A request for the settlement of penalties for the cancellation of an overseas travel contract due to the hospitalization of a lineal ascendant 게시글 상세보기 - 등록일, 조회수, 첨부파일, 상세내용, 이전글, 다음글 제공
A request for the settlement of penalties for the cancellation of an overseas travel contract due to the hospitalization of a lineal ascendant
Date
2020-03-25
Hit
653
On June △, 2018, the Applicant signed a contract for the purchase of an overseas travel product (3 days and 2 nights; travellers, i.e. the Applicant and the Applicant’s mother) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the contract’) through the Respondent’s website, and paid KRW 748,000 (KRW 374,000 per capita x 2 persons). However, on June △ of the same year, the Applicant’s father, who had already been hospitalized, took a turn for the worse and was consequently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital. Therefore, the Applicant made a request for cancellation of the contract and a refund for the canceled contract, but the Respondent rejected this request.
1. Applicant (consumer)
The Applicant’s request for cancellation of the contract was unavoidable because the Applicant’s father, who had already been hospitalized, took a turn for the worse and was consequently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital on the very day on which the Applicant was scheduled to set out on the planned trip. Therefore, the Applicant requested the Respondent to pay a 50% refund on the cancelled product.
2. Respondent (business operator)
According to the explanation provided by the Respondent, information about the non-provision of refunds for no-shows is printed on the hotel voucher, and in case where the cancellation of a flight ticket is made after the elapse of the flight’s scheduled departure time, the cancellation constitutes a no-show, and thus penalties are imposed. The Applicant made a call to cancel the ticket at 8:10 a.m. on the day of departure, and the person in charge on the Respondent’s side confirmed, after attending his office, that the airlines and the hotel had already processed the Applicant’s reservations as no-shows, and thus a refund would not be possible. Nevertheless, the Respondent argued that, as regards the flight tickets, only KRW 110,200 (KRW 55,100 x 2 persons) with fuel surcharges and taxes included would be refunded.
The Respondent’s homepage reads, “OOOO company complies with the Standard Terms and Conditions of Overseas Travel Contracts,” and, according to Article 15(2)(2)d of the Standard Terms and Conditions of Overseas Travel Contracts, in the event that a traveler’s spouse or lineal ascendant or other descendant is hospitalized at a hospital(clinic) for more than three (3) days due to physical health problems, and it is not possible to discharge the patient from hospital before the traveler’s departure for travel, the traveler as a spouse or a guardian of the hospitalized patient may cancel his/her travel contract without paying damages to the other party. Therefore, when the Standard Terms and Conditions of Overseas Travel Contracts are applied to this case, it is appropriate that one of the two travelers should be exempt from damages and refunded KRW 374,000, the full amount of one person’s travel costs, and that the other traveler should be refunded KRW 187,000 (KRW 374,000 x 50%), the amount remaining after deducting 50% of the full amount of travel costs, according to the Criteria for the Settlement of Consumer Disputes, which have been prepared for the smooth resolution of disputes in accordance with Article 16(2) and (3) of the Framework Act on Consumers.
Nevertheless, considering that: 1) the Applicant requested a 50% refund for the total amount of the travel costs with regard to the travel contract cancellation due to unavoidable circumstances; 2) the Respondent verified the amount of damages through the online transaction details of the airline concerned; 3) it is expected that losses would occur to the Respondent due to the Applicant’s no-show at the hotel on the scheduled travel date; and 4) the aim of settlement is the smooth resolution of disputes through the equal sharing of losses and mutual concessions, it is only proper that the Respondent should offer a refund of KRW 374,000, which is 50% of the total amount of the travel costs, to the Applicant.
Accordingly, it is appropriate that the Respondent should pay KRW 374,000 to the Applicant by September △, 2019, and if the Respondent delays the above payment, the Respondent should pay any additional liquidated damages accruing from September △, 2019, by the date of completion at an annual rate of 6%.
[Relevant laws and notifications, etc.] Article 674(3) of the Civil Act, Article 54 of the Commercial Act, 31. Travel Industry of Table 2. of the Criteria for the Settlement of Consumer Disputes, Article 15 of the Standard Terms and Conditions of Overseas Travel Contracts (Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) Notification)
Based on the above reasons, we hereby decide and order as follows:
1. The Respondent shall pay KRW 374,000 to the Applicant by September △, 2019.
2. If the Respondent delays the payment specified in the foregoing Paragraph 1 above, the Respondent shall pay any additional liquidated damages accruing from September △, 2019 by the date of completion at an annual rate of 6%.
