Group-buying website promises better services

Group-buying website, 55tuan.com, has promised to refund money to customers dissatisfied with the services they have paid for or the products they have bought, CEO Xu Maodong announced at a press conference held in Beijing Friday.

The refund policy is one of the ten measures that the company has adopted to enhance the quality of its services. The initiative also calls for an improvement in the whole group-buying industry.

Xu said the concept derived from what he called the "Wal-mart mode". This means that 55tuan will be the first responsible for any problems occurred during the purchasing and consuming process, a policy not yet adopted by other service providers.

In order to better protect the rights and interests of consumers 55tuan has deposited 1.15 million yuan as a security fund at China Consumers' Association (CCA). If a consumer cannot reach an agreement with 55tuan in solving the problem, they can apply for mediation from the CCA. The CCA will also have the right to use the fund for refunds.

55tuan was established in March last year. It said in May after hosting a fundraising round that drew in $200 million that it decided to list publicly.