Travel Agent acting unlawfully - what can I do?

mrslomax

Many months ago we booked a package holiday for this February - flights to Hong Kong, 2 nights in a B&B, all transfers & then a 10 day cruise to Singapore. What a disaster - firstly the cruise ship banned all transit through China (we were due to transit in Beijing) so our TA changed our flights. Then Hong Kong closed their cruise port so the cruise company (NCL) changed the cruise to a round trip from & back to Singapore. Our TA took 10 days (& numerous chasing calls) but eventually sent through new flights, transfers & hotel details 2 days before we were due to fly. The next day (24 hours before our flight), Vietnam closed its cruise ports, so NCL cancelled the cruise - in many ways after all the hassle this was a relief! Our TA promised us a full refund & NCL offered 25% cruise credit - that was 19 days ago & we've seen nothing. The 2018 Package Holiday Regulations require them to refund "in any event" within 14 days & although I rung & told them this last week, we've still heard nothing. The holiday cost nearly £9k for 4 of us - how do I get them to comply with the law & refund us quickly?

Caz3121

I would suspect that they are waiting for the refunds to come from the suppliers before they refund you.
Is it a UK based travel agent?

Westin

As you have found, the situation has been changing daily, if not hourly.  

Airline and travel call centres will be overwhelmed I expect with thousands of anxious travellers. Back office functions also probably heavily impacted.

As Caz3121 mentioned, very likely that the agent is trying to get all the components refunded and this might be taking longer than normal. Whilst normal refund timescales are given I think we all need to be understanding of the ever changing situation and perhaps need to show more patience with those having to unravel or deal with the CoVid-19 issues.

A positive is that it appears you booked this as a package with a U.K. travel business. You will get your refund. Many who put their own travel plans together, booking individually, some with overseas based online agents are now finding draw backs of this arrangement and difficulties getting rerouting, travel waivers or refunds.

mrslomax

Hi Caz3121 - it is a UK TA. And I understand that they may be waiting for NCL, but that doesn't change the law!!

The_Fat_Controller

Your wait is likely to have been 15 working days, have a little more patience.
You were lucky you booked it as a complete package, so you won't have lost out on anything, unlike some who have lost flight costs due to cancelled cruises.

TELLIT01

Tour operators and travel agents will be drowning in claims for refunds with all the current problems.  14 days isn't unreasonable in normal circumstances, but the current situation is far from normal.  I understand people want their money back but it is likely to take considerably more than the 'legal requirement' of 14 days.  If you try to take this to ABTA or whoever arbitrates these situations, you could be waiting months anyway.

photome

mrslomax said:

Hi Caz3121 - it is a UK TA. And I understand that they may be waiting for NCL, but that doesn't change the law!!

But the only way the law will help you is you use the law to get a refund, that will take far longer than 14 days ( you have only waited at most 15 working days.

Its frustating, but could be much worse, you could have been stuck on a cruise ship for weeks on end in quarantine

Just imagine how busy the TA is right now

Alan_Bowen

Every travel agent in the country is faced with dozens of calls and visits regarding the Coronavirus, some justified, some far less so. So long as the agent has not suggested he won't pay, there is little point in making a complaint to your card issuer or ABTA, they are equally snowed under. We are in unchartered waters right now so as suggested give them space if everyone called every day to see where their refund was, nothing at all would get done. Of course, if you would like to sue them then go ahead, the average wait for a county court hearing last year was just over 9 months.........