河南郑州消费者张女士近日遭遇预付卡使用限制问题。她两年前在一家服装店充值5000元，7月27日晚发现卡内剩余的800多元无法购买折扣商品，而商家在充值时并未告知这一限制条件[1]。当张女士提出质疑时，店员以"顾客没有问，所以没有说"为由搪塞，声称这是"公司规定"[1]。
法律专业人士指出，商家的做法存在明显漏洞。律师王维维表示，消费者没有义务主动询问所有隐藏的使用限制，而商家应当负责在交易前完整、清晰地告知消费条件[1]。这类关乎消费者权益的使用限制属于格式条款，商家有法律责任在消费者充值时以显著方式进行提示[1]。消费者有权要求商家允许正常使用卡内余额，或者要求退还剩余金额[1]。
A consumer in Zhengzhou, Henan province discovered a significant restriction on her prepaid card that had not been disclosed at the time of purchase.[1] Zhang, a customer at a clothing store in Yinxiang Hui Mall in Jinshui District, Zhengzhou, had topped up 5,000 yuan into her store card two years prior.[1] On the evening of July 27, she found that her remaining balance of over 800 yuan could not be used to purchase discounted merchandise.[1]
When Zhang questioned the store staff about this limitation, the employee responded by stating that customers had not asked about the restriction, and therefore it had not been mentioned, characterizing it as a "company policy."[1] However, legal experts argue that such usage restrictions constitute format terms with material bearing on consumer rights and should have been presented to the customer in a prominent manner at the time of the initial payment.[1] According to attorney Wang Weiwei, "consumers have no obligation to proactively inquire about all hidden restrictions, while merchants bear the responsibility to inform customers of transaction terms in advance and in their entirety."[1]
The attorney further clarified that consumers retain the right to demand that merchants either permit normal use of the card balance or provide a refund of the remaining funds.[1]