Three major slots in online travel: what is the high refund fee for overlord clause?

The overlord clause is not true and the refund fee is high.

The three "slots" of online travel have increased the congestion for tourists.

I wanted to book a plane ticket without leaving home, but not only did I not enjoy the convenience brought by online travel, but I also suffered a loss. Zhang Yan, a user of Flying Pig (Ali Travel), encountered such a bad trouble a few days ago.

The reporter's investigation found that the continuous growth of online travel transaction volume and the continuous improvement of penetration rate correspond to the high complaint rate. At present, the main problems reflected by consumers focus on the "overlord clause", which is not worthy of the name and the high refund fee.

It is easier to buy than to return.

The complaint rate remains high.

"Because I chose the wrong time when I bought the ticket, before the seller successfully issued the ticket, I contacted the customer service to refund the ticket through Want Want, but no one paid attention to me all the time, and there was no' apply for refund' option on the webpage. When I called the customer service for the second time, the customer service told me that the ticket had been successfully issued, and it took less than three minutes before and after, and I was not given a buffer time. " Consumer Zhangyan described her experience of buying air tickets at Tmall. "You can't refund the ticket for any reason after the ticket is issued, and you can only bear the loss yourself."

Zhangyan felt that there was no way to accept it, and the subsequent rights protection made her feel even more difficult. "I called Tmall. Tmall asked me to contact Taobao, and Taobao asked me to contact Zhu Fei. Zhu Fei thinks that I didn't apply for a refund in time because the ticket was issued successfully. It can be stipulated that a refund cannot be made after the ticket is issued. Is it wrong for me to contact customer service to refund the ticket? "

Zhangyan told reporters that after several negotiations, it took more than ten days. At present, the problem has been solved, and finally the agent refunded the ticket.

Zhangyan's experience is not unique. The data shows that the complaint rate against online travel companies has been high in recent years. According to the data recently released by People's Daily Online Travel 3. 15 complaint platform, in 20 16 years, a total of 77 complaints were received 1477, and the number of complaints against online travel enterprises reached 46%, of which complaints related to air tickets and hotel reservations accounted for nearly half of the total.

The reporter found that the main problems reflected by consumers at present focus on the "overlord clause", which is not worthy of the name and the high refund fee. For example, online travel platforms go back on their word and prevaricate consumers for various reasons. During the Spring Festival this year, Mr. Zeng bought a superior room for two nights on an online travel platform, but his child was ill and could not go five days before he checked in. The customer service said that you can get a refund, but you need a hospital bill and proof of the relationship between Mr. Zeng and the child. When Mr. Zeng uploaded the certificate as required, the customer service refused to refund because he could not read the medical record written by the doctor clearly.

Another example is that the hotel room type booked does not match the actual situation. Consumer Mr. Chen reported that at the end of June, 1, a double room with a balcony with sea view was reserved at Shenzhen Ruojian seaside inn. After arriving at the store, the merchant made it clear that the sea view room was not at this price and could only provide another room type. After the negotiation between the platform and the merchants failed, the platform customer service insisted that Mr. Chen booked a "side sea view room" instead of a "sea view double room" and refused to refund the reservation money.

In addition, the high refund fee is also the focus of many consumer complaints. Some online travel websites have high fees for changing their "travel packages", and some don't even support refunds. According to the statistics of online complaint platform of Consumer Network, complaints that consumers are charged high refund fees due to operational errors, unexpected changes in itinerary and other reasons account for 67% of the total online travel complaints.

Travel agency kidnapped by price.

The service quality is greatly reduced.

The reporter learned that the Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China promulgated on 20 13 curbed the chaos in the tourism market, but did not formulate relevant laws and regulations for emerging online tourism. From July, 2065438 to July, 2004, five tourism industry standards, such as Operation Service Requirements for Third Party Online Trading Platforms of Travel Agency Products and Service Requirements for Travel Agency Service Outlets, were implemented, which standardized online travel operation services for the first time. However, judging from the effect, the implementation of laws and regulations has not yet been implemented.

"The Tourism Law has no special provisions on online travel, and there are no implementation rules. The supervision of online travel has been difficult to meet the needs of industry development and consumer rights protection, and consumer rights protection lacks strong legal protection. " Yang Xiaojun, vice president and secretary general of Beijing Consumers Association, said.

Insiders pointed out that agents are still supporting the operation of most online travel platforms. For example, there are a large number of small travel agencies in China, most of which can only rely on third-party platforms to survive. In order to attract the public's attention, third-party platforms often keep the price of tourism products very low, and travel agencies are "kidnapped" by the price, and the service quality will be greatly reduced.

In addition, the lack of standardization and management of online travel electronic contracts has also caused disputes. Chen Fengxiang, director of the Complaints and Social Supervision Department of Beijing Consumers Association, pointed out that due to the particularity of the Internet, if the party who concluded an electronic contract online monopolized the technical jurisdiction in the process of concluding an electronic contract by compulsory means, the fairness, justice and effectiveness of the electronic contract would be questioned, and it would be difficult to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

Experts remind:

Beware of "low price temptation" and be more loyal to the contract.

According to "China Travel Agency Industry Development Report 20 16" published by china tourism academy, the online travel transaction scale in 20 15 was 430 billion to 450 billion yuan, and the penetration rate exceeded 10%. It is estimated that the penetration rate will exceed 20% in 2020.

Relevant experts believe that in the face of the rapid expansion of online tourism, we should improve relevant laws and regulations, issue departmental rules to comprehensively regulate online tourism, and formulate specific operational norms for online tourism supervision; Accelerate the formulation of industry standards such as online travel service quality standards, so as to facilitate the supervision of relevant departments and the self-discipline of online travel enterprises in the service process.

Industry insiders also call for a sound regulatory environment. For tourism enterprises, industry and commerce, tourism and other departments should strengthen communication and coordination, build a public supervision platform, cooperate in handling consumer disputes, and conduct credit classification management for online tourism distribution enterprises and related enterprises according to the number of disputes.

Wang Xiaofeng, deputy director of the National Tourism Administration, revealed at the recent 20 17 National Tourism Supervision Seminar that the National Tourism Administration is studying the introduction of online tourism supervision measures. "At present, the National Tourism Administration has set up an online travel market supervision leading group office, set up an online travel market supervision research think tank, conducted research on online travel, explored the licensing scope, behavioral norms, service methods and service standards for regulating online business operations, and held a national OTA (online travel) innovation and development conference in due course." Wang Xiaofeng said.

It is understood that the National Tourism Administration will promote OTA to implement the first payment mechanism for travel complaints, publish OTA prices, and monitor the prices published online in real time; According to online clues, investigate and deal with tourism enterprises that release unreasonable low-priced products.

Liu Simin, executive director of China Tourism Future Research Association, said that at the consumption level, we should pay attention to the "low price temptation". At present, the "price war" of online travel websites is still fierce, and consumers are still highly sensitive to prices. In the face of price concessions, consumers should pay special attention to whether the shrinking price means shrinking products and services. "Consumers must develop the habit of signing contracts before traveling, be more realistic about contracts, and protect their own interests to the maximum extent."