Some online stores on the shopping site Taobao have banned buyers who give favorable ratings for less than 98 percent of their purchases, in an attempt to curb¹ "unfavorable ratings with malicious² intent," Beijing Youth Daily reported.

《北京青年报》报道，为了控制“恶意差评”，购物网站淘宝上的一些网店已经禁止好评率低于98%的买家购物。

Recently, some buyers have complained that they were unable to buy goods at certain Taobao stores because their "favorable" ratings did not meet seller requirements.

近期，部分买家抱怨，他们在某些淘宝店无法购物，因为他们的“好评率”没有达到卖家的要求。

A woman surnamed Li said a Taobao store declined her order for shampoo and asked her to apply for a refund³, saying her previous ratings on Taobao failed to meet the company's requirement of 100 percent favorable.

一名姓厉的女子表示，一家淘宝店拒绝了她的洗发露订单，并要求她申请退款。店家对此解释道，她之前在淘宝上的评价没有满足该公司100%的好评要求。

Another woman, named Tong, said she was unable to purchase a dress due to a similar problem.

另外一名姓佟的女子表示，由于相同的问题，她没法购买衣服。

Taobao's customer service center denied ever making such a requirement.

淘宝客服中心否认了曾经有过类似的要求。

A service clerk advised the buyers to communicate with the sellers to reach a solution, since "buying and selling are supposed to be based on free will."

一名服务人员建议买家与卖家应进行沟通，以达成一个解决方法，因为“买卖应该是基于自愿的。”

Qiu Baochang, a Beijing-based lawyer, said the sellers were violating consumer rights. So long as the ratings are true and objective, consumers have the right to make their own judgements, he said.

北京一名名叫邱宝昌的律师称，卖家这样就侵犯了消费者权利。他表示，只要评价是真实和客观的，消费者就有权做出他们自己的判断。

If it evolves into an unspoken rule, it could harm fair trade and the overall growth of the online shopping industry, he warned.

他对此警告称，如果发展成为一个潜规则，这会有损公平交易和网购行业的整体发展。