Travel Agent Not Refunding Cancelled Tour

eckorock on 14/02/2019 - 11:19
Last edited 14/02/2019 - 11:21

I booked a number of activities around NZ, when I was in Queenstown, including a Kayak tour. Cost of the Kayak tour itself was $115/pp NZD. Total cost of all activities was around $550 NZD
Booking was for 2 people, booked under my girlfriend's name. (They also misspelled her name on the booking)

The Kayak tour company cancelled the activity last week, (06/02/19) due to rough seas.

We contacted the travel agent for a refund, they instructed us to fill out a form.

We filled in the form and sent it to them.
They took a while to reply, and then when we called them they said
1. They will refund us 80% of the tour. 20% of the money they keep as an 'admin fee'.
(This is actually in their T&C, which I overlooked. My g/f and I both recall the sales agent saying if the activity is cancelled by the tour company, we get a full refund.)
They also said we can claim the remaining 20% through our travel insurance. But this sounds absurd to me… Travel insurance wouldn't cover money that we lost due to shoddy t&c, also the excess of the travel insurance claim would be greater than the $46 that they are keeping.
2. They will contact the Kayak tour company to get the money transferred back from them, and then pay our refund.

We contacted the Kayak tour company who advised us that the travel agent never paid them any money as the tour never went ahead.

Summary
We booked a tour, it got cancelled. The travel agent took our money and claimed they paid the tour company, but never actually paid them. The travel agent also is going to keep 20% of the money we paid for the tour.

I feel like it is totally unethical for them to keep 20% of our money.

Not sure what my best option is here.

  1. Call or email the travel agent company and demand a full refund
  2. Threaten to post on social media
  3. Dispute the credit card transaction via Commonwealth Bank. (Specifically because we have written evidence the tour was cancelled)
  4. Submit a claim through NZ equivalent of VCAT / civil court

As far as I understand their is a civil claims agreement between NZ and Australia. https://www.ag.gov.au/Internationalrelations/PrivateInternat…

Any suggestions?

Travel Travel Agency

Comments

  • GG57 on 14/02/2019 - 11:24

    Do #1, in a polite and controlled manner, explaining the info that you obtained from the tour operator.
    Get the name of the person you are dealing with.
    Depending how the booking agent responds, advise them of the options you may take as next steps.

    Don't forget, the person responding is probably just an employee.

  • stirlo on 14/02/2019 - 11:25

    Just do 1, call don't email. It's $46 surely you business is worth more than $46 to them in the future…

      • stirlo on 14/02/2019 - 11:37

        It's not a threat just a wise business move by the travel agent, why piss off someone over so little money… Obviously saying you'll post review on social media/google is a worth pursuing if they don't oblige but if you speak to the manager/owner theres no way they'd piss someone off over such an insignificant amount.

  • HighAndDry on 14/02/2019 - 11:30
    +1

    20% seems high, but considering they did their job of booking and arranging the tour for you, the fact that they still charge something doesn't seem too unreasonable. And even then, while 20% sounds high, it works out to be $46 which is 'meh' in the grand scale of things, especially if it's set out in the T&Cs. (Though also note: Just because it's in the T&Cs doesn't automatically make it enforceable or legally valid).

    For that amount of money, social media would be the most I'd be willing to do. Anything else is far too much effort and trouble imo.

    • eckorock on 14/02/2019 - 11:32

      I agree, it's not the amount of money, it's more the principle of the matter.

      A lot of activities and tours in NZ are expensive. Hypothetically what if we booked helicopter flights for a whole group of people, 8 x $600, then it got cancelled due to bad weather. They would just happily keep $960 from that? It's not right.

      • HighAndDry on 14/02/2019 - 11:33

        It's discretionary. For a bigger event, even if their T&Cs say they can keep 20% they might well have internal policies to retain up to a max amount. (Or so I'd hope anyway)

    • eckorock on 14/02/2019 - 11:34
      +1

      also; they get kickbacks / affiliate commissions from the tour companies that they book with. That's how they make their money.

      • HighAndDry on 14/02/2019 - 11:35

        That's true, but that doesn't help when the activity is cancelled and the tour operator gets no money anyway.

  • SirFlibbled on 14/02/2019 - 11:55
    +3

    They can't charge a fee for a tour that was cancelled by the operator. If YOU cancelled the tour, then I'd agree a 20% fee is reasonable but you didn't, the provider did.

    • eckorock on 14/02/2019 - 12:03
      +1

      I agree that it is unreasonable.

      I just called them again and they re-iterated that they only refund 80% of the amount.

      My next step is probably to send an email to the store manager.

      I wonder if there is some NZ consumer law that they are violating.

      • SirFlibbled on 15/02/2019 - 11:00

        Per Eckorock's post below. Write a letter of demand stating you expect a full refund or you will Make a complaintor just do a credit card charge back (if that's how you paid).

  • eckorock on 14/02/2019 - 12:16
    +1

    NZ Disputes Tribunal is the equivalent of VCAT.

    NZ consumer law
    https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/common-c…

    Under the Consumer Guarantees Act a customer cannot
    have their statutory rights limited or removed. A term
    that does this will also breach section 13 (i) of the
    Fair Trading Act as it misrepresents customers’ rights
    under the Consumer Guarantees Act.

    13 Express guarantees
    (1)
    Where goods are supplied to a consumer, this Act applies to any express guarantee given by a manufacturer of the goods which is binding on the manufacturer in accordance with section 14.
    (2)
    Part 3 gives the consumer a right of redress against the manufacturer where the goods fail to comply with any such guarantee.

    23 Consumers’ options of refund or replacement
    (2)
    A refund referred to in subsection (1)(a) means a refund in cash of the money paid or the value of any other consideration provided, or both, as the case may require.

  • Cheeper on 14/02/2019 - 12:25

    Looking at this sort of thing from another angle…
    .. you pay for a tour in good faith of getting what you paid for… circumstances beyond anyones control prevents that tour from happening… you have to jump hoops to get a refund which should be automatically done anyway.. you are penalised an amount of 20% of the fee for a cancellation that was beyond your control.
    That should be 100% refund plus an apology.

    The booking agent wins regardless of the conditions. Total rip off regardless of their tricky T&Cs.
    Why should you be penalised because of the weather conditions???

    Lodge a complaint with NZ consumer agency, if they have one.

    • HighAndDry on 14/02/2019 - 12:40

      Looking at it from yet another angle, the agent has already done their job and spent time to consult with the customer, contact the tour operator, arrange and book the tour/activity. The weather conditions are also outside their control. To paraphrase your comment: "Why should they be penalised because of weather conditions?"

      • adam on 14/02/2019 - 19:44
        +2

        All the more reason not to use travel agents. Book it online yourselves & put them out of business. They claim to offer you more than you can get yourself, but they don't & the sooner they go the better.

        • HighAndDry on 14/02/2019 - 19:51

          Yeah I've never personally understood the point of using travel agents.

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