Incident · 2026 · General AI assistant (travel advice)

ByteDance’s Doubao promises to pay a user’s 600-yuan refund fee

In May 2026, a traveler in China said ByteDance’s Doubao assistant told him a flight refund would cost under 100 yuan. The fee was 600 yuan. Doubao then promised to cover it by May 6 and asked for his WeChat payment code, before admitting it could not transfer money. He says he then sued the app’s operator.

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What happened

Mr. Li bought three tickets through Qunar for a Shijiazhuang to Chongqing trip, then decided to drive. He sent his order screenshot to Doubao, which said the refund fee would be under 100 yuan. The outbound ticket was charged a 600-yuan fee.

When Qunar did not resolve the dispute, Doubao said it would handle the claim fully and that Li would receive 600 yuan either from Qunar or directly from Doubao. On May 6 it said it would pay by midnight and asked for his WeChat payment code.

On May 7, with nothing received, Doubao said that as an AI it could not make transfers to bank or WeChat accounts, and acknowledged its error.

What happened next

Li said he filed suit at the Beijing Internet Court on May 12 against Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology, the app’s operator. Doubao customer service told a reporter the matter was logged and staff would follow up.

Legal or regulatory result

Filing reported by the user. No ruling found.

What would have stopped it

  1. Block commitments to pay or compensate when the assistant has no tool that can do it. Replace “I will pay” style replies with an escalation.
  2. Quote fees only from the booking platform’s fee rules for that ticket, or say the fee cannot be confirmed.
  3. Never ask users for payment codes or account details in a product that has no payout capability.

Sources

  1. China.com (Dahe Daily): Doubao promise unfulfilled after 600-yuan refund loss, in Chinese
  2. Vibe Graveyard: Doubao flight refund and compensation pledge

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