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Low reported severity Media Coverage

Buyer's complaint says a used-car app's AI customer service said the price covered transfer fees, then a salesperson asked for 1,000 yuan more

People's Daily reported on 6 August 2026, in a piece on the China Consumers Association's complaint figures for the first half of 2026, a complaint a consumer filed on 5 May 2026 through the consumer associations' 315 complaint platform against a Beijing used-car brokerage company. According to the complaint, he chose a used car on the company's app in April 2026, and before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit the platform's official AI customer service, called Xiaogua, told him clearly that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer and registration fees. During the transaction a salesperson asked him to pay a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee. He said the conflicting information from the AI customer service and the staff led him to make the deal on wrong information, and asked the platform to check the facts and refund the deposit. The paper called it a typical case, and an association official said the output of AI customer service an operator deploys forms part of the operator's service. The outcome of the complaint is not reported.

AI system
Xiaogua (reported)
Occurred
Apr 2026
Reported
6 August 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Other Material Harm
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Xiaogua, the official AI customer service on a used-car brokerage company's app, answering a question about what the car price included

What Happened

The complaint. People's Daily reports that on 5 May 2026 a consumer complained through the consumer associations' 315 complaint platform about a Beijing used-car brokerage company, which the paper does not name. He said he had chosen a used car on the company's app in April 2026.

The AI answer. Before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit, the platform's official AI customer service, Xiaogua, told him clearly that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer fee and the registration fee, according to the complaint as the paper relays it.

The consequence. During the transaction a salesperson asked him to pay a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee. He considered that the conflicting information from the AI customer service and the staff had led him to decide on wrong information, and asked the platform to verify the facts and return the deposit.

The association's view. The paper presented the case as typical of AI customer-service problems and, after quoting the association's complaints department, listed growing complaints about AI customer service, including firm promises on fees that operators later refuse to honour. An association official said that AI customer service has no legal personality of its own, but that its output is part of the service the operator provides.

Limits. The account is the consumer's complaint as published by the association through the press; the company's response, the chat record and the outcome are not reported. The English-language CCPIT article and a People's Daily commentary of 20 August carry the same case from the same disclosure.

Reported harm

According to a complaint the China Consumers Association published, a used-car app's AI customer service told a buyer the price included transfer and registration fees; after he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit a salesperson demanded a further 1,000-yuan transfer fee, and he sought the deposit back.

Outcome

Unknown

The consumer asked the platform to verify the facts and refund the 2,000-yuan deposit. The reports do not say how the company or the association resolved the complaint.

What remains unknown

  • The company and app, which the reports do not name.
  • Whether the deposit was refunded or the fee waived, and how the complaint ended.
  • The company's account and the chat record.
  • Where the buyer lives and where the transaction took place.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The complaint, as the China Consumers Association published it through People's Daily, says the platform's official AI customer service, Xiaogua, told the buyer that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer and registration fees before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit, and that a salesperson then demanded a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee. The buyer connects the AI answer to his decision to pay the deposit. The chat record and the company's response were not published.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported People's Daily reports that on 5 May 2026 a consumer complained through the consumer associations' 315 complaint platform about a Beijing used-car brokerage company, saying he had chosen a used car on its app in April 2026.

Causal attribution. The consumer's complaint as published by the association.

  • paper.people.com.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '通过消协315平台投诉某旧机动车经纪（北京）有限公司'; '于今年4月在该公司二手车APP选购一辆二手车'
Reported According to the complaint, before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit the platform's official AI customer service, Xiaogua, told him clearly that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer and registration fees.

Causal attribution. The consumer's complaint; both reports rest on the association's disclosure.

  • paper.people.com.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '在支付2000元订金前，平台官方AI客服“小瓜”明确告知消费者，2.87万元车款已包含过户费和上牌费'
  • en.ccpit.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'paid a deposit for a used car after an AI customer service representative told him that the total price included transfer and registration fees'
  • paper.people.com.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '中消协通报的一起二手车交易纠纷颇具代表性。消费者在购车前，AI客服明确告知车款包含过户费和上牌费，消费者据此支付订金并达成交易意向'
Reported During the transaction a salesperson asked him to pay a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee; he said the conflicting information led him to decide on wrong information and asked for the 2,000-yuan deposit back.

Causal attribution. The consumer's complaint; his own assessment of the causal link.

  • paper.people.com.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '销售人员要求消费者另行支付1000元过户费'; '导致消费者基于错误信息作出交易决定'; '退还已支付的2000元订金'
  • en.ccpit.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'asked him to pay an additional 1,000 yuan ($148) transfer fee'; 'demanded a refund of his deposit'
Reported People's Daily presents the case as typical of AI customer-service promise and access problems, and an official of the China Consumers Association said that the output of AI customer service an operator deploys forms part of the operator's service.

Causal attribution. The paper's characterisation and the association official's stated view.

  • paper.people.com.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '这是AI客服应用场景扩大，服务承诺和人工接入问题突出的一个典型案例'; '其输出内容属于经营者提供服务的组成部分'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Chinese on 2026-10-14 from the People's Daily e-paper page; translated by the research agent (an AI), not by a human translator. The paper relays the China Consumers Association's account of the complaint and quotes its complaints official. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-14 from the CCPIT site. It reports the same case from the same association disclosure, in less detail, and is not an independent account. Applies to s2.

Read in Chinese on 2026-10-14 from the People's Daily e-paper page; translated by the research agent (an AI). A signed commentary that describes the same case as one the China Consumers Association disclosed, without the buyer's details; same disclosure, not an independent account. Applies to s3.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.

The company is described as a Beijing used-car brokerage and the complaint went to the China Consumers Association's platform, but neither report says where the buyer lives or where the transaction took place; no country is inferred from the company's seat or the association.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-14: Published as a concrete adverse experience with a company's AI customer service: in a complaint the China Consumers Association published, the buyer says the AI told him the price included fees, he paid a deposit, and a salesperson then demanded a further 1,000 yuan. Claims are attributed to the complaint and the association; the outcome is unknown.

People described

A consumer who chose a used car on a brokerage company's app and paid a deposit after its AI customer service described the price

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One person: the buyer who complained that the app's AI customer service told him the price included the fees before he paid the deposit. Exact 1. The association's complaint totals are not counts of people harmed by this system.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#customer-service-chatbot#used-car-purchase#wrong-price-information#consumer-complaint#deposit-dispute

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Buyer's complaint says a used-car app's AI customer service said the price covered transfer fees, then a salesperson asked for 1,000 yuan more. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-used-car-app-ai-customer-service-said-price-included-transfer-fees-buyer-later-asked-for-1000-yuan

BibTeX

@misc{2026_used_car_app_ai_customer_service_said_price_included_transfer_fees_buyer_later_asked_for_1000_yuan,
  title = {Buyer's complaint says a used-car app's AI customer service said the price covered transfer fees, then a salesperson asked for 1,000 yuan more},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-used-car-app-ai-customer-service-said-price-included-transfer-fees-buyer-later-asked-for-1000-yuan}
}

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