Diversified management should be carried out for the "fancy breach of contract" in hotels
2025-05-13
Several consumers reported to reporters during the May Day holiday that hotels and homestays they had previously booked through the platform were unilaterally cancelled by businesses for reasons such as "closure for renovation," "system errors," and "business adjustments." They also reported that hotels and homestays they had booked a long time in advance suddenly increased in price and demanded that I pay three times the difference, otherwise they would demand that I cancel the order. Subsequently, the same property was relisted on other platforms at several times the price. The most frustrating thing when traveling is when a room that has been booked early breaks up near check-in, often causing tourists to become passive and panicked. If they book other hotels or homestays, it may be difficult to find them, or prices may have risen significantly. Some tourists have to change or cancel their itinerary, pouring a bucket of "cold water" on their enthusiasm for tourism. According to laws such as the Civil Code and the Electronic Commerce Law, when operators offer room services on online platforms and consumers submit orders, the contract between the two parties becomes effective, and both parties should be bound by the contract. Hotels and homestays, no matter how fancy the reasons for canceling orders are, their behavior constitutes a breach of contract. Consumers can demand compensation for price difference losses and payment of liquidated damages from merchants while keeping necessary evidence. If merchants refuse to take responsibility, they can protect their rights through reporting or litigation. If a merchant fabricates false reasons to cancel an order, it also constitutes consumer fraud. Consumers have the right to demand that merchants bear the responsibility of "one refund, one compensation, and three losses" in this regard. Of course, consumers are in a disadvantaged position in the process of competing with businesses. Due to insufficient legal literacy, many consumers lack the ability to protect their rights; However, due to the cumbersome procedures and high costs of safeguarding rights, many defenders find it difficult to persist until the end. Correspondingly, the cost of a merchant breaking a contract is much lower than their profit. Overall, consumers' rights protection within the civil scope has limited countermeasures against businesses such as hotels and homestays. Therefore, hotels and homestays have more confidence and a sense of luck in breaking contracts. So, to deal with the hotel's "fancy breach of contract", we cannot rely solely on consumer rights protection. Regulatory authorities should take more hardcore and effective governance measures. The Price Law stipulates that operators shall not engage in unfair pricing practices such as using false or misleading pricing methods to deceive consumers or other operators into engaging in transactions with them. Hotels and homestays that first reach a contract with consumers at a lower price, and then cancel the order on the grounds of violating the facts after discovering an increase in market demand, are considered unfair pricing behavior. In this regard, the market supervision department can make qualitative judgments and intervene in accordance with the law. The punishment should be imposed, the responsibility should be changed, the exposure should be made, and merchants with high order cancellation frequency or malicious breach of contract behavior should be included in the key supervision scope. Relevant industry associations and booking platforms should further improve their management mechanisms, and constrain the unilateral cancellation of orders by merchants in standard contracts to protect the rights and interests of consumers; Strictly review the unilateral cancellation of orders by merchants and require them to provide reasonable reasons; Raise the standard for breach of contract liability for unilateral cancellation of orders by merchants. If a merchant is found to maliciously cancel an order for false reasons, punishment will be imposed through methods such as being blacklisted, marking as dishonest on the platform or merchant page, and serving as a reminder to consumers. When all parties form a joint governance force, hotels and homestays can no longer resort to breaking contracts. (New Society)
Edit:Lin Bodan Responsible editor:Li Yi
Source:CNS.cn
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