** Deep Blue Finance.
As a platform for consumers, Ctrip has an average of 67 complaints per day.
Let's take the Black Cat complaint platform as an example, as of November 28, 2023, the number of complaints about "Ctrip" on the platform is 63,062;As of December 12, 2023, the number of complaints about "Ctrip" on the platform has risen to 64,004. That is to say,OnlyIn just two weeks, the number of complaints increased by 942, with an average of 67 complaints per day. In addition, on multiple platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Xueqiu, there are also sporadic user complaints.
As one of the largest tourism companies in China, why has Ctrip been repeatedly complained by consumers?Ctrip, what did you do "wrong"?
The number of complaints remains high
We have sorted out the types of recent user complaints about Ctrip, and the core issues include: unsubscription encounters with overlord clauses, killing ripeness, mismatch, loan traps, etc.
Type of complaint: difficult to refund, suspected overlord clause
Weibo netizen "Xiao Xiao photo" complained:
The flight I booked was told that it was cancelled, and then I communicated with Ctrip for the first time that I could not get a refund, the second communication said that I would only refund one-third, and the third communication said that I would only refund two-thirds. However, "all other ticketing platforms will refund you in full". In the end, the netizen reported that Ctrip's final result was "only two-thirds of the love is returned".
Weibo netizen "Coke Sweet 520" complained:
If you want to cancel your order within 3 minutes of ticket issuance when you purchase a ticket on Ctrip, you need to "charge a refund fee or a change fee of more than 20% of the total ticket price". And airlines and Ctrip's platform "pass the buck to each other". Finally, the netizen sighed, "How long will the overlord clause be carried out?".”
Weibo netizen "Rongwei surnamed Zhu" angrily reprimanded:
Ctrip's appearance is too ugly, the same hotel has the same conditions** (even AutoNavi has discounts), Fliggy and AutoNavi can cancel for free, and Ctrip will be deducted in full if the order is placed more than half an hour. In the end, the escalation of the complaint was also fruitless.
Type of complaint: Killed
According to Weibo netizen "dry rice and **" complaint:
I bought a ticket with my friends at the same time, and I jumped to the payment interface and displayed**"Directly increased by five hundred"!Then my friend paid successfully, and when I was ready to pay, it showed that the price had increased again!And questioned - is this the legendary "killing ripeness"?
Back on August 2, 2022,The well-known actor Ma Tianyu also publicly denounced that Ctrip's "data killing is a bit disgusting"., obviously more than 3,000 tickets, when you click in, it becomes more than 6,000, and finally it becomes more than 10,000. It's too ugly to eat!He also complained again in the comment area: "Spicy chicken!."”
Netizen "International 27-level foodie athlete" also reported that the tickets shown on Ctrip have been sold out, and they can still be bought on other platforms. Moreover, Ctrip has a price increase before placing an order.
The goods are not right
Snowball netizen "sunshineby" recently posted an angry reprimand: The hotel I booked for my family obviously had two breakfasts, but when I arrived at the hotel, I said that there was only one, and there was no problem after complaining. According to him, he confirmed: after repeated comparisons, "Ctrip is at least 20% more expensive than other channels"!Not only is it more expensive, but the experience is not good"!
The netizen also complained: The hotel he booked inexplicably had an extra order, and it showed repeated charges. As of December 2, he had not received a refund from Ctrip.
Loan traps
On August 14, Weibo netizen "Security Yunshu" directly exploded on Weibo, "angry" Ctrip. The netizen said that when he booked tickets on Ctrip beforeThe loan service was opened by default without knowing it, so that I was suddenly told that a loan of 1,000 yuan was overdue, so that it affected the credit information!And the netizen is the founder of a technology company.
Later, the netizen continued to angrily denounce: when repaying the loan, Ctrip was suspected of deliberately guiding users to repay according to the 10% minimum repayment amount. Ctrip's series of "riotous operations" completely angered the netizen, who scolded Ctrip and angrily denounced the ugly appearance.
Ctrip, what's going on?
New entrants are coming in
Ctrip's "horizontal" may be the confidence given by its industry status.
With the recovery of the travel market this year, Ctrip's performance is blinding.
On November 21, Trip.com Group released its unaudited results report for the third quarter of 2023. According to the financial report, in the third quarter, Trip.com Group's net operating income was 13.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 99%.In the third quarter, Ctrip's net profit was 4.6 billion yuan, compared with only 2.6 billion yuan in the same period last year4.5 billion yuan.
In the first three quarters of 2023, Trip.com Group's revenue was 341900 million, a year-on-year increase of 127%;The net profit in the first three quarters was 8.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14 times.
No wonder Xueqiu netizen "sunshineby" commented:The reason why Ctrip is so "horizontal" is, in the final analysis, that it is the dominant company in the travel marketBut this level of service will be eliminated sooner or later once there is competition.
Competitors in the industry have long been "sharpening their knives".
Ctrip's biggest rival is currently Meituan. On November 28, Meituan (3690HK) released its financial report for the third quarter of 2023, showing that the transaction volume of the in-store, hotel and travel business increased by more than 90% year-on-year in the third quarter, the number of quarterly active merchants increased by more than 50% year-on-year, and the number of quarterly transaction users also increased significantly. In the third quarter, Meituan's hospitality business launched the latest "Must-Stay List", selected more than 900 hotels, and continued to focus on the mid-to-high-end hospitality market through live streaming and various forms of joint marketing. This cuts directly to Ctrip's core strengths.
Another leading competitor in the industry has also enjoyed the recovery dividend of this year's tourism market. The data shows that Tongcheng Travel (0780HK) recorded revenue of $3.3 billion in the third quarter of 2023, up 61.0% year-on-year1%；Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) 8700 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 882%。
In addition, according to Alibaba Group's third quarter report this year, Fliggy's GMV has grown rapidly year-on-year since the beginning of this year. However, Alibaba did not separately release Fliggy's operating income data.
Accommodation reservation industry chain Source: Soochow**).
In addition, with the rise of short **, Douyin and Kuaishou are also eyeing the cake of tourism, and continue to attack Ctrip's advantageous areas such as accommodation reservations. According to the data, in 2022, the GMV of the wine and tourism industry on the Douyin platform will increase by 12 times, and the cooperative wine and tourism merchants will increase by 55 times, 9 times the increase in the number of wine and travel order users. Relying on lower commission rates, Douyin's travel business sector has grown savagely.
In addition, Xiaohongshu is also increasing the content of wine and tourism, and Dongfang Selection has also begun to get involved in the cultural tourism industry, and there may be a ** "chasing soldier" behind...
In addition to traditional competitors,AutoNavi also began to enter the OTA market in 2021However, it adopts an aggregation model to provide users with location-based network-wide search and price comparison services, which is bound to take a piece of the pie. In this way, AutoNavi has already had a successful case in "taxi", and it has "eaten" more than 20% of the market share from Didi's mouth!
In addition, in order to "prevent middlemen from making the difference", hotel groups such as Jin Jiang, BTG, and Huazhu have closed their direct sales, and the direct sales booking rate of members has also continued to increase. Taking Huazhu Group as an example, data shows that 85% of Huazhu's rooms are currently sold through its own app, which is equivalent to giving Ctrip a "salary from the bottom of the kettle". After all, high-star hotels are Ctrip's core profit margin.
Conclusion
Although Ctrip + Qunar still occupies the first place in China's **OTA market share, the market competition is also becoming more and more fierce. Taking advantage of the monopoly position in the industry to grab monopoly profits harms the interests of consumers and cannot last long.
Sometimes what seems like an unbreakable competitive position can be crushed by competitors in unexpected ways.
For example, what just happened in the e-commerce industry. On December 4, Pinduoduo's market value reached $189.8 billion, officially surpassing Alibaba and four times the market value of JD.com. Not only Ma Yun felt a deep "impact"!Liu Qiangdong also made a rare statement a few days ago, "Jingdong must change, otherwise there is no way out"!
As Xueqiu netizen "sunshineby" is looking forward to - hoping that the "tourism market version of Pinduoduo" will rise.
Ctrip, maybe it's time for a change.