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Jinxi County, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province is striving to standardize the development of rural tourism and characteristic homestay industries to rejuvenate ancient villages. |
In recent years, homestays have become the first choice for many people to travel due to their affordable prices and unique styles. However, some readers have reported that some B&Bs have beautiful pictures on the Internet, but only when they come to the site do they find that the environment is dilapidated and the hygiene is worrying; some of the actual addresses do not match the advertisements, and they are several kilometers apart; and some Lack of business qualifications, quality and service are not commensurate with the inflated prices.
Faced with various problems, experts and readers have called on online platforms to fulfill their audit responsibilities and actually protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Operators must also be based on integrity and not turn B&B operations into a “one-shot deal.”
B&B management issues have become a hot topic for consumer rights
“I booked a B&B. It was said to be in a famous business district, but the actual distance was far away. It wasn't even in the same administrative district as the address provided online.” “I booked a B&B online. From the photos, it looked like there were high-rise buildings all around. When I arrived at the building, I discovered that it was actually in a dilapidated alley. It had features such as a small theater and large bay windows with sea views, creating a “high-end” and “light luxury” atmosphere, trying to raise consumers' expectations. In fact, the product was wrong. plate.
During the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday this year, Ms. Liu and her family went on a trip. Considering the low price and convenience, they booked a B&B. “When I arrived at the address shown when booking, I couldn't find it. Later, I contacted the boss and learned that it was in a noisy shopping mall 2 kilometers away.” Ms. Liu said, unexpectedly after entering the room I was even more disappointed, “I originally chose this B&B because of the unique decoration style, but the real scene and the pictures online are completely different. The sanitary conditions in the room were even worse, they were not cleaned carefully, and there were leftovers from the previous guest under the table. milk tea.
In March this year, the China Consumers Association released the top ten public opinion hot spots for consumer rights protection in 2023. B&B operators exposed to “price increase chargebacks” and “false addresses” were among them. What Ms. Liu's family encountered was a false address – some B&Bs provided false addresses on online platforms, which were displayed near popular business districts or city landmarks when booking. This was not actually the case, but consumers had fallen into the “trap” at this time. , most of them can only accept it reluctantly.
Ms. Chen from Xiamen City, Fujian Province suffered a “price increase and chargeback”. In February this year, Ms. Chen booked a room in a B&B during the May Day holiday in advance to prepare for a holiday trip. But just a few days before the holiday, the B&B business informed Ms. Chen that the hotel needed renovation and asked her to cancel the order.
Ms. Chen felt something was fishy, so she logged into the online platform to check and found that the B&B was still accepting reservations normally, and there were still available rooms “to be booked” during the holidays, but the price had changed from the 109 yuan per night when Ms. Chen originally booked. , soaring to 597 yuan per night. Ms. Chen suddenly realized: “It is possible that the merchant felt that the reservation price was too low, so he asked me to cancel the order and wanted to sell it to others at a higher price.”
On the “People's Complaints” platform of People's Daily Online, many consumers have reported similar problems. The reasons for requesting refunds are various: rent due, renovation, landlord bankruptcy, house leakage, etc. Most of them are operators who want to increase prices significantly. Resume the order.
Improve service quality and implement national standards
“Affected by the relationship between supply and demand, the demand for tourist accommodation increases during the holidays. It is understandable that B&B businesses hope to seize the peak season to achieve profits, but this needs to be based on fully protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Some unscrupulous businesses use deception, concealment and other means to operate, not only It will harm the reputation and credibility of the homestay industry, damage the image of regional tourism, and disrupt the normal operating order of the market. Businesses should fulfill their commitments when placing orders. Even if businesses want to raise prices, they should do so based on coordination rather than taking any action. Means of malicious chargeback.
Standardized B&B operations should not only be based on integrity and operate with integrity, but also need to provide residents with professional services and safe and hygienic living conditions. Liu Peng believes that unlike the standardized hotel business model, B&Bs are mostly self-employed and many employees have not received professional training. Facing the popular tourism market, they only want to make profits by increasing prices without improving service quality. If things go on like this, it will be difficult to build a good reputation and retain customers. “B&B businesses must have long-term business awareness and strive to improve the professionalism of their own operations,” Liu Peng said.
In 2023, the national standard “Basic Requirements and Classification of Tourist B&Bs” involving B&Bs will be officially implemented. In addition to standardizing building and facility requirements and clarifying hygiene and service requirements, the standards also set out operation and management requirements, including publicity and marketing through media platforms, establishing management systems and service specifications, and effectively handling various complaints, etc., aiming to standardize tourist B&Bs. To develop the industry, improve standardization and scientific management levels.
Since homestay operations have the characteristics of decentralized housing and diversified operating entities, local market supervision agencies are also exploring innovations and striving to implement national standards.
This spring, the Wanshou Palace Historical and Cultural District in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province attracted many tourists to visit, and nearby B&Bs also experienced a surge in bookings. “Different from the chain operation model of branded hotels, most B&Bs are individually operated and prone to short-sighted profit-seeking behavior. As a local tourist business card, the Wanshou Palace Historical and Cultural District must not be affected by the profit-seeking behavior of individual businesses.” Nanchang The relevant person in charge of the Xihu District Market Supervision Bureau said that every holiday, the market supervision department will use centralized interviews, reminders and warnings to urge B&B operators not to maliciously cancel orders, raise prices, let alone collude with each other to manipulate market prices.
At the same time, Xihu District has also opened a report and complaint hotline to accept, handle and respond to consumer complaints as soon as possible, and increase price fraud such as individual B&B operators not stating prices, charging extra-price fees, false discounts, and not fulfilling price commitments. Punishment intensity will increase the cost of violation.
In January this year, the Sichuan Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Tourism and other departments promoted the establishment of a joint review and evaluation mechanism for tourist B&Bs, accelerated the “one-stop review” for the opening and operation of tourist B&Bs, and required the streets (townships) within their jurisdiction to strengthen daily inspections of B&Bs and identify problems. Supervise them to complete relevant procedures or change registration matters in a timely manner.
“Relevant departments should strengthen overall coordination and focus on strengthening the supervision of B&B housing, landlord qualifications and other information, and curb 'false addresses', false propaganda and other behaviors that infringe on consumer rights from the source.” said Zhang Shengjun, a professor at the School of Government at Beijing Normal University. , in the face of practices such as “price increases and refunds” by individual merchants, relevant departments should supervise prices from a systemic perspective, require platforms and B&B operators to conscientiously implement price tagging and price disclosure systems, and prohibit price fraud, disrupting market price order, etc. Behavior.
Establish standardized management awareness to provide consumers with a better experience
To regulate the operation of homestays, online platforms must also assume regulatory responsibilities. “The platform should play a good role in checking the qualifications of B&B merchants and pay attention to their credit management.” Liu Peng suggested that credit points can be included in the rating system and used as a hard indicator for B&B operations. Those with unqualified credit points Merchants can veto with one vote during the rating, and take measures such as delisting or closing stores for rectification of merchants whose credit points have been deducted, and urge merchants to establish a sense of standardized operations.
Some homestay booking online platforms have also been actively exploring new models of industry governance. Some online platforms have established a two-way mechanism of “labor utilization of the system and system assistance of labor”. On the one hand, they formulate relevant rules and guarantee systems for the admission and management of homestays. On the other hand, they urge merchants to continuously improve their operating capabilities and service concepts to protect consumption. Check-in experience and legitimate rights and interests of guests.
“The platform insists on putting consumers first. Regarding merchants' violations, it strengthens the identification and management of problematic properties through multiple channels such as risk control identification, supervision and inspections, and customer complaint collection. Once suspected clues are found, it will immediately interview the merchants and standardize business behaviors. , and strive to eliminate problems such as “price increase and chargeback” from the source. B&Bs that meet the standards will light up the corresponding logo on the booking interface to help consumers quickly identify quality and filter properties. . Guide and encourage B&B businesses to work hard to improve the quality of B&B housing.
In the face of infringements by individual B&Bs, consumers must also actively safeguard their rights and interests. The Consumer Rights Protection Law expressly stipulates that if an operator provides goods or services in advance, it must be provided in accordance with the agreement. If it is not provided in accordance with the agreement, the agreement shall be fulfilled or the advance payment shall be refunded according to the requirements of the consumer; the interest on the advance payment and the reasonable fees that the consumer must pay shall also be borne.
“The distance between the accommodation and the scenic spot, the accommodation environment, etc. are the focus of consumers' attention, and they also directly affect the accommodation price.” Zhou Yun, a reader in Shenzhen, Guangdong, said that if there is a discrepancy between the actual address of the B&B and the reservation address, it means that If a merchant is suspected of consumer fraud, consumers can report it to the regulatory authorities and request to terminate the contract and receive a refund.
Zhang Shengjun suggested that consumers should pay attention to retaining evidence, record the communication process with merchants, save screenshots of orders, collect materials that can prove malicious chargebacks by merchants, actively contact the platform to complain and report, or appeal to the Consumers Association, relevant administrative departments, etc., to investigate Administrative responsibilities of merchants.
“In actual operations, there are also techniques for collecting evidence. For example, when an operator cancels an order, consumers should not cancel the order themselves; when an operator asks to 'make up the difference', consumers can refuse, or file a lawsuit afterwards, etc. means to recover.
“People's Daily” (Page 11, May 6, 2024)
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