This year, the Swedish Consumer Agency has received more than 260 reports from people who have not received a refund after having their trips cancelled by online travel agencies. Some have waited longer than two years.
”"Now we have to get this sorted out," says Maja Lindstrand, a lawyer at the Swedish Consumer Agency.
After the pandemic isolation Travel is now back and the industry is experiencing greater demand than ever before. In addition to traditional travel companies, there are a plethora of online players who are now doing their best to offer good prices for the fall holidays.
But contrary to their marketing, several of them are lacking when it comes to refunds for cancelled trips. This is stated by the Swedish Consumer Agency, which, together with the EU Commission, has initiated an investigation into several well-known online players such as Flygstolen, Supersavertravel, Travelpartner, Travelstart, Budjet, Flygvaruhuset, Gotogate, Seat24 and Travellink.
A total of 266 reports have been received this year against the aforementioned travel agency fashion companies Otravo, Kiwi, Etraveli Group and Edreams, which can be compared with 399 reports received in total regarding travel agencies.
”"We see that many people who have bought through online travel agencies end up in a bind. The reason for this is that the purchase was not made directly through the airline but through the travel agency, which may have additional services or paid a different price. In those cases, the airline must pay back the travel agency," says Maja Lindstrand, a lawyer at the Swedish Consumer Agency.
According to the complainants, that is exactly what the airlines did.
”"Among those who report, consumers state that they have been in contact with the airline and the airline then tells the consumer that they have refunded the travel agency. The only thing we know is that the consumer has not received their money back, the money is somewhere and the consumer has had to wait a long time," says Maja Lindstrand.
Last year, the Swedish Consumer Agency and the European Commission conducted a similar review of airlines that had not complied with the EU rules on refunds within seven days. The result was that over 500,000 of the two million passengers who, in violation of the rules, were offered compensation through credits chose the refund option.
The supervision of online travel companies is a way of taking that review further, says Maja Lindstrand. Both reviews are led by the Swedish Consumer Agency.
”"The fact that we are allowed to do it again is both about experience but also that we see that we receive many reports in this area, that we are working a lot on the issue. Now we have to get this sorted out. It cannot be that you have to wait two years to get back the money you are entitled to after seven days."”
In Sweden, most of the reports, 151, concern Svenska Resegruppen, which is part of the Uppsala company Etraveli Group. Svenska Resegruppen, in turn, has brands such as Gotogate and Supersaver Travel.
Claes Tellman is press manager at Etraveli Group and writes in an email to Di that there are currently around a hundred bookings in Sweden where travelers have still not received their money back after cancelled flights. According to him, the reason for this is that the airlines have not yet paid Etraveli.
”"For us, it is important to clarify that we have no financial gain whatsoever from keeping the money once we have received it from the airlines; on the contrary, it only creates costly additional work and negatively affects our customers. We want the customer to get back the money they are entitled to as quickly as possible," says Claes Tellman.
The complainants claim that the airlines have already paid the travel companies. What is your cooperation with the airlines like?
”We have a good relationship with the airlines based on our role as an intermediary. After we receive the money from the airline, our processing time is about a week. In some cases, it can take longer based on many different factors. The most common are that the customer has changed banks or credit cards, which means we have to contact the customer, or that we have received money for a refund in a lump sum from the airlines and then need to manually go through each amount to match the refund with the correct booking.”
Source: DI.SE
