How much money have those who have become VVIP members of "Singer" wasted?

Recently, the popularity of "Singer 2024" has once again pushed the membership "routines" of video platforms to the forefront. From the joke of "Na Ying fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance" to the audience looking for free resources to watch the show, a dispute over the rights and interests of video platform members has intensified. Why do these platforms frequently cause dissatisfaction among users while providing convenience? Let's explore the reasons behind this.

A fifty-year-old woman guards the country's borders. Yehenala is her last name, and fighting against foreigners is her destiny. "Amidst all the jokes and ridicule, the famous scene of "Na Ying fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance" that has been hot for a week finally ushered in a sequel. Due to the sudden explosion of the first live broadcast of "Singer 2024", in order to get the first-hand information, some of the "fun people" who heard the news asked relatives and friends for membership accounts, some searched through various free broadcast channels, and some paid huge sums of money for annual fees to get a sneak peek...

Amid the splash caused by Mango TV, the various membership "routines" of video platforms have once again appeared in front of consumers: "You are VIP-SVIP-Full Screen Member, why don't you create a super membership, forcing me to watch pirated apps" "VIP cannot be upgraded to SVIP, Full Screen has no SVIP rights, SVIP cannot be used on TV" "SVIP costs 28 yuan a month without coupons, then what's the point of my remaining one year of membership, what's the point of me who has charged to V8!"

Zinc Scale found that not only the video memberships of "Mango Channel" are being criticized by users, but also apps including fitness, dating, audio, etc. have "VVIP problems". Even the office software WPS has recently attracted a lot of attention due to its "Matryoshka-style" charging. This makes people sigh, "The leeks are growing faster than the membership charging 'routine' is launched."

1. The program is popular, but the membership rights are full of "routines"

Recalling the last time I watched the variety show "I Am a Singer", Lin Yue was still in college at that time.

Lin Yue still remembers what a novel viewing experience the less than 20-inch TV set in her dormitory brought her. "You have no idea how shocked everyone was when they heard G.E.M. singing 'Bubble'. As soon as this 'unknown' singer opened her mouth, all the sisters in the dormitory fell silent." When she paid attention to this program again, Lin Yue was already a senior employee in an Internet company.

When Lin Yue saw relevant information on the short video platform, her mind was constantly filled with various memes on the Internet, from "a 50-year-old woman guarding the national border" to "Yingzi's Adventures" and "Lei Jun won the first place in the UC netizens' ranking of "Singer 2024". All of this made her regain her interest in the show.

After watching a lot of CUT videos and thinking she had made up for the first episode of the live broadcast, Lin Yue turned on the projector in her small rental house on Friday night, ready to immerse herself in the much-anticipated "World War". However, she was stumped by the first step of watching the show. "You need a full-screen membership to watch the full version, but my account is only VIP."

Because she usually shares her account with her family, Lin Yue has almost never paid attention to the charges for related services. "And I rarely watch TV series on video websites. I mostly watch short videos and free videos on Bilibili." Lin Yue asked and found out that the current video VIP services are so crazy. "They can be watched on mobile phones, TVs, and screen casting. Anyway, it's all about making money. I might as well wait to watch those free CUTs and live videos. Anyway, the popularity of "Singer 2024" this time is not because the songs and stages themselves are so good."

To watch the full live broadcast of "Singer 2024" on TV, you also need to activate the full-screen membership

In fact, in order to watch the follow-up, netizens collectively found many channels to grab live broadcast resources for free. On Xiaohongshu, some bloggers posted strategies, such as "You can check whether the points on the apps of various telecom operators are enough to redeem Mango VIP", "You can watch Hunan Satellite TV live for free on CCTV Video App and Xuexi Qiangguo App", "If you don't have Mango membership, go to YouTube, there are music singles and live broadcasts (with ads), free of charge", etc. All of this is difficult to separate from the changes in Mango TV's membership rights.

Previously, with the launch of Mango TV's SVIP service, users complained a lot: "Why do I have to subscribe to SVIP?" "Is your full-screen membership not worthy of being an SVIP?" "I can't watch SVIP with my full-screen membership. Now it has one more function than ordinary VIP, which is TV playback, and it's still the most expensive"...

It is worth noting that some users who want to go to the scene to "eat melons" found that the registration interface for the "Singer 2024" movie viewing event also divided members into levels: Mango TV members' offline interactive rights include "Register now (V1+)" and "SVIP registration", and it is stated that the latter has a "higher chance".

In response to this, some netizens have also commented, "Of course you have to find a way to make money. This level of popularity is not something you can just wish for."

2. The coverage of "VVIP" is wider than expected

In fact, in recent times, the well-known office software WPS has also caused dissatisfaction among a large number of users because of its "nesting doll-style" charging issues.

According to the "News Panorama" program of China National Radio and Television, members, super members, super members Pro, AI members, and conference members... many netizens have reported that Kingsoft Office Software WPS has problems such as arbitrarily modifying membership levels and charging "nesting doll-style" fees. Some users also said that WPS's membership structure is complex, and its membership "routines" are suspected of infringing on consumers' right to know and right to choose.

Zinc Scale learned that the cause of the incident was the AI ​​function launched by WPS, which restricted the use of this function by the Super Member Pro that he had previously purchased. If he wanted to continue to use this new function, he had to pay separately to become an AI member or a premium member.

In response to the user's question of "a separate charge for launching a new function", the relevant person in charge of WPS said: "It was a benefit for member users to use the AI ​​function before, and now the benefit period has expired. In March 2024, WPS AI began commercialization with a relatively large investment. As a new membership service, WPS AI membership is still in grayscale testing and is a paid upgrade option.

Users can choose by themselves. If they choose not to upgrade, the original membership rights will not be affected in any way. "In addition, the market is full of more services that are considered by consumers to be "nesting doll-style" charging . Zinc Scale searched on Black Cat Complaints and found that many industry categories such as fitness, dating, and audio all have "VVIP problems" at the moment.

For example, a consumer who complained about the dating app “Qingtengzhilian” said, “After becoming a member, you have to recharge your coins again to send a note, and members can only send one note a day”; a user who complained about the fitness app “Hard Man Fitness” wrote, “I originally wanted to buy a personalized plan, but I had to pay 168 yuan before I even logged in, and it was marked as 7 yuan per month, with a small 168/24 month at the bottom. I thought it was personalized, but after paying, I found out that it was membership money, and I had to pay for personal customization”; another consumer who complained about the audio app “Ximalaya” said, “Members used to be able to listen to it, but now they have to pay separately for members and children’s members, and they can’t be used interchangeably”…

After sorting out, consumers' dissatisfaction with the "nesting doll-style" charging model mainly focuses on the following four aspects:

1. The charging system is too complicated.

Some software offers a wide variety of membership types with different functions and validity periods, which makes it difficult for consumers to understand and choose membership services that suit them. This complexity increases the difficulty of decision-making for consumers, and sometimes they even make wrong consumption decisions because they do not understand the specific service content;

2. Duplication and overlap of functions.

There is functional overlap between different levels of membership services, which makes it difficult for consumers to determine which membership is most suitable for them and may also lead to a waste of resources;

3. Additional costs will be incurred.

When consumers want to get a specific feature, the platform may ask them to pay extra fees, which is seen as a "nesting doll" charging model that makes consumers feel cheated;

4. Changes in membership level and benefits.

Some platforms may arbitrarily change membership levels and benefits, especially canceling originally promised features and requiring consumers to pay again. This behavior undermines consumers' trust in the platform.

To put it more bluntly, what makes consumers dissatisfied is not the membership service purchased for the convenience of using software functions, but the fact that they do not want to be confused by all kinds of fancy and endless membership types and functions and waste extra money.

3. Clear rules to avoid consumer "traps" at the source

As WPS's "nesting doll-style" charging incidents have been widely exposed during this period, the rectification of similar consumer "traps" has also attracted widespread attention and attention from both inside and outside the industry. Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Institute of the Chinese Law Society, believes that "once consumers purchase, they cannot arbitrarily change the membership fee standards, reduce the service quality, or reduce the service items. I think these behaviors are all breach of contract.

Relevant companies should pay enough attention to this and remind consumers of some important information in the charging standards that are of great interest to them in a prominent way, so that consumers can be fully informed of the content and charging standards of membership services and protect their right to know and right to choose.

In fact, China has a number of legal systems that have made protective provisions for consumers' right to fair trade and right to independent choice . For example, the Consumer Rights Protection Law stipulates that operators "shall not use standard terms and technical means to force transactions." The Price Law clearly states that operators "shall not use false or misleading price means to deceive consumers or other operators into trading with them."

It is worth noting that the State Administration of Radio and Television recently announced a complaint channel for the complicated operation of TV "Matryoshka" charges. This means that the State Administration of Radio and Television has launched a special rectification campaign to standardize the "pay TV" system and strengthen supervision and review of the legality and compliance of opening memberships and charging fees.

The announcement mentioned, "With the strong support of the general public and relevant departments, the State Administration of Radio and Television has actively solved the problems of 'difficulty and annoyance in watching TV' and has made phased progress. In order to better listen to the opinions and suggestions of the people and further consolidate and improve the results of the work of governing the complicated charging and operation of TV 'nesting dolls', the State Administration of Radio and Television announced the user complaint channel for the 'double governance' work."

Of course, the "VVIP problem" must not only rely on strong supervision by laws and regulations, but also be attributed to the platform itself that provides membership fee services. Although the "nesting doll-style" charging can make the platform a considerable profit in the short term, "harvesting" consumers in this way is more likely to damage the reputation and credibility of the platform in the long run, and will also reduce user trust and satisfaction, and ultimately cause consumers to vote with their feet and choose to abandon it.

As for the platform, it should take action to balance short-term interests and long-term development .

In terms of results, although platforms have the right to set prices independently, they should at least do the following: ensure that all charges are open and transparent so that consumers know clearly what services they are paying for; ensure that the services provided match the fees charged to avoid excessive or hidden fees; provide users with detailed information about the services to help them understand the value and necessity of various services; set reasonable charging standards and avoid frequent changes to prevent consumers from feeling confused or dissatisfied; actively listen to users' opinions and suggestions, and adjust charging strategies in a timely manner to meet user needs, etc.

After all, only by defining the boundaries of services first can charges become more fair and transparent.

Author: Meng Huiyuan; Editor: Li Jinlin;

Source public account: Zinc Scale (ID: 1092449)