When you are diving in the sea
While admiring the beauty in the water
A stranger pulled away suddenly
Your oxygen mask and ask:
"Do you want to take a picture?"
This scene
Isn't it scary to think about?!
Forced sales pitch while diving
At the end of November 2023, Ms. Zheng's family of nine traveled to Sanya. Her husband, sister, brother-in-law and mother-in-law participated in the diving activity, and the staff promoted a diving photo project for 300 yuan each, except for Ms. Zheng's sister, who asked to take pictures, the other three clearly refused to take pictures during the dive.
▲ Photos taken by Ms. Zheng's sister when she was diving (photo provided by the interviewee)
A few minutes later, Ms. Zheng's brother-in-law, who came ashore, said that the four of them were separated underwater by staff who removed his diving mask and asked if he wanted to take pictures.
Later, Ms. Zheng's husband and mother-in-law also encountered the same situation as their brother-in-law, "they had to agree because they were very scared."
After returning to the B&B, Ms. Zheng complained to the owner of the B&B who gave the diving service to reflect the incident, and then the staff who provided the diving service contacted her and refunded the 3 people 900 yuan for diving and taking photos.
"The refund is also conditional, they asked us not to talk about it publicly, and only returned the money after agreeing. ”
Coincidentally. At the beginning of November 2023, Ms. Lu and her friends and a group of 5 people traveled to Sanya, near Yalong Bay, she and two friends were attracted by the deep-sea diving project and paid money to experience it.
"At the beginning of the dive, the instructor took us directly to the bottom of the sea, and we felt a ringing in our ears. After about 5 minutes, the instructor fished us to the surface and asked if we wanted to take pictures, and I said 'no' three or four times, and the instructor moved my diving mask up. At that time, I choked on a mouthful of water, fearing for my safety, so I had to agree to take pictures. ”
After getting on the boat, she and her friend each paid 560 yuan to each other. "But the dive photos were simply 'death' photos, so ugly, we deleted them when we received them. ”
After the incident, because she did not want to affect her good mood during the trip, and there was no relevant evidence in her hand, Ms. Lu did not complain and did not report to the police.
But just recently, Ms. Lu paid attention to the clue collection notice issued by the Sanya police, and planned to provide relevant clues to the police, "I don't know if it is the group of people in the police notice, but we did encounter the same experience." ”
Sanya police open solicitation
A criminal gang clue
On March 17, the Sanya Municipal Public Security Bureau issued the "Notice on Reporting and Exposing the Clues of the Illegal and Criminal Crimes of the Sanya Jinlihong Criminal Gang".
According to the circular, the tourist police detachment of the Sanya Public Security Bureau recently smashed a gang entrenched in the waters near the southern sea of Sanya City to commit illegal crimes. After investigation, the gang used illegal means to force tourists to accept diving and photography in Sanya Point, Lover's Bay and other areas in the southern sea of Sanya City, and carried out illegal and criminal activities such as forced transactions, seriously disrupting the tourism order.
In order to further dig deeper into the illegal crimes, we are now openly soliciting clues on the illegal and criminal activities of the Jinlihong gang from the public.
- Where the reported leads are verified to be valid and confirmed through judicial procedures, the public security organs will give rewards in accordance with regulations and keep the informants strictly confidential;
- Those who retaliate against whistleblowers will be severely punished in accordance with the law;
- Those who harbor and harbor gang members and provide convenient conditions for them to evade crackdowns will be investigated for legal responsibility in accordance with the law.
Two local industry insiders told reporters that behind the clues of the crime of soliciting and forcing tourists to accept diving photography transactions issued by the police, there are some black businesses that do not have the qualifications to operate high-risk sports projects, soliciting customers through multi-project and low prices, and waiting for new paid items to be added after launching, so that consumers have a psychological crisis of "not agreeing to be unsafe", so they have to accept the transaction.
One of the industry insiders said: "I hope that this crackdown will be sustained and more conducive to regulating the diving industry." ”
Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, said that tourists may face some difficulties in protecting their rights without relevant evidence when they encounter forced transactions in diving, but there are still some feasible measures to consider:
- First of all, tourists should immediately report the incident to the local police. The police will investigate and take necessary action to protect the rights and interests of tourists. Even without direct evidence, police investigations may uncover other clues or witnesses that could help tourists defend their rights.
- Second, it is recommended that tourists can keep documents and materials related to diving activities, such as diving contracts, payment records, itinerary arrangements, etc., which may become one of the evidence for rights protection.
- Third, choose to seek help from relevant tourism agencies or associations, such as tourism bureaus, diving associations, etc., which may provide support and guidance to tourists to protect their rights and interests.
Friends when traveling
Have you ever encountered something like this?
Cases of forced consumption
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Source | Jimu News, People's Daily, Sanya Police, etc
Edit | Jin Yingying
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