Consumers are constantly complaining about "pitfalls", and tourism platforms frequently display "ghost homestays" due to poor location, labeling false addresses for homestays | addresses | ghosts
"Why can't I even explain the address information clearly? I feel like I've been scammed!" Recently, Ms. Wang, who was traveling to Hefei, Anhui, booked a room for May 20th through a certain tourism platform. But when she arrived at the place that day, she found that the actual address of the room did not match the address marked on the webpage, and it was far away. Entering the peak of summer tourism, reporters have found through investigation that properties using fake addresses are still lurking on some tourism platforms, causing difficulties for consumers when traveling.
"The page information shows that the room is located at Evergrande Crystal International Plaza. I contacted the homestay owner before departure and received the same reply." Ms. Wang said that on May 20th, she was informed that she needed to add the homestay owner's WeChat to obtain the specific address of the room after arriving at Evergrande Crystal International Plaza. After taking a taxi for 2 kilometers, she followed the video guide sent by the homestay owner and finally found the room she had booked in a commercial complex. It took her a lot of twists and turns to find it, which was very difficult.
Ms. Wang's experience is not an exception. The reporter found through a search on the Black Cat Complaint Platform that many consumers complained that when booking homestays, they encountered situations where the actual address did not match the address marked on the booking page. Some consumers even reported that the address marked on the page was more than ten kilometers different from the actual location.
The investigation by reporters found that due to the poor geographical location of some accommodation products such as homestays, some operators have resorted to "crooked thinking" and exploited loopholes in tourism platform audits to "write articles" on the key information of room addresses, resulting in the emergence of "ghost homestays". This type of housing is usually forcibly "attached" to local famous landmarks and popular commercial districts, even using pseudonyms to go online on the platform. The photos of the housing often have deep "beauty" traces.
"The picture of the room on the reservation page was very nice, but upon arrival, she found that the actual scene was far from the picture. Moreover, the hygiene was not cleaned, and there were two bottles of mineral water that had been drunk on the ground." Ms. Wang immediately chose to find another place to live.
"Address information is the key information that needs to be indicated in the property. If the room operator provides a false address, it is suspected of infringing on the consumer's right to know." Zhao Zhan, a lawyer at Beijing Jiawei Law Firm, pointed out in an interview with reporters that according to relevant laws and regulations, consumers have the right to require operators to indicate the true situation of goods or services in accordance with laws and regulations.
Chen Yinjiang, Deputy Secretary General of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, stated that "Ghost Homestay" is suspected of infringing on consumers' right to information and choice. If encountering a "ghost homestay", you can promptly stop the loss and refuse to stay. If there is a dispute arising from this, consumers can negotiate and resolve it with the room operator; In case of unsuccessful negotiations, complaints can be made to the platform, local consumer associations, or relevant administrative authorities.
Zhang Xiaojun, President of the Homestay and Boutique Hotel Branch of the China Tourism Association, told reporters that after the listing of properties, the platform should take responsibility for screening properties, strictly review properties according to the platform's existing rules, and strengthen daily supervision. If there are loopholes in the audit process, they should be repaired and adjusted in a timely manner. "Homestay operators should operate with integrity and use high-quality services to win the praise of consumers, rather than profiting through deceptive means," Zhang Xiaojun pointed out.
