Luo Yonghao, a prominent figure and former CEO of the popular e-commerce platform ‘Best Friends’ (交个朋友), has broken his silence regarding the recent controversy surrounding the sale of a defective stool. The incident, which involved the discovery of substandard materials like moldy wood and recycled foam in the ‘Universal Wheel Stool’ sold through the platform’s live streams, has sparked public outcry.
Luo Yonghao’s Stance and Oversight Role
In a statement released on September 25th, Luo Yonghao addressed the issue, defending the platform’s handling of the situation. He acknowledged that ‘Best Friends’ inadvertently sold a substandard product. The platform is pursuing the supplier for legal recourse while simultaneously initiating a refund process for consumers, offering refunds without requiring product returns due to the anticipated lengthy legal battles.
Luo emphasized his continued role as the Chief Supervisor for ‘Best Friends,’ a position he has held since stepping down from the management team in May 2022. He assured the public that he remains committed to overseeing all products sold by the platform, even those not personally demonstrated by him during live streams. He admitted that the operational department had initially underestimated the severity of the issue, attributing this oversight to a relatively low number of daily returns and complaints despite significant sales of the product, which amounted to two to three million yuan.
“Regardless, this is a serious quality management accident. I thank the media and netizens for their supervision; if it hadn’t trended, we might still not have discovered the severity of the problem.”
Broader Market Context and Call for Fairness
Luo Yonghao’s team conducted a thorough investigation into the product’s sales across all platforms. Their findings revealed that Yu Minhong’s ‘East, Buy, Buy’ (东方甄选) platform had also sold nearly 10 million yuan worth of the same defective stools, making it the largest distributor of the product.
He pointed out the disparity in how such issues are handled. While ‘Best Friends’ and Luo Yonghao are responsible for resolving product problems, Yu Minhong and ‘East, Buy, Buy’ typically manage their own issues. Luo cited several past instances on ‘East, Buy, Buy’, including issues with white shrimp from South America, Jintian oranges, and plum juice, as well as the highly publicized ‘Caotou Rou’ canned meat that was featured on the national 315 consumer rights show. In these cases, full refunds and compensation were not universally applied.
Luo Yonghao urged the media and self-media outlets to maintain fairness and impartiality in their reporting of this incident. He called for the same level of scrutiny and public exposure that ‘Best Friends’ is facing, hoping for a consistent application of their supervisory role and a commitment to avoiding ‘selective enforcement’ without any hidden or compromising factors.
‘Best Friends’ Platform Response
Following the consumer complaints, ‘Best Friends’ promptly announced its actions. The platform stated that it had immediately removed the ‘Universal Wheel Stool’ from its shelves, terminated its partnership with the brand, and initiated a comprehensive refund and compensation process. The platform reiterated its commitment to providing full refunds to all customers who purchased the product, with the option to keep the item.
