The Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Beijing Consumers' Association said they received 96 complaints regarding e-commerce in March 2009, which was 1.46 times higher those received in the same period of last year, and the complaints accounted for 74.42% of the total Internet complaints received during the same period.

According to the two departments, Internet shopping service providers' refusals for refunds or compensating in cash has become the new focus of the complaints. A consumer surnamed Han told local media that she booked a product on an online shopping website and remitted the money to the bank account of the website, but the website canceled her order without reason. The website did not agree to refund the cash. Instead, the website said it would return the money to her account on the website and if she wanted to use the money, she had to buy more products on the website.

Another consumer surnamed Wan said he once bought a speaker from an online shopping mall and wanted to return the goods for quality problems. However, the online shopping mall only promised to gave back points to Wan and the points could offset payments when he bought other products from the online shopping mall.

A representative from the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said that Internet shopping service providers' refusal of refunding cash limits consumers' rights to choose and right to fair trade. The department has accepted the complaints of the two consumers and the issues are currently undergoing mediation.

Other problems involved in the Internet shopping include Internet shopping service providers' refusal of offering receipts; delayed deliveries; inconsistency between the descriptions and the actual products; and the delay of maintenance.