Package holiday firms told to pay up over Covid refunds
Package holiday firms have been told by the competition watchdog to offer refunds to customers whose trips could not go ahead due to coronavirus.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has received more than 17,500 complaints from consumers about the way businesses in the sector are responding to the pandemic.
It has written to more than 100 of the most commonly criticised companies, stating that full cash refunds should be provided “promptly and without undue delay”.
Under consumer law, customers whose package holidays were cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions should have their money returned within 14 days. The letter states: “The CMA recognises that the pandemic has created extraordinary pressures on package holiday businesses.
“Although we were sympathetic to the challenges faced in the early days of the pandemic, it is nonetheless important that businesses comply with consumer law.
“Where businesses have breached consumer law, the CMA expects them to take immediate action to bring themselves into compliance and address any consumer harm arising from the breaches. We recommend that you check your practices and policies are in line with the requirements of consumer law and make any changes where necessary.”
Tui, the UK’S largest tour operator, currently advises customers that refund requests can take up to four weeks to be processed.
The CMA established its Covid-19 Taskforce in March to identify commercial practices adversely affecting consumers. Since it was formed, holiday lets firm Sykes Cottages reversed its policy on cancelled bookings and agreed to offer cash refunds instead of only re-bookings, vouchers or partial refunds.
The CMA said it could have launched court proceedings against the company if it had not changed its stance.
Ryanair, Virgin and Love
Holidays were on Thursday named the worst-performing big firms in a travel survey of over 77,000 people.
Conducted by Moneysavingexpert, the report assessed satisfaction rates of people trying to get refunds for cancelled trips following the coronavirus epidemic and subsequent travel ban – and how many had actually received a refund so far. Many airlines have previously also come under fire from consumers who had applied for a refund for flights cancelled due to the pandemic, but have instead been offered refunds.
The Scotsman reported yesterday that tourists were cancelling island holiday accommodation bookings as social distancing regulations make it impossible for many to secure ferry places to travel to Scotland’s remote communities.
The four-star Aucrannie Hotel resort on Arran has lost 20 per cent of its bookings for its self-catering accommodation as visitors struggled to obtain tickets from ferry operator Calmac.
Calmac’s ferries were due to increase their capacity today after the two-metre social distancing rule was reduced to 1m, but available space will still remain far lower than usual.