

Having no other choice, he could only issue a statement, which was that the Company would never punish Employees because of such matters, and so on.

However, Pre-trial Mediation will happen very soon, and this time the Company's legal department will be sent to talk.

Principles cannot be changed; for Nudong Company, this is a matter of principle.

I can talk to you about giving you phone credit, even double, but paying cash is simply not possible.

Moreover, the statement also said that all fees were collected according to Company regulations, and there was no such thing as arbitrary charging.

And so, under these circumstances, the case began Pre-trial Mediation.

At the Guangming District Court, Wang Daoren, Zhang Wei, and the involved party Wu De sat inside the Mediation Room.

This case is very special; the amount in controversy is small, but the significance it represents is not small.

There are two matters: one is the penalty for Breach of Contract, and the other is the Traffic Package fee.

The one sent by Nudong Company is a legal staff member from the Jingzhou branch, surnamed Chen, named Chen Wenjing, whose attire has a feeling of Fang Dazhuang.

The judge is not Li Xusheng, but another civil court judge surnamed Ou.

"So you actually think this money was collected correctly?" Wu De asked with a bewildered expression.

"Mr. Wu, whether it is this penalty for Breach of Contract or the monthly Traffic Package fee, both were collected according to our Company's regulations," Chen Wenjing, sitting opposite, said.

"But if it wasn't collected in violation of regulations, then why did you say you would give me phone credit during the Mediation?" Wu De countered.

"That is because you, Mr. Wu, kept going to the business hall to cause a scene, which resulted in the business hall being unable to operate normally, so we had no choice but to offer you such a solution," Chen Wenjing continued.

Wu De suddenly didn't know what to say; after all, he had gone to cause a scene.

Chen Wenjing then added: "So, Mr. Wu, my suggestion is that there is no need for us to bring emotions into discussing this matter; originally, this is just a small matter."

"No, I do not think this is a small matter!" Wang Daoren, who was beside him, spoke up.

"This is your Company relying on its status to ignore the rights of ordinary consumers, ignoring various civil rights of others; this has nothing to do with whether the money is a lot or a little!"

This is the spirit Wang Daoren learned from President Zhou's videos: being serious, being serious about this principle.

Of course, in the eyes of many, this is making a mountain out of a molehill and labeling people, such as Lawyer Chen Wenjing.

"Lawyer Wang, is it? As a Lawyer, you should be rational; there is no need to make a mountain out of a molehill over such a small problem."

"Judge Ou, we came here today with sincerity, but if the other party keeps bringing emotions into this, we really cannot continue to talk."

The latter sentence was directed at the Mediation judge.

Upon hearing this, Presiding Judge Ou looked at Wang Daoren, and just as he was about to say something, he saw the other party had already stood up.

"Presiding Judge Ou, what this Lawyer Chen said makes a lot of sense, and I also feel there is no way to talk anymore. Since there is no way to talk, I think we should stop talking; let's just proceed with the court session at the scheduled time."

Beside him, Wu De and Zhang Wei were a half-beat slow to react, but they hurriedly stood up as well, turned around, and left without the slightest hesitation.

This left Chen Wenjing, who was watching from the side, completely stunned.

Before coming here, he had never expected the other party to be so tough; he previously knew that Teacher Fang from Jingzhou was very tough and would just leave at the drop of a hat.

It turned out he hadn't expected these few to be the same!

Little did he know, Wang Daoren was already blooming with joy at this moment; he had wanted to experience this feeling for a long time, hadn't he!

In the past, when he, Lawyer Wang, acted as a Defense Attorney, he would have to beg and plead daily, and even if others slammed the table, he still had to speak nicely.

There was no helping it; whether it was the Plaintiff or the Defendant, neither was particularly tough, and even if they were the Plaintiff, in reality, they often wouldn't be like this.

Having previously seen Lawyer Fang and Manager Zhou leave directly when a disagreement arose, he had long been envious to death, and today he had finally fulfilled his wish.

"Lawyer Wang, Mr. Wu, you all are..."

Chen Wenjing called out a few times, but the others ignored him completely, so he hurriedly spoke to the judge instead.

However, the judge looked on and could only spread his hands, indicating that he was powerless.

Mediation, after all, could not be forced by him, the judge; it required the voluntary participation of both sides.

Chen Wenjing sighed; before coming, the leadership of the Guangming District branch had said to mediate if possible, as the matter had already become somewhat big.

Their operator also had a parent company, but because the situation was different, generally speaking, the parent company would not directly impose penalties.

But now, as public opinion grew larger and larger, heaven knows if the parent company would take action!

It was just that the Company was holding on and didn't want to end it like this; after all, there were performance assessments from above, and there were assessments for both mobile number portability and account cancellation.

This kind of Breach of Contract fee was meant to prevent people from canceling their accounts.

The mediation failed, and soon the corresponding news appeared online; under these circumstances, a crowd of people had already spontaneously started checking in at the relevant departments.

They were asking: for this kind of blatant use of so-called Breach of Contract fees to block users from canceling accounts, are you going to manage it or not!

They gave out a Traffic Package without the user's consent, and then collected money in various ways because they didn't want to allow the account cancellation.

Although on the surface it looked like the dispute arose because of these 138 yuan, everyone was not blind; this was the operator obstructing the user from canceling their account!

It was just that the matter was originally close to being resolved, and the Company only needed to refund that portion of the money.

It was just a pity that the other party simply wouldn't agree...

The Nudong Company branch in Jingzhou City actually had sub-branches below it, the Guangming branch, and this matter was mainly handled by the Guangming branch.

Below that were the business halls like the one Manager Zhou worked at.

Since mediation failed, they could only go to court.

The situation had now changed; their Company could not easily admit to giving others a Traffic Package without authorization!

Therefore, they had to argue it out in court.

And so, under the gaze of the masses, the time for the First Instance hearing arrived.

Zhou Yi and Lawyer Fang came to observe as usual; such cases were very significant for representation.

Sitting in the gallery, Zhou Yi looked at Lawyer Fang and said, "Lawyer Fang, you have also talked with Wang Daoren and the others; do you think they can win now?"

After all, this case was quite high-profile, so Zhou Yi had asked Lawyer Fang to oversee it in advance.

"Given the current situation, that Breach of Contract fee should be refundable. I have looked at the other party's evidence, and it cannot prove that Wu De agreed to that Traffic Package."

"I see one item in their evidence saying they sent a text message to Wu De about activating the Traffic Package, and he didn't reply to cancel, which they likely claim implies consent."

Zhou Yi heard this and said, "Is that allowed?"

"Of course not. For this case, it is highly likely it won't be accepted; this kind of text message is easily considered spam," Lawyer Fang shook his head and said.

As for faking evidence... that would be a joke. If you lose a lawsuit, you lose, but if faked evidence is exposed, it's not just a matter of paying money.

Speaking of this, Lawyer Fang added, "But the monthly rent is hard to say. Their Company does indeed have a regulation that monthly rent must be paid in the month of cancellation; it depends on how they perform."

This was the high probability rule mentioned earlier; it depends on which side is more persuasive.

Why? Because the evidence Wu De could provide was that he was not notified in advance.

However, this kind of regulation is usually in the user agreement, but it is estimated that many people don't look at that pile of stuff when getting a card...

So there would be a dispute.

Things really went as Lawyer Fang had predicted.

Regarding the Breach of Contract fee, there was indeed no evidence, but the other party claimed they had notified Wu De, and he did not deny it.

And because it was a "free" Traffic Package, it did not require him to pay, so it could take effect in the absence of a denial from the other party.

Yes, you indeed didn't fully agree, but we sent you a text message, and you didn't specifically deny it.

As for the monthly fee, Wang Daoren's point was that since it wasn't being used, it couldn't be charged; the other party's regulation was restricting their own rights through a Standard Clause, so it should be invalid!

This led back to the issue of the invalidity of a Standard Clause.

Then Zhou Yi saw Lawyer Fang sitting next to him starting to get restless.

He was occasionally muttering to himself, occasionally rolling up his sleeves, as if he would go up there himself the next second.

After a long bout of arguing, finally, the Court made its judgment!

The Presiding Judge delivered the verdict.

The focus of the dispute between the two sides was whether the provision of a "free" Traffic Package required the other party's full consent, and whether it was sufficient to notify them without a denial.

And the issue of the monthly fee was whether the Standard Clause was valid.

This was where Wang Daoren was led into a trap, because the judge stated in the judgment that whether a Standard Clause is invalid must be sued in a separate case, and Wu De should have known the relevant regulations.

And according to the current regulations, it was required to be paid.

Therefore, the judgment was as follows: Nudong Company is ordered to refund the Breach of Contract fee of sixty yuan, and all other claims are dismissed.

They won, but they didn't completely win.

Just after the Judgment was read out, Zhou Yi saw that Fang Dazhuang beside him was already anxious.

Or rather, he had been unable to sit still during the Debate just now, wishing he could step in himself.

"What is wrong with you two legal counsels? Why are you bickering with the other side about Standard Clauses? Isn't it obvious you're being led into a trap by them?"

"You should have directly argued that charging fees when they haven't used the service is unreasonable; such a contract is manifestly unfair and violates the principles of contract fairness in the Civil Code!"

"I am truly speechless..."

"Tell them to file an Appeal; I will handle your Second Instance. It's driving me crazy!"

It was clear that Fang Dazhuang was genuinely anxious; although this case was indeed prone to disputes, being led by the nose by the other side in just a few words was clearly problematic!

If the direction is wrong, no matter how much you say, it is useless.

Zhou Yi smiled upon hearing this and said, "Alright, then I will tell them."

On the other side, Wang Daoren received a call from Zhou Yi.

"General Manager Zhou, you want us to file an Appeal? Teacher Fang is going to handle it personally?"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Daoren looked at Zhang Wei, then looked at Wu De: "General Manager Zhou said to file an Appeal."

Zhang Wei was already somewhat used to it; according to his previous thinking, there was no need to appeal this at all.

But now, well, then let's go file it.

Coincidentally, they ran into Chen Wenjing just as they arrived at the place.

"Are you also going to file an Appeal? Then see you at the Second Instance!"

The second update, the third update will be a little later.

(End of this chapter)