KCA News & Media
Press Release
Press Release
| Preventive Measures against Consumer Damages from Using Pension Facilities | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2008-09-08 | Hit | 3094 | ||||||||||||||||
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Preventive Measures against Consumer Damages from Using Pension Facilities Be Careful about Refund Denials and Excessive Penalties □ Consumer claims involving the use of pension facilities are on the rise during the vacationing season. □ Particularly, consumer complaints continue to occur from refund denials upon cancellations or penalty requests. Also, there have been discrepancies between the facts and the advertising leaflets or internet ads in terms of pension exterior and tour site information etc. Besides, consumer damages were often due to faulty facilities. (Analyzing Period: The first half year)
□ Moreover, recently, there have been consumer damages from fraudulent pension operators who have opened a web site during vacation periods and vanished after receiving reservation deposits. To prevent similar consumer damages, it is necessary to check out in advance the real presence of pensions, facility status, neighboring tourist spots, and transportation via information call centers or home pages of the local governments where the pensions are located. □ Consumer Damage Cases [Case 1] Refund denial - KRW 180,000 was settled for the reservation through a pension reservation agency. - A consumer requested to cancel the reservation on the check-in date because of sudden schedule changes, however, the refund of the whole amount was rejected. [Case 2] Excessive Penalty - To participate in a local product festival, a consumer paid KRW 59,700 for the pension reservation. - However, he couldn’t travel due to his working schedule and asked a cancellation 3 days before the check-in date. But the pension operator agreed to refund the consumer only after a 30% deduction in the original reservation fee as a penalty. [Case 3] Faulty facilities which were dissimilar to the original advertisement - A consumer paid KRW 440,000 for the reservation of a 3 night-accommodation. - He asked to cancel the reservation on finding faulty pension facilities such as moldy beddings and dirty mattresses etc. Nevertheless, the cancellation request was not accepted. □ Consumer precautionary measures ◎ Be aware in advance about the refund possibility and penalty details upon cancellation. ※ The Regulations on Consumer Dispute Resolution (Lodging Industry, 2008-3), notified by the Breach of contract due to consumer’s fault - Cancellation 5 days before the check-in date : refund of the full reservation deposit - Cancellation 2 days before the check-in date: refund after deducting 10% of the reservation deposit. - Cancellation 1 day before the check-in date: refund after deducting 20% of the reservation deposit. - Cancellation on the check-in date or No Show: refund after deducting 30% of the reservation deposit. ◎ Be careful of facilities that request only cash payments or induce cash settlements. ◎ Be sure to avoid pension facilities that seem too cheap or out of the ordinary. ◎ Remember to keep away from the pensions which are posting many consumer complaints or delayed information on the web site. ◎ Make sure to ask for consumer counseling to the Korea Consumer Agency when consumer damages occur. Korea Consumer Agency (www.kca.go.kr/☏02-3460-3000/Fax 02-3460-3180) |
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