Recently, a disturbing incident was reported in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. A woman, surnamed Zhang, booked a toilet repair service through the “Woodpecker” home repair platform. The initial quote was 156 yuan, but the final bill ended up being a staggering 1780 yuan for a new toilet. Later, Zhang’s family discovered that the same toilet model was available online for only 550 yuan.
According to Zhang, on May 12th, she discovered a leak in her smart toilet and searched online for repair services. A representative from the Woodpecker platform contacted her and offered to send a technician to her home.
The technician arrived and quoted Zhang 156 yuan for the repair. However, things took a turn for the worse when the technician disassembled the toilet and claimed that the internal circuit board was damaged, requiring a replacement that would cost around 1000 yuan. Zhang felt that the repair cost was too high and suggested buying a new toilet instead.
The technician then offered to install a new toilet, claiming that the company had a special deal on a high-end brand for 2200 yuan. Zhang was hesitant, but the technician convinced her to go ahead with the installation, eventually agreeing on a price of 1980 yuan, with a 200 yuan discount for the old toilet.
Later that day, Zhang’s son searched online for the same toilet model and found it for sale on Taobao for only 550 yuan. Zhang immediately contacted the technician, who became defensive and claimed that the price was correct, including installation fees. The technician then hung up the phone and refused to answer further calls.
After the incident, a journalist from the media outlet contacted the Woodpecker platform’s customer service, who admitted that the technician had not followed the standard procedure and should have provided a price quote before starting the repair. The customer service representative promised to investigate and resolve the issue.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Woodpecker platform has been involved in a controversy over excessive repair fees. In 2025, a CCTV report exposed the platform’s practice of “no disease, repair, small disease, big repair, and high-priced collection” of fees.
At the time, a journalist went undercover as a technician and discovered that the platform’s training manager had instructed technicians to increase their fees as much as possible during the repair process. The journalist also followed a technician on several repair jobs and found that the technician was consistently overcharging customers for simple repairs.
After the report was aired, the Woodpecker platform claimed to have taken steps to rectify the situation, including auditing and refunding disputed orders and optimizing their pricing system. However, it appears that the problem persists, with multiple complaints filed against the platform in recent months.
According to the Tianyancha app, the Woodpecker platform is owned by Beijing Woodpecker Technology Co., Ltd., which was founded in 2014 and has a registered capital of approximately 24.09 million yuan. The company has been involved in several lawsuits related to repair contracts and has been accused of overcharging customers.
The Woodpecker platform claims to have operations in over 300 cities across China and has over 100,000 registered technicians. The company filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2024, but it remains to be seen whether it will be able to overcome its reputation for overcharging customers.
