Yuan Yuan told reporters that the process of studying abroad was as follows: In February, 20001,Yuan Yuan learned that Ying Ying could provide exchange students to study in EF school in the United States, so he went to register. Yuan Yuan said that because the English company mistyped the letter to the American Embassy as Britain, on August 5438+0, 2006, Yuan Yuan applied to study the pre-university courses of English First School at its own expense.
Yuan Yuan learned from the study materials of Yingli Company that the tuition fee for studying abroad includes 24 to 30 English classes per week, and the accommodation standard is a double room for the host family. Provide meals for host families from Monday to Friday, including two meals in the morning and three meals on weekends. Liao Ying Company and Jiuchuan Company have repeatedly stated that the fees charged by EF School are mainly used for course fees and room and board, and there is no management fee, and they are guaranteed to live in families above the middle class during their study in the UK, and there is no room and board problem. On August 25th, Yuan Yuan remitted the tuition fee of 1 1900 USD and the insurance premium of $640 USD to EF School in the UK.
When Yuan Yuan arrived in England, he found himself cheated. There are no pre-university courses in this school, so he can only take the main courses. Moreover, the school arranged for him to live on social welfare, and the quality of his diet every day was extremely poor. After paying the high cost of studying abroad, Yuanyuan still lives a life without enough to eat. On February 4th, Yuan Yuan had to drop out of school and return to Beijing because she could not live in Britain.
Confrontation 1: Is it that consumers will not defend their rights or intermediary fraud?
In the court debate, the focus of the debate between the two sides focused on the relationship between ef and jiuchuan, whether jiuchuan provided Yuanyuan with detailed introduction materials, and whether there was fraud in intermediary services. An issue in this case is whether the intermediary is suspected of fraud. Judging from the debate on the spot, due to the lack of sufficient strong evidence in Yuan Yuan, it is impossible to directly prove the fraud of Jiuchuan Company. Zhang Zheng, Jiuchuan's defense lawyer, categorically denied Jiuchuan's fraud in the whole incident. He said that Jiuchuan's understanding of EF is also through its brochures and contacts between employees, and it is impossible to exaggerate international students.
The reporter learned from another channel that the usual practice of some intermediaries is to distribute all kinds of publicity materials and make all kinds of oral statements before consumers choose their own services, so as to describe the prospect of studying abroad very well and let consumers make up their minds to take the road of intermediary design. After paying a certain fee, consumers will put forward such conditions, such as changing countries, changing schools and paying various fees. If consumers don't agree, they will make threats on the grounds that the purpose of studying abroad can't be achieved. At this time, consumers often consider the early time and economic contribution and are forced to agree to the conditions of the intermediary, thus being led by the intermediary step by step.
Lawyer Lingyun of Beijing Yuecheng Law Firm believes that there are usually the following problems in the contracts signed by consumers and study agents: First, the contracts signed by agents are generally standard contracts, and there are few contents to safeguard the interests of consumers. Once problems arise, it is difficult for consumers to find a legal basis; Secondly, there will be various changes after the contract comes into effect; Third, consumers' right to know and businesses' obligation to inform lack effective supervision mechanism; Fourth, the rights and obligations of both parties are not detailed enough, so once there is a problem in the performance of the contract, consumers will find "traps" everywhere.
Therefore, lawyer Lingyun reminds consumers that in the process of signing and performing contracts, they should establish awareness of rights protection. For example, the contract unilaterally presented by the intermediary is not irrevocable, and the contract should be signed on the basis of full consultation between the two parties. If consumers think it is necessary to explain the terms, they can supplement them. And many consumers, even if they have many questions, will usually be "contracts signed by others are like this" and "don't do it if you don't sign it!" Wait for the harsh conversation to scare you back. In fact, if every consumer does not sign such a contract, it will not encourage the tough attitude of the intermediary. During the performance of the contract, the change should also be the result of negotiation between the two parties. If one party does not agree to the change request, the contract shall be executed as it was before the change, and the previous contract shall not be invalidated because one party does not accept the change request.
Regarding this case, Zhang Zheng, the defense lawyer of Jiuchuan Company, believes that Jiuchuan Company has fully and properly performed the contract service and sent Yuanyuan to study in the UK. "EF is just one of the many overseas educational institutions represented by Jiuchuan, so EF, not us, should file a lawsuit in Yuan Yuan. It's like two people got married through a marriage agency, and now they want to divorce for some other reason. Do you want a marriage agency? "
Confrontation 2: Is the study agent value for money or "sitting on the ground to collect money"?
Ding Hongyu, director of the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Department of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, believes that the intermediary has a lot of information about overseas educational institutions and is very familiar with a series of procedures for going abroad, which is unmatched by ordinary parents and students. Of course, students can contact overseas schools directly through the Internet, but due to many countries and languages, a considerable number of students' foreign language level is not enough to obtain detailed information about the schools they want to go to. At present, overseas educational institutions are not allowed to enroll students directly in China, which can only be achieved through their cooperation with domestic intermediaries. In other words, from all angles, as a student studying abroad, the information is limited, so the study agent has its advantages.
It is understood that the current cost of studying in Europe is 80,000 to 65,438+10,000 yuan, of which more than 30,000 yuan should be paid to the intermediary. Some consumers complain that there is no place to verify how much the intermediary wants us to pay for these fees. It is these eager parents who encourage intermediaries. "Anyway, there are so many intermediaries. If you don't come, someone will kill one."
Mr. Shen, the director of the program "Studying in ABC" on Beijing TV for many years, raised such a question: Who is the study agent? According to common sense, students studying abroad pay service fees to intermediaries because of their knowledge of foreign schools and visa procedures. Since it is a paid job, we should do our best to safeguard the rights and interests of the employer, including verifying the actual situation of the school and charging standards. However, in reality, some intermediaries are often consistent with the interests of foreign educational institutions, and they are vague, vague and even deliberately conceal or deceive when introducing international students. This is also an important reason for the low credibility of some intermediaries.
Confrontation 3: Is the intermediary the only way to study abroad or the "second-hand dealer" of information about studying abroad?
Chen Long, head of the Sino-British project at the Experimental College of Beijing University of Technology, believes that the existence of study abroad intermediaries is due to the asymmetry of information between consumers and intermediaries in the face of open doors and various overseas educational institutions, and intermediaries can collect service fees by packaging and outputting these information. The purpose of the intermediary is to send students abroad, and the purpose of parents is to hope that their children will succeed in studying abroad. There is a difference between these two purposes. However, the services provided by the intermediary are only sent out and do not bear any responsibility for living and studying abroad. For example, the contract in Yuanyuan case mentioned that "the contract will be terminated automatically after the visa is successful and the school is registered". Therefore, it is not enough for an intermediary to arrange for children to study abroad. He suggested that consumers choose inter-school cooperation projects. Similar programs can not only help students choose schools and visas, but also help them adapt to the changes in Chinese and foreign teaching systems and understand their future schools abroad. Even China institutions in destination countries can guide students' local life.
Professor Chen Hongjie of Peking University Institute of Education is a professional engaged in German higher education research. He believes that studying abroad does not need to rely on intermediaries, at least in Germany. Through the Internet, German institutions in China, such as the German Embassy and the German Academic Exchange Center, you can get information about every German university. To a certain extent, the study abroad agent is a kind of "second-hand dealer" of information. When Professor Chen consults in German academic centers, he often meets some study agents to consult there, get some free materials, and then provide intermediary services to consumers for a certain fee. There is no law that prevents you from directly contacting universities and German institutions in China.
Confrontation 4: Is it more important to curb intermediary violations, effectively control quantity or improve quality?
According to Director Ding Hongyu, as the superior department in charge of studying abroad, the Municipal Education Commission is mainly responsible for the audit of intermediary qualifications, and will investigate and deal with any illegal operation. There are several main items to judge whether the intermediary agency meets the requirements and is qualified to operate the intermediary service for studying abroad: 1, and whether there is a qualification certificate issued by the Ministry of Education; 2 whether there is a business license issued by the industrial and commercial department, clearly indicating that there are intermediary services for studying abroad at their own expense; 3. See if the intermediary has signed a cooperation agreement with foreign educational institutions; 4. Does the foreign educational institution have a certificate from the local embassy or consulate of China (note: the original of this material is kept in the Beijing Municipal Education Commission); 5. The person signing the contract with the overseas students must be the legal representative of the intermediary institution or its client; 6. The agreements signed by the intermediary should be numbered consecutively, so that even if only 60 of the 600 agreements finally take effect, the Education Commission can check them.
According to the regulations, subcontracting, contracting, leasing and other phenomena are illegal operations and are resolutely not allowed. At the beginning, the policy of controlling the number of intermediaries was introduced because this is a special industry and it is impossible to completely liberalize it. Beijing * * * has approved 46 legal intermediaries, but subletting, contracting and renting exist. Because this kind of behavior is concealed, it is difficult to obtain evidence, and it is difficult to eradicate it completely. Usually, the investigation and study of the education commission and the report of consumers are all ways to investigate and deal with intermediaries. However, whether to cancel the intermediary qualification in the end lacks powerful policy means.
Chen Long, head of the Sino-British project at the Experimental College of Beijing University of Technology, believes that the current study abroad agencies are not the product of free competition, and most of them have the background of state institutions, so they have the nature of partial monopoly. As a result, the phenomenon of subcontracting is known to the industry, which makes the government subjectively reduce the number of intermediaries to facilitate management and identification.
Lawyer Lingyun believes that the supervision of intermediary management is still not enough. The qualification examination only reserves the entrance of the study abroad intermediary, and the administrative department for industry and commerce only makes broad provisions on the work content of the study abroad intermediary. There are no clear rules on how to carry out business and who is qualified to study abroad, so it is easy to be exploited by intermediary companies. Therefore, the management of intermediary institutions should be strengthened in practice.