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the hotel claimed that the check-out time was written on the room card, and that it was an "industry practice" to charge half a day's room fee for check-outs between 14:00 and 18:00 the next day, but consumers believed that this was unreasonable. recently, the intermediate people's court of longnan city, gansu province, pointed out in the trial of this case that the so-called "industry practice" was invalid and the hotel should refund the extra 224 yuan. in fact, some hotels have already attracted consumers with special services such as "supporting late check-out" and "24-hour check-in".

"the hotel charges an extra half-day room rate for a two-hour delay in check-out" - ordinary consumers may just put up with this, but huang wende, a lawyer at henan dinghou law firm, took it seriously and sued the hotel in court. after eight months of first and second instance trials, the longnan intermediate people's court of gansu province recently made a second-instance judgment, requiring the hotel to refund the extra 224 yuan in room rate.

recently, the news that a lawyer won a lawsuit challenging the hotel's "industry practice" has attracted public attention. some people said that it is understandable to charge a certain fee for late check-out, but it is not acceptable to use "unfair terms" to charge high fees at will; others believe that in the face of some so-called "industry practices", we must be serious and not allow the "hidden arrows" of infringement to hurt people repeatedly.

"hotels should continuously improve their service quality to provide consumers with a better stay experience, rather than using standard clauses to infringe upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests." on september 3, huang wende said in an interview with a reporter from the workers' daily that we should dare to say no to any behavior that infringes upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.

late check-out for 2 hours will be charged half a day's room rate

"we proposed a solution at the time, thinking that charging by the hour was more reasonable, but the hotel did not accept it," huang wende recalled.

on january 10 this year, huang wende and his two companions came to jingyunling hotel company (hereinafter referred to as jingyunling hotel) for accommodation on official business. after arriving at the hotel, they selected a room with a daily price of 268 yuan and prepaid the fees for two rooms and a deposit totaling 800 yuan. on january 11, due to the delay in the court appearance, huang wende hurried back to the hotel to check out after 15:00, but the front desk staff of jingyunling hotel wanted to charge an extra half day's room fee, which led to a dispute between the two parties. in the end, jingyunling hotel charged a total of 804 yuan for two rooms and one and a half days, and issued an invoice.

huang wende believes that it is unreasonable for the hotel to charge half a day's room rate for a two-hour late check-out without prior notice. the 268 yuan room rate is calculated based on a full day, so a two-hour delay should be 22 yuan, or 44 yuan for two rooms in total, which is more reasonable.

huang wende then filed a lawsuit with the local court. during the trial, jingyunling hotel claimed that the check-out time was written on the room card, and that it was an "industry practice" to charge an extra half-day room rate for check-outs between 14:00 and 18:00 the next day.

on august 22 this year, the longnan intermediate people's court made a final judgment. the court determined that jingyunling hotel was based on the unrevised "china tourism hotel industry standards", because the standards had deleted the content after the revision in 2009, and the standards had clearly stated or informed the settlement method for accommodation time. therefore, jingyunling hotel's defense of "industry practice" had no legal basis and was not adopted. the hotel's fee receipt stated that the late check-out and half-day room fee were standard terms and invalid. it was fair for huang wen to take the room fee as the standard and bear the room fee of 22 yuan per room according to the actual time of occupying the hotel house, which could also make up for the loss of jingyunling hotel company. therefore, the court ruled that jingyunling hotel company should refund huang wen the room fee of 224 yuan that he had to collect.

where does the controversy over “late check-out” come from?

the dispute over "delayed check-out" did not start today, it has been criticized by public opinion many years ago.

article 10 of the "china tourism hotel industry standards" issued in 2002 stipulates: "hotel room charges are calculated on a 'room/night' basis (except for hourly rooms). one day's room rate is charged based on the guest's stay in one 'room/night': if the guest checks out after 12:00 and before 18:00 the next day, the hotel can charge an additional half-day room rate; if the guest checks out after 18:00 the next day, the hotel can charge an additional day's room rate."

in the following years, the "12:00 check-out" policy has caused many complaints from consumers in china. in march 2009, the china consumers association announced the top ten consumer rights protection measures of the year, among which the hotel "12:00 check-out" policy became one of the industry unwritten rules that the china consumers association wanted to break.

in august 2009, the china tourism hotel association promulgated the "china tourism hotel industry standards" (revised version), deleting the provision that "check-out at 12 noon will result in an additional half-day room rate being charged after 12 noon, and an additional day room rate being charged after 18:00". article 10 was revised to: "hotels should clearly indicate the room rates and accommodation time settlement methods in a prominent position in the lobby, or confirm that the above information has been informed to guests in an appropriate manner." the so-called "industry regulations" that charge an additional half-day room rate for check-out before 18:00 were abolished as they violated the law.

the cost of defending rights for "delayed check-out" should be reduced

although huang wende won the case, the case left us with a lot to think about.

li bin, a lawyer at beijing zhongwen law firm, said that if there is a charge for late check-out, the hotel should publicize it in a prominent location and clearly inform consumers before check-in. but in reality, many hotels are worried that the "delayed check-in fee" will affect the check-in experience, so they deliberately conceal it and fail to fulfill their obligation to inform. at the same time, if the hotel deliberately conceals the "delayed check-in fee", the market supervision department should immediately stop or punish it if it finds out or receives a complaint from consumers. it took 8 months to sue for a few hundred yuan in room fees. the cost of such rights protection is too high.

during the interview, the reporter learned that avoiding late check-out by travelers is a "management consideration" for many hotels.

some hotel operators said that the hotel's "check-out at 12:00" or "check-out before 14:00" rule is also for the benefit of subsequent travelers. after 16:00, the peak of accommodation will come, and the hotel must ensure that there is enough time to arrange staff to clean the rooms.

however, some consumers also said that when they check in, the hotel often delays their check-in by claiming that they haven't finished cleaning. why do they charge for late check-out?

some industry insiders pointed out that with the increasing competition in the hotel industry, late check-out may become a new bargaining chip in the competition.

although many domestic hotels require check-out at 12:00 in principle, they give the green light to guests to check out at 14:00 or 15:00. some hotels also offer special services such as "supporting late check-out" and "24-hour check-in at designated locations" to attract consumers.