BEIJING, Nov 20 — A woman from Jiangsu province, China, was left stunned after mistakenly paying 60,000 yuan (about RM37,000) for a one-night stay at a hotel apartment in South Korea, confusing the Chinese yuan symbol for the Korean won. If the price had been in Korean won, it would have only cost her around RM193 for the night.
The incident, reported by South China Morning Post, occurred on October 13 when Xiao, the woman in question, booked a serviced apartment on Jeju Island through Airbnb for a night’s stay with a friend. Upon returning home to China, Xiao was shocked to see 60,904 yuan deducted from her bank account.
The hotel had listed the price as 51,944 yuan for one night, but Xiao was also charged an 8,000 yuan service fee, 800 yuan in taxes, and a 160 yuan cleaning fee. That’s when she realised the price had been quoted in yuan, not won.
“It is not a high-end hotel. We assumed it was priced in Korean won,” Xiao was quoted saying by South China Morning Post.
Suspecting a mistake by the property owner, Xiao contacted the hotel to request a refund. The hotel agreed to refund her if Airbnb approved the request.
Initially, Airbnb denied her refund claim. However, after multiple complaints, the platform offered her a partial refund of 44,000 yuan, then an additional 6,700 yuan, and eventually agreed to refund the full amount “as a gesture of goodwill”.
The incident sparked mixed reactions online. Some blamed Xiao for not checking the details more carefully, while others criticised the pricing as a “trap” targeting unsuspecting customers.
“Such pricing that defies common sense is clearly a trap waiting for careless people to fall into,” one user on Weibo commented.
Airbnb’s refund policies allow guests to request refunds before the host’s specified date, with post-stay refunds generally left to the host’s discretion. Many online users criticised Airbnb’s cancellation policies as “unreasonable”, citing the frequent changes in travel plans.
