China Consumers Association exposes six overlord clauses in the tourism field： it is unreasonable to quit the group without refund.
According to the website of China Consumers Association, on November 8, China Consumers Association commented on the unfair format clauses in the tourism field that consumers strongly reflected, and exposed the six overlord clauses in the tourism field.
Overlord clause 1: the itinerary is rescheduled and rerouted without any compensation.
Clause 1: After this agreement is signed and comes into effect, neither party may dissolve it unless both parties reach an agreement through consultation.
Terms and conditions: 2: Party B (operator) has informed Party A (consumer) in advance of rescheduling, rerouting or returning the tour fare in full without any compensation.
Clause 3: Hotel rooms, restaurants, scenic spot tickets and other services reserved by Party B (operator) for Party A (consumer) are non-refundable.
Consumers association comments:
The above clause 1: According to the provisions of the Tourism Law, consumers have the right to terminate the unilateral agreement before the end of the tour, which is the legal right of tourism consumers, and travel agencies have no right to restrict the rights of consumers.
The above clause 2: If it does not meet the statutory time limit and reasons, it is a breach of contract. Breach of contract should bear the liability for breach of contract or compensation, that is, consumers have the right to compensation for breach of contract, which is the legal right of consumers. Refund is only the legal consequence of the termination of the contract, not the way to bear the liability for breach of contract or compensation.
The above clause 3: This clause violates the principle of fairness, and tourism consumers have the legal right to change the contract under certain conditions, which limits the legal rights of tourism consumers. If the contract is a package tour contract, the agreement shall be invalid.
Overlord clause 2: Travel agencies are not responsible for buying fake and shoddy goods at shopping points.
Clause 1: The travel agency shall not be responsible for personal and property damage caused by tourists’ participation in scenic spots and recreational projects.
Clause 2: The quality responsibility of the products purchased by tourists at the shopping point shall be borne by the shopping point and tourists themselves, which has nothing to do with the travel agency, and the travel agency shall not be responsible.
Clause 3: Due to insufficient number of people, the tour group can be transferred with the consent of Party A (consumers). After the transfer, the travel agency will no longer bear the responsibility, and the responsibility of Party B (travel agency) will be transferred to the new tour group travel agency.
Clause 4: If the personal and property rights and interests of tourists are damaged due to the infringement of a third party and other reasons that cannot be attributed to the tour group (including the land agency and the performance assistant), the tour group will not be liable for compensation;
Consumers association comments:
The above clause 1: Tour operators have the obligation to give safety tips to tour consumers. If they fail to give tips or tips are defective, they fail to fulfill their safety guarantee obligations, causing personal injury and property loss to tour consumers, and the travel agency shall bear corresponding or supplementary responsibilities. This agreement circumvents the legal responsibility that tour operators should bear.
Clause 2 above: If a tourist consumer buys fake and shoddy goods in the shopping place determined through consultation with the travel agency, the travel agency shall be responsible for recovering or compensating the tourists for their direct economic losses. If the travel agency organizes tourism activities at unreasonably low prices to trick the tourists, and obtains illegitimate interests such as kickbacks by arranging shopping or paying for other tourism projects, the tourists have the right to ask the travel agency to handle the return of goods and advance the payment for the return of goods within 30 days after the end of the travel itinerary.
Clause 3 above: After the transfer, the travel agency still needs to be responsible for the travel consumers, and the entrusted travel agency should be responsible for the travel agency. This clause violates legal obligations and evades legal responsibilities, which should be null and void.
Article 4 above: The non-imputability of this article is essentially to put all the responsibilities arising from this situation on the tourist consumers or the third party, thus avoiding the corresponding responsibilities that the tour group agency should bear, and the tourist consumers have the right to ask the travel agency to bear part or all of the responsibilities.
Overlord clause 3: no refund will be given if you leave the group.
Clause 1: This Agreement shall not be terminated for any reason; No refund will be given if you leave the group.
Clause 2: Insurance premium includes: personal accident insurance+travel agency liability insurance.
Clause 3: If Party A (the consumer) requests to cancel the reserved hotel rooms and other services after this contract comes into effect, Party A shall still bear all the expenses of the corresponding services according to the standards agreed in this contract, and the fees of rooms, tickets and other fees already collected by Party B (the travel agency) will not be refunded.
Clause 4: If there is a natural room (single man or single woman) in the registration, Party A (consumer) shall make up the delivery fee or Party B shall arrange a triple room.
Clause 5: The above is a normal reference itinerary. The reception agency has the right to make adjustments (without lowering the standard) to the itinerary, trains, flights, hotels’ staying cities, etc., and try its best to ensure the smooth progress of the itinerary. In case of force majeure or policy adjustments, the expenses incurred shall be borne by the tourists.
Clause 6: The scope of force majeure includes the notice issued by the government, epidemic prevention and control measures, etc. If the tourists are stranded due to force majeure or policy adjustment, the expenses incurred shall be borne by the tourists.
Consumers association comments:
The above clause 1: On the one hand, this clause excludes the legal right of consumers to terminate; On the other hand, even if the contract is terminated due to the reasons of the tourist consumers, the tourist consumers have the right to ask the tour operators to refund the expenses that have not actually occurred.
The above clause 2: Travel agency liability insurance belongs to the operating cost of the travel agency, which transfers the liability insurance expenses that the travel agency should bear by law to consumers, and consumers have the right to refuse or demand the return of this part of the insurance premium that should be borne by the travel agency.
Clause 3 above: In this agreement, in obviously unfair, the travel agency has collected the room and ticket fees for hotels and scenic spots but has not actually paid them, or the fees that have been paid but can be returned or partially returned. These fees are neither the responsibility of the travel consumer for breach of contract nor the reward for the service provided by the travel agency, and the travel agency has no right to occupy them and should be returned to the consumer.
Clause 4 above: The situation of natural single rooms belongs to the operator’s own management arrangement, and the tourist consumers are not responsible, so the tourist consumers are required to bear the responsibility of the operator’s own poor management. obviously unfair is a compulsory consumption.
Articles 5 and 6 above: Not all the increase in travel expenses caused by force majeure shall be borne by the travel consumers. The increased accommodation expenses shall be borne by the tourist consumers; The increased cost of return trip should be shared by tourism consumers and travel agencies. The travel agency should also refund the fees received but not actually incurred.
Overlord clause 4: Adjust the itinerary at will
Clause 1: Party B reserves the right to adjust the itinerary without reducing the number of scenic spots.
Clause 2: In case of service quality problems and Party B takes timely measures to deal with the aftermath, Party B will no longer be liable for breach of contract.
Consumers association comments:
The above clause 1: Through this clause, the operator obtains the right to unilaterally change the contract, which expands the scope of his own rights and violates the principle of fairness and the prohibitive provisions of the law. Travel agencies can neither reduce scenic spots nor reduce service quality by adjusting their itinerary, such as inducing, cheating, forcing or disguised forcing tourism consumers to shop or participate in paid tourism projects, driving for a long time or driving at night.
The above clause 2: When the service quality problem occurs, consumers have the right to choose to ask the operators to take remedial measures or compensate for the losses. This standard clause of the operators evades their own service quality guarantee responsibilities and excludes the right of claim of tourism consumers.
Overlord clause 5: the number of people in the group is not enough to make it. Consumers have to pay compensation when they leave the group.
Terms: If Party B cannot make the trip because there are not enough members of the tour group, Party B may change the date of leaving the tour group or change the category of the tour group, and Party A shall pay the fees according to the changed tour fee standard. If Party A chooses to quit the tour group, it shall bear the expenses incurred and compensate Party B for 30%-80% of the compensation.
Consumers association comments:This clause expands the travel agency’s right to change the contract, exempts the travel agency from the responsibility of notifying in advance when it terminates the contract, aggravates the responsibility of tourism consumers, and violates the most basic principle of equality in civil legal relations.
Overlord clause 6: the travel agency has the final interpretation right.
Terms: Party B (travel agency) has the final right to interpret this contract.
Consumers association comments：Legally speaking, this clause is contrary to the principle of autonomy of the will of civil legal acts. It is equivalent to that when there are differences on the agreement, the merchant can impose his will on the consumer. According to the law, when there is a different understanding of the meaning of an agreement, it should be interpreted against the provider of standard terms.