New refund policies from Alibaba’s Taobao and JD.com spark fears of customer abuse among merchants

Taobao and JD.com have introduced policies that allow shoppers to receive a refund for a product they are unhappy with even though they keep it. Some merchants have raised concerns that consumers may look to exploit the terms of these ‘refund only’ policies, hitting their operations. — SCMP

New “refund only” policies introduced by Chinese ecommerce players including Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao and JD.com have sparked concern among some sellers about potential abuse of the terms, according to merchants and analysts.

Taobao and JD.com in late December introduced new policies that – in certain circumstances – allow shoppers to receive a refund for a product they are unhappy with even though they keep it. This may occur when a consumer complains about the poor quality of a product, or about an inaccurate and misleading description on the platform. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.