The official account of "Make Friends Livestream" issued a formal response regarding the sale of yo-yo stools made from discarded materials.
They stated that they immediately conducted a comprehensive review and confirmed the issue. Therefore, they sincerely apologized to consumers who purchased the product, immediately removed the product from shelves, terminated cooperation with the brand, and initiated the refund and compensation process.
They promised that all consumers who purchased the product would receive refunds without needing to return the items. This is currently being handled uniformly with the platform's assistance, so consumers do not need to apply individually.
On the same day, Luo Yonghao responded to the incident in a post, stating that Make Friends had "handled it without major issues": after acting as an agent to sell substandard products, they legally pursued the supplier, and considering the lengthy litigation process, they first processed refunds without requiring returns for consumers.
He emphasized that although he withdrew from Make Friends' management in May 2022, he has continued to serve as Chief Supervision Officer, overseeing all products.
He explained that the product's sales were around two to three million yuan, with few daily returns and complaints, which led to negligence by the operations department. He admitted this was a serious quality management incident and thanked the media and netizens for their supervision.
Luo Yonghao also stated that their team's investigation found that Oriental Selection had also sold nearly 10 million yuan worth of the same yo-yo stools, making them the largest agent seller by volume. He mentioned that Oriental Selection had not provided full refunds or compensation for previous issues involving South American white shrimp, Rongan kumquats, TiQ prune juice, and even trough meat cans featured on CCTV's 315 Gala.
He also expressed hope that the media and self-media would fairly and impartially handle the trending topics as they should, fulfill their social responsibility of supervising the industry, and avoid righteous but "selective enforcement."
