There is a significant increase in complaints by visitors against the services of local guest houses. The Consumer Council received 45 complaint cases related to local guest house services in the first 11 months of this year, a 114% increase compared with 21 cases in the same period last year.
The complaints are mainly concerned with the operation of guest houses in Hong Kong, such as overbooking, overcharges on room rates, poor room quality, bad services etc.
The latest issue of CHOICE magazine (No. 434) features some typical complaint cases related to guest house services.
A tourist from Germany reserved a room in guest house A over the internet before he came to Hong Kong. He made full payment for accommodation for two weeks by credit card. After checking in the guest house, he found the room in appalling condition with awful smell, filthy bedding, water dripping from air-conditioner, no proper hot water supply and damaged toilet. His friend in Hong Kong, after learning of his unpleasant experience, negotiated with the guest house and asked for a room change. The request was accepted but the new room showed not much improvement. The German visitor requested a refund but was rejected. He then moved to another guest house and lodged his complaint with the Council. Eventually, he received half of the unused room rental as compensation.
In another case, a Mr. Smith paid a visit to Hong Kong in July this year. Using an internet booking service, he had reserved a room in guest house B and made full payment as room guarantee. When he arrived at the guest house, he was told that the room was reserved for him but had yet to be cleaned. The staff suggested that he go for dinner and come back later to check in. Mr. Smith left his luggage at the guest house and went out for dinner. He also did some shopping nearby, and then returned to the guest house at around midnight. He was quite surprised when the guest house staff told him the rooms in that guest house were all taken! The staff took him to another guest house nearby, claiming that it was run by the same management. Mr. Smith, however, found the location of the guest house and condition of the room not up to his satisfaction. He also found that the proposed accommodation was not run by the same guest house and thus requested a refund. Subsequently, he managed to obtain a refund of HK$680 after negotiation, which was HK$175 less than what he had paid. Nonetheless, he had to look for another accommodation at 1:00 am in the morning.
Mr. Smith was very upset by the service of guest house, so he lodged a complaint with the Council in the hope that the authorities concerned would take note of the malpractices of the guest house.
Under the Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices) (Amendment) Ordinance 2012, which will expectedly be implemented next year, the said malpractice of guest house B may amount to the criminal offence of wrongly accepting payment.
Another case was Mr. Kwan stayed in guest house D when he visited Hong Kong. On the last day of his journey, he went shopping just before checking out. When he returned to his room, he found a stranger there. The explanation he got was that he was assumed he would not use the room anymore, so the staff packed his luggage and kept it in the front desk. He received no apology but was urged to return the key to the guest house immediately.
Mr. Kwan brought his case to the Council as he was of the view that a contract was formed with the guest house when he checked in the room and the guest house should not rent it to another guest before the contract expired, i.e. checking out.
Guest house D, in response to the Council's enquiry, offered one free night accommodation to Mr. Kwan for settlement. Mr. Kwan did not accept the offer while requesting the guest house to admit their faults and improve its services.
The Consumer Council reminds travellers that they should choose licensed guest houses with good reputation when they book accommodation in Hong Kong. Licensed guest houses in Hong Kong are required to operate with proper facilities and fire safety equipment. A list of guest house licensees is available on the website of Home Affairs Department: http://www.hadla.gov.hk/tc/hotels/index.html
Travellers are advised to pay attention to the following reminders when making guest house booking:
1. Certain terms and conditions are commonly applied to online booking, such as no cancellation or change of date is allowed once the booking has been confirmed.
2. Room rates may vary subject to the time the booking is made and the date of check-in.
3. Some guest houses set the latest time for check-in, and guests may be refused to check in after that specific time.
4. When room reservation was made via a company or website outside Hong Kong, the Council may not be able to offer the best assistance for reason of different jurisdictions.
The Consumer Council reserves all its right (including copyright) in respect of CHOICE Magazine and Online CHOICE ( https://echoice.consumer.org.hk/ ).