How Did the Milk Tea Foreign Object Case Unfold?

A woman surnamed Zhang filed ten compensation claims against multiple outlets of one milk tea chain in just over a month, saying she found a hair in her takeout drink. She reused the same photo six times and collected more than 15,000 yuan. Police arrested her during her eleventh complaint. A court sentenced her to one year and three months in prison, suspended for one year and six months, plus a 5,000 yuan fine, for extortion.

Merchants first settled claims to shield their brands, but repeated complaints prompted a loss prevention investigation. The case highlights abuse of the tenfold compensation clause under the Food Safety Law and offers a caution for food and beverage businesses handling disputes. For coffee knowledge and foreign exchange coffee topics, the lesson is the same: document incidents and report suspected fraud instead of settling quietly.

A woman surnamed Zhang used the excuse of finding a hair in her takeaway milk tea to file ten compensation claims against multiple outlets of the same milk tea chain within just over a month, using the same photo six times and collecting more than 15,000 yuan in total. The merchants initially chose to compromise in order to protect their brand image, but as similar complaints kept appearing, the brand's loss prevention department launched an investigation and called the police. Police caught the woman on her eleventh complaint, and the court ultimately sentenced her to one year and three months in prison, suspended for one year and six months, plus a fine of 5,000 yuan, for extortion. The case exposes the phenomenon of some consumers abusing the tenfold compensation clause of the Food Safety Law to file malicious claims, and serves as a wake-up call for the food and beverage industry in handling similar disputes.

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When the complaint first came in, a woman who claimed her surname was Zhang said she had found a hair in the takeaway milk tea she ordered and demanded tenfold compensation on that basis. In a recorded phone call, Ms. Zhang stressed: "I have already made the maximum concession, not causing you trouble or any negative impact. Because once I speak up, the news will definitely spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred."

The merchant initially planned to simply waive the order, but Ms. Zhang was very firm. She said: "I understand the law, which is why I'm negotiating with you according to the Food Safety Law. Right now I'm the one setting conditions for you, not you for me." She also pointed out that her claim was based on a provision in the Food Safety Law: "Whoever produces food that does not meet food safety standards — in addition to claiming compensation for losses, consumers may also demand from the producer or seller compensation of ten times the price paid." To avoid damage to the brand's reputation, the shop quickly agreed to Ms. Zhang's demands, not only waiving the order cost but also paying ten times the compensation.

After that, however, multiple outlets in the same area also received similar complaints about foreign objects and compensation calls over the course of just over a month, and the store managers promptly reported the situation to the regional work group. Because the same type of problem kept recurring, it drew the attention of the milk tea chain's loss prevention department, which launched an investigation into the multiple complaint and compensation incidents.

The investigation results showed that these frequent compensation calls all came from the same person, and that the same photo was used in six of the ten claims, with cumulative compensation exceeding 15,000 yuan, so the brand chose to call the police.

Later, when the suspect made her eleventh complaint and compensation demand, police found Zhang at an accounting firm and arrested her on suspicion of extortion. Faced with the sudden appearance of the police, Zhang seemed somewhat at a loss. According to Zhang's statement, the first claim really was because she had found a hair in the milk tea, but through that communication she discovered how easy it was to claim compensation, and after succeeding easily once or twice, she decided to embark on this "road to riches." However, she did not realize that her actions already amounted to suspected extortion, and she said she knew she was wrong.

In response, police pointed out: it is impossible that out of eleven orders, hair was found in all eleven. Although Zhang expressed remorse, the charge of extortion could no longer be escaped, and police placed her under criminal detention in accordance with the law.

The case recently received its latest ruling. According to People's Daily Online, the Beijing Fengtai District People's Procuratorate held an online video trial with Zhang. Because after being brought to justice the defendant voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, compensated the victimized company for its economic losses, and obtained its forgiveness, the court ultimately sentenced Zhang for the crime of extortion to one year and three months in prison, suspended for one year and six months, and a fine of 5,000 yuan.

A prosecutor from the Fengtai District People's Procuratorate said in an interview: China's relevant provisions on the crime of extortion require that the amount involved reach more than 3,000 yuan. In this case, the amount involved exceeded 15,000 yuan, and a total of ten acts of extortion were carried out within just over a month, which is also a relatively high number of times. However, consideration was given to the fact that after the incident Zhang compensated the milk tea shop and obtained the shop's forgiveness. In the trial video, Zhang wept as she faced the procuratorate's accusations and asked the judge and prosecutor to give her a chance on account of her young age, saying she had already recognized her mistake.

In response, the prosecutor said that Zhou also had a legitimate job at the time, yet was punished by law because of momentary greed. Here it is also hoped that people will not use illegal means to obtain improper benefits for the sake of a small gain. To leave a criminal record that can never be erased for a lifetime just because of momentary greed at a young age is not worth it, truly not worth it. Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.