Dongfang Zhenxuan Offers Double Refunds Over 'Liuliu Stool' Quality Complaints

Dongfang Zhenxuan, the livestream shopping brand spun out of education company New Oriental, issued an official statement on September 30 responding to a wave of consumer complaints about a folding product sold on its channels: the “liuliu stool,” a compact folding seat popular with campers and city dwellers short on space.

The company said it took the feedback seriously and immediately began repeated checks, asking the supplier to send the product back to testing labs while also commissioning its own independent tests. Because laboratory reports take time to produce, and to put shoppers at ease ahead of China’s long National Day holiday, Dongfang Zhenxuan said it would offer double refunds to everyone who bought the stool, without requiring customers to return the item.

The dispute had been building for days. Luo Yonghao, a former English teacher turned entrepreneur and one of China’s best-known livestream hosts, repeatedly pressed the company in public over the product’s quality, turning a routine customer-service issue into a closely watched online confrontation. His running commentary drew millions of views and forced the brand to respond quickly rather than quietly process individual complaints.

Dongfang Zhenxuan rose to fame by selling agricultural produce and books through livestreams hosted by former teachers, blending education-style storytelling with e-commerce. Its reputation rests heavily on trust: viewers buy because they believe the hosts have vetted what they sell. A product-quality scare therefore hits harder than an ordinary retail complaint, which is why the company chose an unusually generous remedy.

The double-refund, no-return policy is a costly but familiar playbook in China’s competitive livestream commerce market. Platforms and brands often prefer absorbing short-term losses to protect long-term credibility, especially when a prominent critic keeps the story alive. By acting before lab results arrive, Dongfang Zhenxuan is effectively betting that speed matters more than certainty in the eyes of shoppers.

The episode also highlights how quickly consumer grievances escalate in China’s social media ecosystem. A single complaint can be amplified by influencers into a national talking point within days, and companies now routinely issue public statements, recall-style remedies and testing promises to contain the fallout. For smaller suppliers behind products like the liuliu stool, the pressure can be existential.

For global observers, the case is a window into how livestream shopping works in China, where hosts function as both salespeople and informal quality watchdogs, and where audiences expect brands to answer critics in public. Trust is the currency of the format, and refunds are the price of keeping it.

Dongfang Zhenxuan said further updates will follow once the testing reports are complete, and that it will handle the matter responsibly toward both consumers and the merchant involved. Until then, buyers of the stool can claim double their money back and simply keep the product.