Why was 170,000 yuan worth of property stolen from Tuniu Tour Group?

On May 8, in Stockholm, Sweden, when the group members boarded the bus after dinner, they found that the entire group’s belongings worth approximately 170,000 were stolen. This "Nordic Awesome Line" organized by Tuniu Travel "It has become a painful memory for the group members.

Mr. Wang from Nanjing believes that in this theft case, the tour guide failed to fulfill the safety protection and reminder obligations, and proposed that Tuniu Travel Company should bear the liability for compensation, but Tuniu insisted that this was an accident , they have no responsibility. The Yangzi Evening News Consumer Jury column recently launched an investigation.

◎Honeymoon trip

He chose the more expensive "Express Line"

The newly married Mr. Wang and his wife discussed that the honeymoon trip should be romantic Scandinavia, leaving a lifetime of wonderful memories. So after some comparison, they chose the "Nordic Excellent Line" launched by Tuniu.

Mr. Wang told the Consumer Jury column of the Yangzi Evening News that according to the explanation from the official customer service of Tuniu Travel Network, the difference between the Niuren line and the non-Nuuren line is that the Niuren line only accepts guests who have made reservations on Tuniu.com. If you don’t compete with customers on other websites, the quality will generally be higher.

“I also checked the quotations of the same route from other travel agencies at that time, and the price of this Niu Niu Ren line is indeed a bit higher.” Mr. Wang said, because he was going abroad and it was an important honeymoon. travel, therefore it is necessary to ensure the safety and comfort of travel. So he and his wife agreed to choose Tuniu's "Nordic Express", which is higher in quality and price. The average travel cost per person is 19,299 yuan.

◎Sudden accident

The bus was stolen and the group members lost 170,000

The Yangzi Evening News Consumer Jury saw in the travel agreement signed by Mr. Wang and Tuniu , the tour period is from May 6, 2018 to May 17, 2018, ***12 days and 10 nights of accommodation. However, on the third day after departure, on May 8, an accident occurred in Stockholm, Sweden.

Mr. Wang recalled that according to the arrangement of the travel agency, the day was free time, so the group members mainly went to the local commercial street. Almost everyone bought some items and returned to the bus after shopping. On the way, the tour guide informed them to have dinner. So everyone put the purchased items on the bus and went to eat together. The tour guide did not remind everyone to take their valuables with them to prevent theft.

However, what they did not expect was that they left the bus around 19:15 local time. After dinner, that is, around 20:30, when they returned to the bus after dinner When I arrived, I discovered that although there were no signs of damage to the bus windows, the items on the bus had been stolen, and almost all the backpacks and belongings of the group members were missing. The tour guide then took the group members to the Stockholm Police Station to report the incident.

The Yangzi Evening News consumer review team confirmed from a statement signed by the 11 group members who lost their belongings that after preliminary statistics, the total loss of items in the group was approximately equivalent to RMB 170,000. (Including a large number of personal items in the backpacks of the group members).

◎It is difficult to defend rights

Tuniu replied that it had no responsibility

Mr. Wang recalled that after they went shopping in the local commercial street, the tour guide and driver were I saw them buying valuable items, but they were not informed before getting off the bus to take the valuable items they just bought with them or how to dispose of them.

“I think the tour guide did not fulfill the basic safety guarantee and notification and reminder obligations.” Mr. Wang believed that after receiving the meal notification, they all thought that the place to eat should be near the vehicle, and the driver Even though the tour guide and I knew that everyone had purchased valuable items, they did not make any safety reminders, so everyone thought that someone would stay on the bus to take care of the items. So I relaxed my vigilance and put all my belongings in the car. I didn't expect that this relaxation would lead to such a big loss.

“My personal loss is close to more than 30,000 yuan.” Mr. Wang said that at the time of the incident, the group members were riding a bus provided by Tuniu Company, and the driver and tour guide were also It was arranged by Tuniu Company. Therefore, Tuniu Company should be responsible for the theft without fulfilling basic security guarantees and prompting obligations.

However, in the face of Mr. Wang’s complaint, Tuniu’s response was that they were not responsible.

The jury attacked

Faced with Tuniu and once again claimed that it was not responsible

The theft occurred just three days into the Nordic trip, which greatly affected The travel experience of this so-called quality group also disappointed Mr. Wang.

He told the Yangtze Evening News Consumer Jury that their tour guide had delayed the meal time twice because he found the wrong hotel during the itinerary, turning the originally arranged dinner into a "self-settlement".

“Think about it, in a foreign country where you are unfamiliar with the place, where can you go to have dinner so late?” Mr. Wang said that sometimes when they arrive at some scenic spots, the tour guide will let them go sightseeing by themselves, and He saw with his own eyes that the tour guides of other domestic tour groups personally led the tour guides.

“I paid a lot of money, but the service is at a discount.” Mr. Wang was very disappointed with the service quality of this “Tuniu Niuren Line” after experiencing it.

On May 18, the Yangzi Evening News consumer review team accompanied Mr. Wang to Tuniu Company to understand the situation.

In response to Mr. Wang’s suggestion that Tuniu Company failed to fulfill its safety guarantee and reminder obligations during this service, resulting in the theft of items, the person responsible for handling complaints from Tuniu Company stated, What happened to Mr. Wang was unforeseeable and unimaginable. The incident was not caused by the travel agency, but was an accident. Therefore, Tuniu Company has no responsibility.

Opinions from all parties

Experts: Tuniu deserves compensation

Yin Wei, a doctor of law and associate professor at Nanjing Tourism Vocational College, pointed out that travel agencies should provide safety guarantees to tourists obligations. In this complaint, the tour guide provided by Tuniu Travel should remind tourists to carry valuables with them. At the same time, drivers and tour leaders should also check whether there are any valuables in the car. If there are valuables, tourists should also be reminded and they should be properly kept.

In his view, Tuniu Travel failed to fulfill its obligation to remind, and obviously failed to fulfill its safety and security obligations as a travel agency. According to the relevant provisions of the Tourism Law, if it is due to the fault of the tour operator, the property of tourists will be damaged. If there is any loss or personal loss, then the organizing company should pay compensation in advance. However, considering that this tourist, as an adult, should also know that valuables should be carried with him when traveling, therefore according to judicial practice, the travel agency’s compensation standard is approximately 20% of the lost item. In addition, if the lost person's belongings can be recovered in the end, they will still belong to the tourists.

Lawyer: Tuniu’s actions are obviously irresponsible

Lawyer Gao Long of Beijing Guantao Zhongmao (Nanjing) Law Firm believes that in this consumer complaint, the first thing to do is to judge the tourism operation Whether the operators and tourism auxiliary service providers have fulfilled their safety protection obligations.

According to Article 7 of the "Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Tourism Dispute Cases": "Tour operators and tourism auxiliary service providers fail to fulfill their safety guarantee obligations, causing personal injury to tourists , property losses, if tourists request tourism operators or tourism auxiliary service providers to bear responsibility, the People’s Court should support it.”

In this case, there were no obvious signs of damage to the bus. The driver apparently forgot to lock the door. It can be seen that the tourism auxiliary service providers obviously failed to fulfill their safety protection obligations.

Secondly, it is necessary to determine whether the tourism operators and tourism auxiliary service providers have fulfilled the necessary reminder obligations. According to the regulations: "If a tourist suffers personal injury or property loss while arranging activities on his own, and the tourism operator fails to fulfill the necessary reminder obligations and rescue obligations, and the tourist requests the tourism operator to bear corresponding responsibilities, the People's Court shall support it."

In this case, the tour operator did not give any obvious reminder to the tourists in the contract, and the tour auxiliary service provider did not respond accordingly even though he knew that the tourists had purchased a large amount of valuables. remind. It can be seen that tourism operators and tourism auxiliary service providers have not fulfilled the necessary reminder obligations.

Thirdly, man-made theft is not force majeure, and tourism operators shall not claim exemption on this ground.

The relevant person in charge of Tuniu Company stated that this incident was unforeseeable and unimaginable. This statement is difficult to accept. As a tourism operator, Tuniu should try its best to understand all the conditions on the entire route when designing a tourist route, including of course the local security situation. Moreover, tourism operators should know that there is definitely a risk of theft during travel, so they should develop corresponding response mechanisms to avoid risks. For example, remind tourists to carry valuables with them or arrange for travel assistance service personnel to stay behind and take care of them. Therefore, man-made theft is not an objective situation that cannot be foreseen, avoided or overcome. There is obviously no legal basis for the tourism operator to believe that it has no responsibility.

Therefore, in this dispute, Tuniu.com, as a tourism operator, failed to fulfill its safety guarantee obligations and necessary reminder obligations, and should bear liability for compensation.

Latest progress

Relevant departments have accepted the complaint

It is understood that the Nanjing Tourism Quality Supervision Institute has accepted the tourism complaint. The Yangzi Evening News Consumer Jury The column will also continue to pay attention to the progress of this matter.