Recently, Xixi (pseudonym), a consumer living in Guangdong, reported that his parents had signed up for a tour group with a fee of about 500 yuan, but under the guidance of the tour guide, they spent more than 4,600 yuan to buy kitchenware. Xixi believes that the tour group is suspected of inducing consumption, so it took her a week to pull with the relevant parties before finally completing all the returns and refunds.
Tours "change in seconds" shopping groups
Sissy told reporters that she has been busy with her parents' travel recently, and the cause was a tour group that her parents participated in in early April. At that time, her parents, on the recommendation of the insurance company's salesman, signed up for a four-day and three-night tour group in Guilin, with a tour fee of about 500 yuan per person. During the trip, the parents were taken into a shop by a guide. "They said they stayed in the house for two or three hours, and the tour guide and the store guide the tourists to shop and spend like a lecture. Xixi said that his parents bought a set of kitchen utensils for more than 4,600 yuan by swiping their cards in the store, and delivered them to their homes three days later.
Kitchenware purchased by Sissy's parents during their trip.
When Sissy opened the box, he found a pile of ordinary metal pots and pans, "not worth the price," Sissi said. Subsequently, she contacted the merchant to request a refund. "At first, the merchant disagreed, and I made a lot of phone calls to defend my rights in various ways. Sissy said that in mid-April, she finally returned all the items and received a refund.
Signing up online to join the group is "not the right thing"
According to the 2024 "Stimulating Consumption Vitality" Consumer Rights Protection Year theme survey report released by the China Consumers Association on March 14, 28.5% of respondents said that among the typical consumer public opinion events in the past year, 28.5% of respondents said that they were most concerned about "the hidden forced shopping problem of low-cost tour groups". In addition to the "second change" shopping group of the tour group, the "wrong goods" is also one of the "traps" of the low-cost tour group. Zoe (not her real name), who lives in Beijing, is one of the "victims".
During the Spring Festival this year, Zoe and her relatives and friends wanted to travel to Yunnan, and when they watched videos on the Internet, they connected with several users who claimed to be able to customize their tours. "Some people feel that their speech is very unreliable and ignore it, but one of them was a girl, and when I told her what I wanted, she readily agreed. After the negotiation was settled, I paid for it and booked a flight the next morning. Zoe said that this 6-day customized tour of Yunnan, including air tickets, accommodation, meals, transportation and tickets, a total of about 6,000 yuan.
Upon arrival at her destination, Zoe and her family and friends were placed in a group of individual tourists. Along the way, Zoe found that there were many problems with the group, not only did she change 4 tour guides halfway, but she also had a lot of extra expenses. "For example, for some projects, whether you have paid the money before or not, you have to play, and you will make up for it on the spot if you don't pay it. Taking horseback riding as an example, Zoe said that some tourists are unwilling to pay 280 yuan to ride horses, and the tour guide will "force consumption" in another way: "He said to invite everyone to dinner, but only invited tourists who rode horses, and tourists who did not ride horses were asked to pay more than 100 yuan for meals." ”
Xiao Zhang's tour group was taken to a jade shop for shopping.
To Zoe's infuriation, each tour guide would take the group to various shops. In the store, although the tour guide didn't say anything, as soon as he returned to the car, the tour guide read out aloud the amount of consumption for each family. "He also said that everyone should support local construction, put a high hat on shopping, and even ridiculed tourists and said, 'You all took advantage of this tour fee, are you embarrassed not to spend this money?'"
Xiao Zhang (not his real name), who lives in Anhui, had a similar experience. In January of this year, she and her friends signed up for a tour group online. "The seller said that it was a benefit issued by the company, a seven-day trip for two people in Yunnan. He can't go if he has something, the original price is more than 4,000 yuan for two people, and it is about to expire, so it is transferred at 1,500 yuan, excluding air tickets. Xiao Zhang said that she later found that the group members all signed up for the tour through various online channels, and the fees were also different.
"We looked at the itinerary before and thought it was good, but in reality it wasn't. For example, Xiao Zhang said that one day he was at a shopping spot all morning, and he hurried to Erhai Lake after lunch, and could only stay for 30 minutes; and one morning, everyone was in high spirits and ready to climb the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, but they did not expect to be taken to see Huanglongyu first, and did not go up the mountain until one or two o'clock in the afternoon. "And these itineraries are kept secret to tourists, and only on the way to your next destination will the guide tell you where to go next. ”
Xiao Zhang's tour group listens to product introductions at a shopping store.
Industry insiders: low-cost tour groups may be "changed hands many times"
How did the "unreasonably low price" come about? Who exactly "took advantage" of the low-cost group? In this regard, Ms. Li, who has been engaged in sales work in the tourism industry for more than 10 years, said: "There is still a market demand for low-cost groups. ”
She said that judging from the daily sales situation, the same route, the cheaper tour group usually has more inquiries and return rate. However, for travel agencies, the cost of a low-cost tour is much lower than the actual cost. As a result, they tend to intersperse their trips with more shopping spots. In order to make up for the cost or even make a profit, travel agencies usually sell low-cost tour groups to local tour guides, the cost is generally 200 yuan/person-500/person, or the whole group may be sold, depending on the route and tour price.
"Local tour guides buy tours, which means that not only do they have no tour guide fees, but they also have to pay for the tours. Ms. Li revealed that these tour guides will make money by guiding tourists into the store to spend, especially some high-priced stores such as diamonds, jewelry, and jade. After the tourist buys the goods, the tour guide will take a cut of the goods, and sometimes the travel agency will also take a part of the product, depending on the agreement signed by both parties in advance. "So the lower the tour price, the more pressure the tour guide will be. ”
Ms. Li said that there are generally only 1-2 shopping spots in pure play groups or quality groups, mainly specialty stores, but low-cost tour groups are usually sightseeing attractions on the itinerary because of the interest chain behind them, and the focus is on shopping consumption, for example, a 5-day group may arrange 3-5 shopping points.
"Low-cost tours are hot online. About 80% of the customers who come to us for low-cost tours are known through social platforms. Ms. Li said that there are also cases on the Internet under the banner of travel agencies, but in fact, individuals register travel companies and start sending tours. If something goes wrong with such companies, they often run away because they can't take responsibility, and this happens from time to time in the industry.
Ms. Li said that the most direct way to identify low-cost tour groups is to see whether the group fee is seriously lower than the regular price, followed by the itinerary. For example, there are generally no more than 3 shopping spots on a five-day trip, and even if there are shopping spots, they are usually ordinary souvenir shops, so you should avoid going to high-priced shops such as diamonds, jewelry, and jade.
In addition, Ms. Li also suggested that tourists should find a regular travel agency to sign a tour and sign a formal travel contract, and the payment recipient should be the same as the party who signed the contract. At the time of signing the contract, the tourist can also agree with the travel agency to add the relevant clause that the purchase cannot be compulsory.
Lawyer: Tourists have the right to refuse forced transactions
What laws and regulations have been violated by unreasonable low-cost tours? Song Liang, a lawyer at Guangdong Zhiliang Law Firm, said in his analysis that low-cost tour groups first lured travelers with unreasonably low prices, and then adopted other methods to obtain improper benefits, which clearly violated the relevant provisions of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China." Some travel agencies organize unreasonable low-cost tours that seriously infringe on the rights and interests of tourists, disrupt the order of the tourism market, and are acts of unfair competition, violating the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China.
Song Liang said that according to the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China" and other laws and regulations, tourists have the right to choose tourism products and services independently, and have the right to refuse the forced transaction behavior of tour operators. Forced or disguised forced transactions often infringe on consumers' right to independent choice and fair trade. For illegal travel agencies and tour guides, the tour guide qualification certificate will be revoked, the travel agency will be suspended for rectification, and the heavy will bear civil liability, administrative punishment and even criminal punishment.
"If the content of the tourism service does not match the advertisement, it will constitute false publicity and fraud. Song Liang said that if a travel agency publishes an advertisement for tourism products that is inconsistent with the facts, the administrative department for industry and commerce may determine that it constitutes false propaganda in accordance with the law and impose administrative penalties. In addition, according to the Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China and other laws and regulations, travel agencies shall conclude contracts with tourists when organizing and arranging tourism activities, and tourists have the right to demand performance.
Source: Shenzhen Newspaper Reading Special News, Surging News