On July 30th, a man in Hangzhou purchased three plane tickets and applied for a refund 7 minutes later. However, he was charged 2022 yuan (RMB) and only received a refund of 675 yuan.
Mr. Zhang from Hangzhou shared with “Extreme News” on July 31st that on July 30th, he and his family of three traveled from Hangzhou to Sanya. Upon arrival in Sanya, he decided to purchase return tickets in advance. He opened the 12306 App, selected the “Air Tickets” section, and bought three tickets from Sanya to Hangzhou, totaling 899 yuan per ticket including fuel surcharges, amounting to a total payment of 2697 yuan. However, 7 minutes after the payment, Mr. Zhang realized he had made a mistake in the purchase and immediately applied for a refund. To his dismay, each ticket was only refunded 225 yuan, resulting in a deduction of 674 yuan per person, totaling 2022 yuan for the three tickets.
Screenshots provided by Mr. Zhang indicated that the tickets were ordered at 1:54 pm on July 30th for Long Dragon Airlines flight GJ8096, scheduled to depart from Sanya on August 4th at 9:50 am and arrive in Hangzhou at 12:55 pm. At 2:01 pm on the same day, Mr. Zhang requested a refund on the platform with the reason for cancellation being “I want to cancel the trip, I don’t want to fly.” Mr. Zhang explained, “Actually, it was due to a wrong time purchase. I intended to buy a flight for August 5th, but unexpectedly was charged 2022 yuan in just 7 minutes.”
In response, Long Dragon Airlines customer service stated that there are policies regarding mistakenly purchased tickets: passengers who mistakenly purchase tickets and within two hours buy the correct tickets for the same airline itinerary can apply for a full refund of the erroneous tickets. In the case of Mr. Zhang, he was advised to contact the airline directly to inquire about his situation.
“Extreme News” checked the “Refund and Change Policy” for the same flight purchased by Mr. Zhang on the 12306 platform and found that there are clear regulations regarding the processing time, refund procedures, and change fees, with refund fees ranging from 375 yuan per person to 712 yuan per person.
Legal expert Zhang Jian from Beijing Zhuo Hao Law Firm believes that from a legal perspective, the high refund fees Mr. Zhang encountered may be considered as unreasonable “unfair terms.” The core issue lies in the fact that the refund fees far exceed the actual losses incurred by the airline, thus violating the principle of fairness. Furthermore, airlines have an obligation to provide “significant prompts” for crucial terms like refund fees, and if the rules are hidden in inconspicuous places, consumers have the right to contest that these terms do not constitute part of the contract.