Consumers can no longer feel free to say 'No' to corkage fees charged by restaurants due to an appeal court leaving the validity of corkage fees intact.

A bulletin board in front of a restaurant says:" Customers bringing their own drinks will be denied entrance." [File]

The Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court is at odds with the grounds of the decision the Haidian District Court adopted in the first instance on Dec 21, 2006 that a restaurant must return the corkage fee to one of its customers, reported the Beijing Times on Wednesday.

The customer, surnamed Wang, said he was charged 100 yuan (US$13) by Xiang Shui Zhi Du Restaurant for a corkage fee after he finished a bottle of liquor he brought with him when dining there on September 13, 2006.

Wang said the fee was groundless as the restaurant neither sold liquor nor did a restaurant employee open the bottle for Wang. He later filed a lawsuit against the restaurant.

Although the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court yesterday affirmed the judgment handed down by the Haidian District Court, the affirmation is based on new grounds.

In the first instance, Haidian District Court dismissed Xiang Shui Zhi Du Restaurant's regulation that it can charge an extra fee for every drink a customer has that was not bought on premises.

The one-size fits all ruling pleased most diners, but restaurants were upset, as some have customers who agree to paying this extra service charge.

In the second hearing, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Xiang Shui Zhi Du Restaurant took away the consumers' right to choose, as the restaurant failed to prove that it had informed Wang of the extra charge before he finished the bottle.

However there is no law restricting restaurants from charging customers corkage fees.

"I am not in the position to give a generalization whether such a fee is legal as we have to find out if a restaurant has fulfilled its obligation to advise diners of the corkage fee in each case," said Gu Yue, the presiding judge of the second instance.