But lawyer Chen did not accept the explanation. "The business should honor its contract once the customers have paid for the product," he said.

Sun Xiaoxiang, a Shanghai resident, placed 16 orders on the website at 1 yuan each on March 19 , as he was planning to go to Shaoxing for sightseeing with friends. "I was furious after I saw 'refund applied' on the website, when I did not apply for a refund."

According to media reports, 360buy agreed to offer a 20 yuan vouchers for every customer in compensation.

"I have spent a lot of time and money because I phoned the company repeatedly, so I'm not accepting the voucher, which I could only use at its online store," said a customer surnamed Chen, who also ordered the Shaoxing trip.

Shanghai Lvmama, an online tourist agency, was also named in the court action as the supplier of the excursion trips offered by 360buy, said Chen, the lawyer.

A public relations spokesperson for the Joyu Group, the parent company of Shanghai Lvmama, denied this.

E-commerce has been developing rapidly in China in recent years. According to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday, the total volume of electronic business in China will reach 18 trillion yuan in 2015, four times the current level.

Policies and regulations still lag behind the development of this new sector, said Mo Daiqing, analyst at the China E-commerce Research Center.

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