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Taiwan Friends of Tibet considering
suing Grand Hotel
DISHONEST: The hotel said the reservation was
canceled because the group failed to pay a deposit, but the contract lists the
deposit as ¡¥zero¡¦
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
A copy of the Grand Hotel receipt
provided by the Taiwan Friends of Tibet shows the room deposit figure as "zero."
Photo: Taipei Times
Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) yesterday
accused the Grand Hotel of dishonesty in their handling of a row over the
cancelation of a conference room to be used for a press conference and the
organization said it would consider filing a lawsuit against the hotel.
The TFOT and the Grand Hotel were involved in a dispute on Monday when the hotel
unilaterally canceled a reservation for a conference room hours before a press
conference was scheduled to start. The TFOT suspected the room reservation was
canceled for political reasons, as a Chinese delegation headed by Sichuan
Province Governor Jiang Jufeng (½±¥¨®p) was to take part in a symposium on business
and tourism in the province at the hotel on the same day.
The hotel management denied that, telling reporters that the reservation was
canceled because the TFOT failed to pay a deposit before the deadline and that
the ¡§room rental contract¡¨ that TFOT president Chow Mei-li (©P¬ü¨½) was holding at
the scene was not actually a contract, but a reservation slip.
¡§They are not telling the truth,¡¨ Chow said, showing reporters a copy of the
reservation document.
The top of the document was clearly marked ¡§contract,¡¨ while the number ¡§zero¡¨
was filled in against the word ¡§deposit.¡¨
¡§This is not a reservation slip as they [the Grand Hotel] claim, it¡¦s a
contract, signed by both me and the Grand Hotel sales representative, as you can
see here,¡¨ Chow said, pointing to the two signatures at the bottom of the
document.
¡§It¡¦s marked here that the deposit is ¡¥zero,¡¦ and that the total price is
NT$6,000 [US$207], and it¡¦s written here that ¡¥the contract is confirmed, the
remaining payment to be paid in full in cash or by credit card on the day [of
the event],¡¨ Chow said, as she pointed to the document, adding that it was also
written on the contract that the purpose of the rental was for a press
conference.
¡§This is just a regular business transaction, if there was no political
consideration, then why could the hotel not honor the contract?¡¨ Chow said. ¡§We
are considering filing a lawsuit against the Grand Hotel for breach of
contract.¡¨
Responding to Chow¡¦s accusation, the Grand Hotel said yesterday that neither
Chow nor the TFOT had been in touch with them and that the hotel had been
contacted by a lady surnamed Liang (±ç) from a marketing firm. The hotel said it
believed the room had been rented for a marketing event.
¡§I asked Liang, who is a member of the TFOT, to handle the reservation for us,
but I was the one who signed the contract,¡¨ Chow said. ¡§Besides, it¡¦s only
written that the room would be used for a ¡¥press conference,¡¦ I don¡¦t think the
hotel has any business in intervening in the content of the press conference,
which is part of our freedom of expression.¡¨
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