China man upset as sales platform refuses to transfer his name to dead sister’s concert ticket despite proof
- Sister buys ticket for Taiwan pop king Jay Chou concert, dies in accident, brother wants to honour memory by attending
A leading ticket sales platform in China has triggered a public backlash after it refused to transfer a concert ticket to a dead woman’s brother, even after he showed them proof of her death.
The man, surnamed Wang, revealed on mainland social media that his sister had bought a ticket to see Taiwanese pop king Jay Chou on June 1 in Changsha, Hunan province, central China.
She was involved in an accident and died on May 10, Bailu Video reported.
Wang said he wanted to attend the concert in his sister’s memory because seeing Jay Chou perform live was a long-held wish of hers.
He contacted the Damai app where his sister had bought the ticket to change her name on it to his, but the company refused to allow the transfer.
At the company’s request, Wang submitted official documents that showed the date of her death, as well as proof that her residential registry had been cancelled by the police authority in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province in southwestern China.
“Sorry, we cannot support your appeal,” Damai’s customer service section told Wang.
Later, the concert organiser, Hunan Zhixin Media Company, agreed they would refund Wang as long as he returned the paper ticket to them.
“We cannot change a spectator’s identity in our ticket system,” a manager from Zhixin said, pointing out that real-name registration is a requirement when buying a ticket. “We can only assist him to buy a new ticket when there is a vacant seat.”
Wang said he would have preferred to be his sister’s replacement while watching the concert.
“How dearly I wished my sister could go there to see Jay Chou,” he said.
After the incident was viewed 240 million times on Weibo, Damai issued a statement on May 21 to apologise to Wang for its after-sale service.
“We did not correctly understand the brother’s intention, nor did we show empathy with his desire to fulfil his late sister’s wish. Our process is rigid and non-flexible,” Damai admitted.
The company said that after further communication, it went ahead and issued a refund and was trying its best to arrange another ticket for Wang.
“How ridiculous these companies are. The rules are dead, but people are alive. Can’t they be flexible and humane?” one online observer said on Weibo.
“Their arrangements made me speechless,” said another person.
It’s not the first time Damai has come under fire for its controversial ticket policies.
In March, a woman in southern China’s Guangdong province complained that the company refused to refund a ticket bought by her father before he died – for a concert by Singaporean singer JJ Lin – even after she showed proof of death.
Disbelief as house cleaners hired by Japan man stumble upon skeleton of ‘missing’ mother
- Mother went ‘missing’ 10 years ago but man’s house was so filthy, stench of decomposing remains went unnoticed
Professional cleaners who were hired to tidy up the home of a Japanese man stumbled across human remains which were later identified as his mother who had disappeared a decade ago.
The grisly discovery in Japan’s Kyoto prefecture has shocked and fascinated mainland social media.
The young man hired a cleaning company to tackle his four-bedroom, so-called garbage house, where he had lived with his parents and older sister, none of whom were interested in tidying up.
In Japan, the term “garbage house” was coined to describe particularly filthy dwelling places which emit a foul stench and can become breeding grounds for pests, hence the need for professional cleaning.
The man was left living alone in the house after his mother “disappeared” about 10 years ago. His father died a few years later, and his sister moved out for work.
As he prepared to relocate for a new job, the man hired the professional cleaning company which sent eight workers who planned to complete the job in seven hours.
However, three hours into the job, the workers made a startling discovery.
As they lifted old blankets and bedding, they saw what appeared to be human bones. Initially mistaking them for a model, they soon realised the grim reality and alerted the homeowner.
Suspecting the skeleton might be that of his mother, he immediately contacted the police, who confirmed that it was indeed hers.
The man said that his mother may have quietly passed away in her room, as she often left home for days without notice and rarely spoke to anyone.
“It’s possible that my mother came back after a few days away and no one in the family noticed,” he said.
Also, because the house was filled with stinking garbage, no one noticed any unusual odours.
The cause of her death and any potential legal repercussions for the family have not been disclosed.
The cleaning work was finally completed in February, costing 500,000 yen (US$3,400).
Kouki Nishioka, the owner of the cleaning company said: “Initially, the workers were shocked upon discovering the bones, but they managed to adapt more quickly than normal people.
“This is because we receive at least 10 orders a month to clean up after ‘lonely deaths’.”
The story left many online observers in China astounded.
“I remember people who push for marriage and having children often say if you don’t get married and have kids, no one will know if you die alone in your room.
“Well, this woman was married and had two kids, yet look what happened,” one person said.
“How can someone live in a house so filthy and smelly that they don’t even notice the smell of a decomposing body? Every time I read news like this, I’m stunned,” said another.
