JD is one of the seven travel sites faulted by the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission for a scam that cheated a number of tourists. (Photo : Reuters)
The Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission revealed that online travel sites such as Ctrip and JD, along with five others, were involved in an alleged scam cheating a number of tourists.
The commission faulted these websites for failing to deliver the promises they stated through their "one-day tour of Shanghai" promos. Some of the perks, which were not realized, include a luxury cruise trip on the Huangpu River that turned to be just a ferry ride.
Other scams announced a trip to the 2010 World Expo Germany Pavilion, which, in the first place, does not exist.
The city's consumer rights watchdog conducted the probe ahead of the country's Tourism Day.
"The result of our investigation was disappointing," the commission's secretary-general Tao Ailian remarked.
The complaints the group faced range from persuading the tourists into shopping, adding paid tours and illegal promotion, to passing them to smaller agencies without due notification, Tao added.
The commission also announced that travel giant Ctrip passed on their tourists to other travel groups, on top of being engaged in incomplete contracts with their customers.
Meanwhile, JD, China's second biggest e-commerce site, was also implicated in illegal subcontracting of tour packages to other agencies. The same was the case with travel service provider Tuniu.
The biggest of the scams was incurred by group purchase Web portal Meituan.com, which was responsible for the luxury-cruise-trip-turned-ferry-ride across the Huangpu River.
On the other hand, travel site 51yala.com was reported to be forcing its customers to buy added itineraries like a Shanghai World Financial Center sightseeing.
Traditionally, a one-day tour of Shanghai involves a visit to the Bund, the Yuyuan Garden, the Nanjing Road and the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Often, a cruise tour on the famous Hangpu River is also offered.
