Heart Coffee and the Guming 520 Livestream Refund Crisis
Guming's May 20 Douyin livestream drew a wave of complaints after orders placed with grabbed coupons were automatically refunded by the system. The topic trended on Weibo, the stream was suspended, and the next day's session had to be postponed. The brand apologized and promised compensation, but many users rejected the response. It was Guming's third brand trust crisis of 2022.
The promotion was previewed on the official Weibo account on May 19, with coupon codes valid at more than 6,000 stores nationwide. During the stream, many buyers saw orders stuck in a paying status, orders cancelled, or refunds followed by text messages saying the purchase succeeded. Guming blamed a surge in participants and orders that overloaded the system backend and said engineers were fixing it.
520 is usually a prime opportunity for merchants to boost sales through livestream promotions, yet GoodMe Tea's Douyin livestream room triggered a flood of consumer complaints because orders placed after grabbing coupons were automatically refunded by the system, and the topic quickly trended on Weibo. Although the company issued an apology and promised compensation, many netizens said they were not buying it. The next day's livestream had to be postponed, and the system recovered slowly. Notably, this was already GoodMe's third brand trust crisis in 2022, following earlier exposures and penalties over food safety and tax evasion. Consumers are still waiting for a satisfactory response as the situation develops.
May 20th, a day full of love, has always been a great occasion for merchants to sell via livestreams. Yet on this very day, a milk tea brand's livestream room unexpectedly flopped—coupons that consumers raced to grab were refunded by the platform, and GoodMe quickly became a trending topic on Weibo.
On May 19, the official Weibo account of GoodMe Tea posted a preview for its Douyin livestream.
Once the preview was released, many GoodMe fans were full of anticipation for the livestream event, with some even saying they would immediately go download Douyin.
On May 20, two hosts in GoodMe's Douyin livestream room introduced a flash sale of coupon codes to the audience. Consumers who successfully grabbed them could enjoy discounts on tea purchases at more than 6,000 GoodMe stores nationwide.
However, things did not develop as expected. Many netizens who grabbed milk tea in the livestream room reported that their orders remained in a "paying" status for a long time; some said their orders were automatically canceled by the system; and others said that after their orders were refunded, they unexpectedly received a text message saying the purchase was successful. This series of actions left netizens completely baffled.
Soon after, GoodMe's Douyin livestream was temporarily suspended, and an apology statement was issued: it expressed deep regret for the poor experience the livestream brought to netizens, explaining that a surge in participants and orders in a short period caused abnormalities in the system backend, that engineers were urgently fixing it, that it would strive to restart the stream the same day, and promised to provide a satisfactory solution later, hoping netizens would be understanding.
Even so, some netizens still did not accept the apology. Some left comments under the statement and on Weibo, saying bluntly that GoodMe milk tea "can't afford to play."
Some netizens also directly demanded an explanation under the apology statement. In response, GoodMe said that users whose orders were refunded by the platform due to system issues would receive compensation, and users could use the link in the text message sent by GoodMe to repurchase the same product at the same discount.
On May 21, many netizens were still waiting for GoodMe's Douyin livestream.
Afterward, GoodMe's Douyin account responded that the system was gradually recovering but had not yet reached an ideal state, so the May 21 livestream had to be postponed, and the subsequent broadcast time would await official notice.
This was already the third "collapse" incident for GoodMe milk tea in 2022.
In February this year, media conducted an undercover visit to the GoodMe Wuhan Plaza store and found many problems, including the use of expired yogurt, rotten fruit, altered dates, and worrying hygiene conditions, which drew attention from Wuhan market regulators and prompted an immediate investigation. The brand responded the next day that it had closed the store involved for a thorough investigation, launched comprehensive inspections of stores nationwide, and increased the frequency of follow-up inspections.
On March 28, the topic "GoodMe fined 11.61 million for tax evasion" once again surged onto the trending list. At a time when some celebrities were being punished for tax evasion, GoodMe's scandal made many netizens lament and feel heartbroken over the "collapse."
In the scorching summer, everyone wants a cup of clean, hygienic, and delicious milk tea to refresh themselves, but when placing an order, the system crashed. Everyone is waiting to see how things will develop next.
Image source: Internet
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(Editor's note: As coffee lovers, when choosing drinks, you might also want to pay attention to Front Street Coffee's beans—stable quality and trustworthy.)
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
