UK Journey "Face Change": Shandong CTS Suspected of Breach of Contract
By Wang Yingbo, Economic Herald reporter in Jinan
The promised experience at a British aristocratic school turned out to be staying at a language training institute; the delicious Western cuisine was no more than McDonald's or KFC; the costumes prepared for equestrian activities and masquerade balls never got the chance to be opened... The new semester has started, but several parents in Shandong are still troubled by their children's summer camp study tour in the UK during the vacation.
On September 2nd, six student parents came to the Shandong Provincial Tourism Bureau's tourism complaint center, complaining that Shandong China International Travel Service (CTS) had breached the contract by arbitrarily changing the itinerary, demanding compensation.
From July 24th to August 7th, 34 middle school students from Shandong participated in the two-week "2011 UK Study Tour Summer Camp" organized by Shandong CTS. When the children arrived in the UK, the parents realized that the actual itinerary was vastly different from what was agreed upon.
Where is the "Masquerade Ball"?
"All changed, the so-called British aristocratic school is actually a language training institute named Summan, out of the 42 planned activities, less than half were carried out," said Ms. Xu on September 2nd. Ms. Sun said she chose this because it offered the chance to experience a pure British aristocratic school, and she had prepared a complete set of costumes for the masquerade ball and equestrian events, which ended up not being used at all. "If it was just going to a language school, it would have been better to go to New Oriental instead," said Ms. Sun.
Inside the courtyard of the Shandong Provincial Tourism Bureau, several parents showed the Economic Herald reporter two different itinerary schedules from Shandong CTS. Ms. Xu said these were almost two completely different itineraries. According to the parents' statistics, out of the 42 promised activities, only 18 were arranged. The accommodation conditions also dropped from the previously advertised aristocratic school to large dormitories at the Summan training institute; originally planned nightly activities turned into simply playing cards and surfing the internet at the Summan training institute; the food quality was even worse than the average school canteen back home, with some children spending an extra 200 pounds just to have enough to eat.
Ms. Guo showed the reporter a text message her daughter sent her during her time in the UK. Her daughter complained: "We came to the UK to go to London, but we spent 8 days in Manchester, and only had a brief glimpse of London, not even visiting the iconic British Museum." She added, "This trip was absurd, affecting our mood, and traveling abroad wasn't to watch the farce put on by Shandong CTS."
It is understood that a total of 34 middle school students participated in this summer camp, with 18 coming from the Oriental Bilingual Experimental School, and the rest being individual participants, mostly second and third-year junior high school students. Each parent paid 23,800 yuan for this two-week journey to the UK.
Regarding compensation, the parents initially did not have a unified opinion, ranging from 50% to 100%, but after repeated negotiations, they accepted the plan of returning at least 50% of the tour fee.
Shandong CTS: This group lost big
On September 5th, Li Yanling, manager of the entry-exit department at Shandong CTS, told the reporter in an interview, "This group wasn't handled well, mainly because we didn't coordinate well with the UK side. There were problems with the local UK travel agency, as university renovations meant the apartments couldn't be accessed."
Li Yanling repeatedly emphasized at first, "It's been several weeks since the trip, everything is fine now, it has already been actively resolved." Later, under persistent questioning by the reporter, she admitted, "There was an issue, it wasn't ignored or left unattended. Because it involved too much effort, and some travelers demanded full refunds, negotiations failed, so everything had to be handled by lawyers."
Li Yanling stated that this group cost them dearly, making it difficult to express. "Our mistake was made beforehand, mistakes were made, costs have already been incurred, giving some compensation is not a problem." "We indeed have our own difficulties. In fact, we compensated during the later part of the trip, replacing many 'extra charge' attractions. And the original train ride from Beijing to Jinan was also changed to a flight. Travelers cannot make excessive demands, our tolerance also has its limits," said Li Yanling.
Li Yanling refused to disclose Shandong CTS's compensation plan and bottom line, only indicating that it wouldn't be unilaterally issued, the compensation bottom line needed to consider the passengers' opinions, to be negotiated by the guests with the lawyer, but "a full refund is impossible."
Comparing the two itinerary lists, the additional fee items mentioned by Li Yanling should refer to the "two-day tour of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland."
Tourism Supervision General Team: Travel Agency Suspected of Breach of Contract
At the complaint center of the Shandong Provincial Tourism Bureau, Deputy Director Sun Mengchun of the Shandong Tourism Supervision General Team listened to the parents' complaints and retained the proof materials provided by the parents, including the itinerary, invoices, and situation explanations.
Sun Mengchun told the reporter that according to the territorial handling principle, they would transfer the complaint situation to the Jinan Municipal Tourism Bureau, which would give a handling opinion within five working days and provide a processing result within 60 working days.
Sun Mengchun indicated that although they could not give a handling opinion before the event was thoroughly investigated, it could basically be determined that the travel agency had altered the itinerary, constituting a breach of contract.
Lawyer: Contract Breach
On September 5th, Lawyer Li Guiqiang from Shandong Sunyuan Law Firm, acting as the agent lawyer for Shandong CTS, told the reporter that they indeed were entrusted by Shandong CTS to negotiate with the student parents and resolve the matter, requesting face-to-face negotiations through phone calls and text messages, but the parents consistently refused to meet with them.
Li Guiqiang also said that the original plan was for over 60 people, but after the first batch arrived, the second batch of over ten people were denied visas, resulting in only 34 people eventually going. However, the local reception was still arranged for a 60-person group, meaning Shandong CTS did not make a profit from this trip.
Ms. Xu showed the reporter a text message sent by Li Guiqiang to the parents, "Listening to everyone's opinions and suggestions on August 17th." The parents expressed that they only wanted to talk directly with the leadership of Shandong CTS, not wanting to see the lawyer. Additionally, Li Guiqiang rejected the parents' proposal of "compensating 50% of the tour fee." Regarding the resolution of the matter, Li Guiqiang stated that since the passengers had already complained to the tourism authorities, they would fully cooperate with the handling of the matter. Whether administrative responsibility or civil liability, the travel agency would seriously deal with it and handle it properly. Lawyer Zhao Xiaoliang from Qilu Law Firm expressed that from a legal perspective, Shandong CTS indeed had a contract breach, with flaws in the execution of the contract, and could bear corresponding compensation responsibilities based on laws such as the Contract Law, Travel Agency Management Regulations, and Travel Agency Service Quality Compensation Standards.
Regarding the compensation plan, Zhao Xiaoliang indicated that administrative penalties do not affect civil compensation. Even if Shandong CTS received administrative penalties from the regulatory body, passengers can still file civil claims. The amount of compensation should first look at whether there are any agreements in both parties' contracts, while also considering the degree of breach by the travel agency, specifically how many breaches occurred, and the value difference before and after the breach.