The hotel reservation was cancelled and the rebooking price skyrocketed by four times. According to reports, in February of this year, college student Xiaoding and his classmates booked a room for the May Day holiday at a chain hotel in Guiyang through the Qunar.com platform. I booked one night on May 1st, while my friend booked two nights on May 2nd and 3rd, with an average price of around 125 yuan per night. At that time, the booking was successful and the hotel confirmed the reservation, "Xiao Ding said. In late April, they suddenly received a refund notice. The hotel front desk staff stated that the order price was incorrect due to a system issue and a new reservation is required. At this time, the hotel and surrounding accommodation prices have risen to over 500 yuan per night, which means that rebooking will cost nearly four times more than before. The platform came to us to refund the order because of the hotel's price increase, without considering the consumers at all. The initial proposal was for a cash compensation of 199 yuan and a platform consumption fee of 100 yuan. Even with the compensation, the original price could no longer be booked. ”Xiao Ding said. What's even more infuriating is that during the communication with the platform, Xiao Ding unilaterally returned the order. According to media reports, on April 23rd, Qunar.com responded that the hotel had cancelled the reservation on its own and had advanced compensation and assisted in rescheduling for the consumer. Lawyer: The unilateral cancellation of a reservation by a hotel is considered a breach of contract, and the platform cannot exempt itself from liability. As the May Day holiday approaches, Xiaoding's experience has attracted attention on the internet, and the unauthorized breach of contracts by hotels and homestays has once again become a hot topic. Many netizens have reported that they have also encountered similar situations. Many netizens on Xiaohongshu have reported that they have encountered similar situations. When a consumer successfully booked a hotel through the platform, but then the hotel cancelled the order on the grounds of system problems or price errors, does it constitute a breach of contract? Can the platform be completely exempt from liability if the order is cancelled by the hotel? In an interview with a reporter from Rule of Law Network, Lawyer Yin Yu, a member of the Lawyer Expert Database of Rule of Law Daily and a senior partner of Guangdong Guanghe Law Firm, pointed out that according to Article 577 of the Civil Code, the unilateral cancellation of a confirmed order by a hotel constitutes a breach of contract and should continue to perform the contract or compensate for losses, pay liquidated damages, etc; According to Article 55 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, if it is proven that a hotel intentionally used low prices to attract orders and then breached the contract by increasing prices, it may demand triple compensation. According to Article 38 of the E-commerce Law, if the platform fails to promptly handle complaints or allows hotels to violate regulations, it may bear joint and several liability. In this incident, as a consumer, Xiaoding's rights to independent choice, fair trade, and information have been violated. ”Yin Yu said that in the face of this situation, consumers need to retain order confirmation information, payment vouchers, communication records with hotels or platforms as evidence of their rights protection, and negotiate with hotels and platforms to resolve the issue. If the other party shirks responsibility, they can call the 12315 hotline to file a complaint with the Consumer Association or the local market supervision department, or file a lawsuit with the people's court. Expert: Referring to judicial precedents in housing sales disputes, the profit difference can be used as compensation for breach of contract. Legal Network reporters have noticed that recently, regulatory departments in Nanjing, Suzhou, Tianshui, Shantou, Haikou and other places have issued notices warning hotel and homestay operators to regulate market price behavior during the May Day holiday period. It is strictly prohibited to unilaterally breach contracts or raise prices after booking room orders on e-commerce platforms and other channels have taken effect. Once discovered, they will be severely punished according to the law. The market supervision department in Haikou emphasized that price fraud can be fined up to 500000 yuan. In an interview with the Rule of Law website, Wu Jingming, an associate professor of economic law at China University of Political Science and Law and a director of the China Consumers Association, said that in the real estate field, there have been cases where sellers broke contracts due to price increases, and the court ruled that the higher difference in price obtained from selling the house belonged to the original buyer. The act of maliciously canceling low-priced orders and reselling them at high prices by hotels can be referred to as a breach of contract compensation, and the profit from the price difference can be used as a deterrent by increasing illegal costs. He believes that the platform should establish a stricter hotel credit review mechanism and an open and transparent reputation evaluation system, fulfill its obligation to assist consumers in negotiating and solving problems, and if consumers suffer losses, the platform should bear joint and several liability with the defaulting hotel. In addition, market supervision departments and cultural and tourism departments should form a joint governance force to address issues such as hotels arbitrarily canceling low-priced orders and price chaos, increase punishment efforts, curb behaviors that harm consumers in the holiday economy, and maintain market order and consumer rights. ”Wu Jingming suggested. (outlook new era)