Still Awaiting Flight Refund

anjyeah

Here's the catch: Parents booked airlines through our usual travel agent for a trip back in May 2020. 
Obviously, COVID happened and the Emirates cancelled the flight at the time. 

Travel agent asked them of their options by then - refund versus voucher. We opted for the refund. However, while in the process of getting said refund, the travel agency went into liquidation. Emirates was made aware, however, because they have already issued the cheque to the travel agency, they cannot enforce the refund towards the intended customer. ABTA and ATOL also unable to help and suggested to contact the person in charge of the liquidation? I'm told that since my parents case are considered low creditors - it may not be a guarantee? But they have asked for proof of purchase anyway. 

My last resort now is to claim it via their bank as it was charged under my dad's credit card account. 

I have booked similar travel plans via this agency and was able to receive a refund from Singapore Airlines. 
We have been a customer for years and was just unfortunate that they have gone into administration during this period. 

Do we have hope of getting the refund? It is £1,000 still and could be put into the pot for their next flight! 

Westin

Name of the travel agency? 

Was it STA?

[Deleted User]

Do you mean your dad has submitted a claim in writing to the administrators? This is generally the first step.  As you say not a guarantee of success though as well basically, you can’t get blood out of a stone!   

A section 75 claim may be option although the use of a third party complicates things but it is worth pursuing it.  (I seem to have read there was a similar successful court case some years ago - maybe do a little digging?) 

I feel it for your dad but I would say it isn’t definite he will get his money back at this stage.  Good luck. 

Alan_Bowen

Unsecured creditors rarely get a penny after an agency failure. However all is not lost. Did the agency itself issue the tickets or did they buy them in from another agency, the documentation should disclose the situation.

If the agency issued the ticket then it must have been an IATA appointed agent and although they frequently try to deny liability, if Emirates appointed the agent to act on their behalf, they remain responsible when they disappear with the money. Simple agency law means the airline may still be responsible and you should go back to them, the fact they claim to have issued a refund to the agency suggests they were the appointed agent. If the seats were booked elsewhere, then this rule wouldn't apply

anjyeah

Westin said:

Name of the travel agency? 

Was it STA?

It was Gendai Travel Ltd. They specialise in flights and holidays for Asia and have been a customer for years. 

Emirates is saying that they have issued the cheque on July 2021, the agency ceased trading on September 2021. I really did not know what happened in between and was just waiting, until I checked the agency sometime after that and the notice came on their website. Even emailed Emirates once more to say that I was not happy with the response as at the end of the day - it is still a product not used. 

I do have another option on claiming it via travel insurance (if they have - gonna check) but gonna try everything for them now before I can officially say stop trying and charge it to experience. 

anjyeah

Tedber said:

Do you mean your dad has submitted a claim in writing to the administrators? This is generally the first step.  As you say not a guarantee of success though as well basically, you can’t get blood out of a stone!   

A section 75 claim may be option although the use of a third party complicates things but it is worth pursuing it.  (I seem to have read there was a similar successful court case some years ago - maybe do a little digging?)  

Well, if an email to the person in charge of the insolvency counts, then yes. 
I will have to try a Section 75 claim now that I am stuck. 

Alan_Bowen said:

If the agency issued the ticket then it must have been an IATA appointed agent and although they frequently try to deny liability, if Emirates appointed the agent to act on their behalf, they remain responsible when they disappear with the money. Simple agency law means the airline may still be responsible and you should go back to them, the fact they claim to have issued a refund to the agency suggests they were the appointed agent. If the seats were booked elsewhere, then this rule wouldn't apply

It feels like as soon as they have sent the refund to the agency - it's none of their business. I am going to try and lodge an email to them once more and see if I can get a response that I am happy with. 

I had a similar trip planned that time with a different airline. The only difference was - no refund was issued yet before they went into administration and Singapore Airlines actually honoured the purchase and the refund went straight to me. Yet I was the one who purchased with a debit card.

CKhalvashi

anjyeah said:

Westin said:

Name of the travel agency? 

Was it STA?

Emirates is saying that they have issued the cheque on July 2021, the agency ceased trading on September 2021. I really did not know what happened in between and was just waiting, until I checked the agency sometime after that and the notice came on their website. Even emailed Emirates once more to say that I was not happy with the response as at the end of the day - it is still a product not used. 

Emirates should not be disclosing financial information as you (nor your parents) are their customers. Quite why you expect an airline that your parents have no relationship with to refund them makes no sense to me.

This will be one either for ATOL, potentially for Section 75 (travel agency claims should be allowed as long as not booked flight or accommodation only, as the agency has bought in 2 separate services, packaged them together and sold them as a single service) and if not for insurance.

Westin

CKhalvashi said:

anjyeah said:

Westin said:

Name of the travel agency? 

Was it STA?

Emirates is saying that they have issued the cheque on July 2021, the agency ceased trading on September 2021. I really did not know what happened in between and was just waiting, until I checked the agency sometime after that and the notice came on their website. Even emailed Emirates once more to say that I was not happy with the response as at the end of the day - it is still a product not used. 

Emirates should not be disclosing financial information as you (nor your parents) are their customers. Quite why you expect an airline that your parents have no relationship with to refund them makes no sense to me.

This will be one either for ATOL, potentially for Section 75 (travel agency claims should be allowed as long as not booked flight or accommodation only, as the agency has bought in 2 separate services, packaged them together and sold them as a single service) and if not for insurance.

It appears a flight only sale. I’m not convinced there is ATOL cover. The OP has not mentioned either a package holiday trip or that they have an ATOL certificate.

Looks like the refund on the cancellation of the flight has actually complied matters. Emirates refunding the agency (prior to their failure) may indeed discharge their responsibility.

A claim via the liquidator of the agency would seem to be the correct official path but I fear this won’t get the OP’s fathers money back. It will certainly be long and laboured.

For ease I would certainly suggest the OP’s father tries a section 75 claim via his credit card. EK refunding the agent would suggest the cc transaction was with Gendai Travel (easily check on a cc statement) and the claim I feel should be made on basis of non delivery of the purchase / no refund on the failed company.  

CKhalvashi

Westin said:

CKhalvashi said:

anjyeah said:

Westin said:

Name of the travel agency? 

Was it STA?

Emirates is saying that they have issued the cheque on July 2021, the agency ceased trading on September 2021. I really did not know what happened in between and was just waiting, until I checked the agency sometime after that and the notice came on their website. Even emailed Emirates once more to say that I was not happy with the response as at the end of the day - it is still a product not used. 

Emirates should not be disclosing financial information as you (nor your parents) are their customers. Quite why you expect an airline that your parents have no relationship with to refund them makes no sense to me.

This will be one either for ATOL, potentially for Section 75 (travel agency claims should be allowed as long as not booked flight or accommodation only, as the agency has bought in 2 separate services, packaged them together and sold them as a single service) and if not for insurance.

It appears a flight only sale. I’m not convinced there is ATOL cover. The OP has not mentioned either a package holiday trip or that they have an ATOL certificate.

Looks like the refund on the cancellation of the flight has actually complied matters. Emirates refunding the agency (prior to their failure) may indeed discharge their responsibility.

A claim via the liquidator of the agency would seem to be the correct official path but I fear this won’t get the OP’s fathers money back. It will certainly be long and laboured.

For ease I would certainly suggest the OP’s father tries a section 75 claim via his credit card. EK refunding the agent would suggest the cc transaction was with Gendai Travel (easily check on a cc statement) and the claim I feel should be made on basis of non delivery of the purchase / no refund on the failed company.  

Looking back at this, I think you may be correct. I think my brain has taken the 'for a trip' part as being booked as a package.

The money should be in a client account and there should be sufficient insolvency insurance for any packages/LTAs, however as this is flight only, I'm not 100% sure of the legal situation regarding these funds (should and must are 2 different things in this case I fear).

S75 (although this may not work) plus a claim to the liquidators will be the way forward if this is not a package, claiming on any relevant insurance policy if these are not options.

Another important lesson if booking flights to go to the airline direct and not through a third party agent.

anjyeah

Apologies for not clearing it up - it is flight only and not a packaged holiday. But thank you all for the advice! 
I will continue my claim via his credit card and even try our luck with travel insurance while wait for the creditor to get back to us. Then again, I doubt that we will get a penny from it but at least we tried. 
Definitely a lesson learned! As I said, we have dealt with them for years with no issues, it's just unfortunate that they had to end business the way they did. Also doesn't help that they haven't forwarded the amount on time to us on time, hence, why we can't claim any of it back.