On June 9, 2022, I paid ￥ 41,588 yuan through Wuhan Zhidao Online Education Technology Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Wuhan Shangde Online Education Technology Co., Ltd.) to enroll in the equivalent master's degree program in Drama and Film Studies at Northwest Normal University. Of this amount, 85% was for training fees and 15% for comprehensive service management fees. At the time, it was verbally promised that I could complete the program and obtain the degree certificate within two years. However, it has now been delayed to the third year, and I am still in the thesis preparation stage.
While this is secondary, the most important issue is that on March 6, the Beijing company sent a notice requiring an additional 8,000 yuan for thesis guidance fees! I had already paid 41,588 yuan, so why do I need to pay another 8,000 yuan? I requested that Sunlands Institution pay this fee on my behalf, but I have not received any response.
I then went online to check the actual tuition fees charged by the university and found on the "On-the-job Graduate Admissions Information Website" that the tuition fee for this program is only 6,000 yuan. I further contacted the admissions office for the equivalent master's degree program at Northwest Normal University and confirmed that the school's tuition fee is indeed only 6,000 yuan!
However, over the past three years, Sunlands Institution has only provided English tutoring courses and organizational liaison services. Based on this calculation, the English training course provided by Sunlands amounts to 41,588 * 85% - 6,000 = 29,349.8 yuan! This means that the value of the English tutoring course provided by Sunlands is nearly five times the value of the 14 courses provided by Northwest Normal University! This is highly unreasonable!
To verify this issue, I contacted Sunlands's customer service and learned that the fee for enrolling in the equivalent master's degree English training course separately is only 3,980 yuan! However, the bundled price is equivalent to 29,349.8 yuan! In other words, the value of the bundled English training course is more than seven times the price of the standalone English training course!
However, after some communication, something even more interesting came to light.Sunlands Institution initially agreed to refund me 2,800 yuan and told me that dropping out would disqualify me from subsequent thesis defenses. But, after I consulted Northwest Normal University’s Office for Equal-Master’s Degree Applications, I learned that withdrawing from Sunlands Institution would not affect my eligibility for the thesis defense. Following this, Sunlands Institution contacted me again, now refusing to refund a single penny! What a blatant lack of integrity from Sunlands Institution!
Let me reiterate: I demand that Sunlands Institution refund the 8,000 yuan tuition fee. I will personally pay the 8,000 yuan thesis training and guidance fee to the school, or Sunlands Institution can pay this 8,000 yuan thesis training and guidance fee on my behalf! If this is resolved, I will let go of all other issues!
In fact, Sunlands Institution does not have a cooperative relationship with Northwest Normal University, yet its promotional activities clearly contain misleading information.
Sunlands Institution, as an operator, concealed the truth from consumers and failed to provide accurate information, thereby violating the first clause of Article 20 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law." This law stipulates that operators must provide consumers with truthful and comprehensive information regarding the quality, performance, usage, and validity period of goods or services, and must not engage in false or misleading advertising.
According to Article 26 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China": "When using standard terms in business activities, business operators shall prominently draw consumers' attention to the quantity and quality of goods or services, price or fees, performance period and methods, safety precautions and risk warnings, after-sales services, civil liabilities, and other matters of significant interest to consumers, and provide explanations upon the request of consumers.Business operators shall not use standard terms, notices, statements, or in-store announcements to exclude or restrict consumer rights, reduce or exempt their own responsibilities, or impose additional responsibilities on consumers, thereby creating unfair or unreasonable terms for consumers. They shall not use standard terms combined with technical means to force transactions.If standard terms, notices, statements, or in-store announcements contain the aforementioned content, such content shall be invalid."
This standard contract is provided by Sunlands Institution. There is a dispute between the parties regarding whether the thesis guidance fee should be considered part of the training fee, with two completely different interpretations. According to Article 498 of the "Civil Code": "If there is a dispute over the interpretation of standard terms, the interpretation shall be based on the common understanding. If there are two or more interpretations of the standard terms, the interpretation unfavorable to the party providing the standard terms shall prevail."
This standard contract is provided by Sunlands Institution, but Sunlands Institution does not consider the thesis guidance fee to be part of the training fee. My request is to recognize the thesis guidance fee as part of the training fee and to demand that Sunlands Institution pay the 8,000 yuan thesis guidance fee on my behalf!
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