"Accommodation Prices Up to 4 Times Higher During Performance and Festival Periods... Increased Consumer Burden"

Many Cases of Unilateral Cancellation and Additional Payment Demands by Business Operators

Some accommodation facilities have been found to charge usage fees up to four times higher than usual during peak seasons such as vacation periods or local festivals. Additionally, consumer damages caused by unilateral cancellations or demands for additional payments by business operators were also frequently reported.

On the 29th, the Korea Consumer Agency announced that this was confirmed after investigating the prices of 347 accommodation facilities sold on accommodation reservation platforms to understand the trend of peak season accommodation fees. Among the accommodation facilities (47 places) in 6 Waterbomb event areas (out of a total of 9), 12 places charged fees up to 400% higher than usual weekends. Among the accommodation facilities (41 places) in 5 Heumbbeok Show event areas (out of a total of 9), 28 places increased fees by up to 177.8%. Furthermore, in some local festivals, 19 out of 21 nearby accommodation facilities raised their fees by up to 126.8% compared to usual weekends.

According to the Consumer Agency, out of a total of 200 cases related to accommodation fees reported from 2022 to July this year, 121 cases (60.5%) were consultations related to 'unilateral reservation cancellations and additional payment demands by business operators due to price changes.' In a survey of 1,568 consumers conducted by the Consumer Agency, 180 people (11.5%) responded that they had experienced damages when using accommodation facilities.

Analysis of the types of damages experienced by consumers who responded (394 cases, multiple responses allowed) showed that 'demands for additional costs unknown at the time of accommodation reservation' accounted for the largest portion at 28.2% (111 cases). This was followed by ▲ 'cancellation or refund refusal' at 20.8% (82 cases) ▲ 'discrepancies between displayed/advertised content and contract terms' at 20.5% (81 cases) ▲ 'business operator's demand for reservation cancellation' at 16.5% (65 cases). Additionally, among the 65 cases where consumers were asked to cancel reservations by business operators, 66.2% (43 cases) were cancellations due to the operator's responsibility, yet proper compensation was not received.

According to the Consumer Dispute Resolution Standards, if a cancellation is made by the business operator one day before or on the day of use, the consumer must be compensated for damages. However, the survey revealed that among the 347 accommodation facilities, 49.6% (172 places) did not notify specific compensation standards related to this. Among the surveyed accommodation facilities, 83.6% (290 places) did not clearly inform the peak season period. Regarding refund standards, 61.7% (214 places) of the surveyed facilities either notified the same refund standards regardless of peak or off-peak seasons or only notified refund standards for specific periods, indicating a need for improvement.

Based on the results of this investigation, the Consumer Agency recommended accommodation operators to ▲ provide prior notice of additional accommodation fees ▲ notify refund regulations reflecting the 'Consumer Dispute Resolution Standards' ▲ add refund standards by cancellation reasons when terminating accommodation contracts ▲ clearly notify peak season dates along with corresponding prices and refund standards in advance.