Ordering a waterproofing and leak-repair service for 10 yuan, only to be charged 7,300 yuan at checkout; a locksmith quoted 50 yuan over the phone for an on-site visit, ultimately costing nearly 1,000 yuan... Around the Spring Festival, cases of overpriced repairs have appeared frequently. Why do seemingly ordinary repairs and patch-ups cost so outrageously? How can consumers avoid falling into such traps?

Before the Spring Festival, Mr. Yuan from Wuhan had a leaking bathroom at home and promptly contacted a repair shop through an e-commerce platform. The merchant claimed it could be quickly repaired by grouting, so Mr. Yuan placed an order at the 10-yuan price listed on the merchant's page.

At around 4 p.m. that day, two repair workers arrived at Mr. Yuan's home. After a brief inspection, they began drilling and injecting grout. To Mr. Yuan's surprise, what he had assumed was a simple patch-up that wouldn't cost much ended up with the other party demanding 7,300 yuan at checkout.

"The repair workers didn't say what kind of glue they used or how much, only that it cost over 200 yuan per jin." Knowing little about the going rates, Mr. Yuan had no choice but to pay the stated price. However, the leak was not fixed, and Mr. Yuan later hired a professional waterproofing and leak-repair company for maintenance, which cost over 2,000 yuan.

Recently, Mr. Huang from Zhengzhou also encountered an overpriced repair. On the evening of January 23, Mr. Huang contacted a locksmith for an on-site visit through a life-services platform. "The other party said on the phone that the lock-opening fee was only about 50 yuan, but after arriving they said the security lock couldn't be opened and required forced dismantling, and they kept refusing to state the specific price. In the end, the whole service cost 960 yuan," Mr. Huang said.

In daily life, the phenomenon of "repair sharks" appears frequently, and many consumers report having had similar experiences: ordering a light fixture replacement online with a page showing only 30 yuan, yet ultimately being charged 370 yuan; booking an electrician for an on-site repair and being "duped" into replacing wiring and switches, then charged 9,000 yuan... Reporters saw on the Black Cat Complaint platform that there are more than 3,000 complaints related to "home repairs," most of which concern unreasonable charges.

Lawyer Liao Jianxun of Guangzhou Guoding Law Firm told reporters that overpriced repairs generally fall into two categories: one is where the repair process is relatively complex and the cost is also high, such as waterproofing and leak repair, and some merchants, in order to attract business, deliberately lure customers with low prices on platforms and then charge high repair fees; the other is where the repair service fee itself is not high, but the merchant exaggerates the difficulty of the repair and charges exorbitant fees.

"Consumers lack the ability to make professional judgments, and repair workers do not inform them of specific costs in advance; the lack of price transparency not only infringes on consumers' right to know but also涉嫌 fraud," Liao Jianxun said.

Liao Jianxun believes that to solve the problem of overpriced repairs, on the one hand, platforms need to take responsibility by making prices open and transparent and respecting consumers' right to know. On the other hand, regulatory authorities should step up investigations and penalties to effectively safeguard consumers' legitimate rights and interests.

For consumers, Liao Jianxun suggests that before repairs they can learn about and compare multiple sources, try to agree on the price before the repair, and keep textual, voice, or image evidence. If they are cheated, consumers can promptly negotiate and communicate with the merchant and platform, and can also complain to market supervision departments, consumer rights protection organizations, and other relevant bodies.