Recently, a news story about canceling a Disney trip due to illness and requiring couples to provide proof of their relationship for ticket refunds has sparked a heated discussion among netizens. According to media reports, Ms. Zhang and her boyfriend purchased Shanghai Disney tickets on the Feizhu platform, but later decided to refund them due to their serious illness. Ms. Zhang provided medical and payment certificates and successfully refunded her ticket, but her boyfriend encountered difficulties. The platform requires him to provide a paper "proof of romantic relationship", otherwise the ticket cannot be refunded.
According to Ms. Zhang's description, Fliggy customer service stated that a "proof of romantic relationship" must have the "official seal" of the school or community in order to pass the review. This requirement is too demanding and difficult to implement.
In addition, according to Ms. Zhang's description, Shanghai Disney customer service stated that tickets purchased through official channels cannot be refunded, and the rules of third-party platforms are different from the official rules. "Please contact the original channel for confirmation."
Whether this is a requirement from Shanghai Disneyland or a regulation from Fliggy, it may be to prevent institutions and individuals such as scalpers and fraudsters from harming the interests of scenic spots and platforms through ticket refunds, transfers, and other means. This is also to protect the rights and interests of consumers. After all, Shanghai Disneyland is one of the top domestic amusement parks and scenic spots, and ticket refund rules are relatively strict.
However, strictness cannot go too far. Scenic spots and platforms should balance the complexity and effectiveness of the review process, and should not be too mechanized, which may damage the legitimate rights and interests of normal consumers. The author believes that Shanghai Disney should consider optimizing the ticket refund process and rules, not only to prevent scalpers, but also to respect and protect the legitimate rights and interests of normal consumers.
According to Article 26 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, operators shall not make unfair or unreasonable provisions to consumers, such as excluding or restricting consumer rights, reducing or exempting operator responsibilities, or increasing consumer responsibilities, through standard terms, notices, statements, or store announcements. That is to say, the Fliggy platform and Shanghai Disney should respect the refund rights of consumers and not set overly strict refund conditions and procedures.
According to the latest report, Ms. Zhang stated on social media that the refund for Fliggy has been received. The customer service has apologized and stated that they will negotiate with Disney to modify the ticket refund rules. However, the requirement to issue a "proof of romantic relationship" clearly goes against the spirit of the Consumer Rights Protection Law. Shanghai Disney and Fliggy platforms should provide explanations and corrections to this matter as soon as possible. At the same time, it is hoped that relevant departments can strengthen the supervision of scenic spots and platforms to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.