A group of residents from the Ballarat area is "frustrated", amid a long fight with an Australian travel company, from which they are seeking a refund of tens of thousands of dollars for a trip they never took due to coronavirus travel restrictions.
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Christine Mitchell and her husband, along with two other couples and two adult children, booked a trip to India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives at the start of February.
The trip was supposed to be a celebration of Ms Mitchell and one of the other would-be travellers' 50th birthdays, but it was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Rather than jet setting off in June and immersing themselves in different cultures, food and history and kicking back on the beach, they have been in a months-long battle with the company they booked the trip through for a refund for the trip they never took.
The eight would-be travellers should have received their itineraries for the trip in May - which would have detailed their flights, accommodation and tour destinations.
While they knew they would not be travelling by then, the group attempted to obtain a refund from Byron Bay-based company TripADeal, for the collective $32,000 they paid for the tour.
This is where the nightmare began. While they paid separately, it was a package deal and Ms Mitchell said TripADeal would only speak to her as a representative of the group.
"It's stressful because it is a lot of responsibility. I have other people's money in my hands and I'm doing everything I can but I'm just not getting anywhere."
After TripADeal confirmed the trip would not go ahead, they first tried to obtain a cash refund - which TripADeal said would not be possible due to their suppliers not offering refunds. As a result, credit for another trip was the only possibility.
Outlined in conditions, seen by The Courier, the group was offered a credit option for another trip - though dates needed to be booked by September 30 this year and the trip needed to be taken before the end of 2021.
This is despite the Victorian borders still currently being closed, and it still being unknown when international travel will be allowed to resume.
There was one option on the table to obtain a refund, through what is dubbed the 'Best Endeavour Refund', which involves the company acting as a booking agent to recover funds from suppliers involved in the deal.
In an email, Trip A Deal told Ms Mitchell: "Please be aware that the reason the deferment or credit offer has been made is that we know it is very unlikely we will be able to recover the full purchase price of the deal".
Ms Mitchell said she was told that if she attempted to go down this path, which could take a couple of months, then they could no longer be eligible for the full credit option.
While consistently pushing for a cash refund, she felt backed into a corner by something "like blackmail" and with very little information, she reluctantly accepted the credit option.
TripADeal has not sent her an itemised breakdown of what they paid to providers for the trip, despite requesting it numerous times, nor have they provided information about who these providers are so she can check with them if they are issuing refunds herself.
Since learning more about other peoples' experiences, she is continuing to seek a refund for the trip - due to some group members finding themselves in different financial circumstances and another having a compromised immune system meaning they will not travel until a vaccine is developed.
Ms Mitchell has spent many long, anxious hours trying to liaise with TripADeal and said it was exceptionally frustrating as the company had not provided any evidence that they had even paid any of the suppliers anything for their cancelled trip.
"The lack of information they're giving us is so frustrating and then fobbing off our complaints with the attitude that it's just tough luck for us," she said.
"This is money that we could be doing other things with, potentially, rather than sitting in their bank accounts."
While she has booked many holidays before, most have been domestic and this was supposed to be a big trip to mark a milestone.
The experience has tainted any desire to book even a great deal through an agency again and she will also never pay for another trip upfront for fear of what could happen.
From asking the company to refund on compassionate grounds to trying to obtain a refund through their banks, she has also sent numerous letters of complaints to no avail yet. But she is not giving up.
Recently she joined the Travel Industry Issues- The Need for Change for Australians Facebook group, run by consumer advocate Adam Glezer, to seek advice from others in similar situations.
Mr Glezer started the group earlier this year when he and his wife were owed money by Flight Centre, which wanted to charge them a cancellation fee.
"I figured that thousands of customers were in a similar position and wanted to be of assistance if I could," he said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Consumer Law released Best Practice Guidelines for the travel industry for COVID-19 related cancellations in July.
"According to the latest ACCC Best Practice Guide, upon request customers should be provided an itemised breakdown justifying the amount charged or retained," Mr Glezer said.
Mr Glezer said the government needed to step up to protect the consumer and "restore their confidence in the travel industry, which is currently at an all time low".
An ACCC spokesperson said it "is aware of, and is considering, a number of issues raised by consumers about TripADeal".
The ACCC is aware of, and is considering, a number of issues raised by consumers about TripADeal.
- An ACCC spokesperson
The spokesperson said where travel bookings were cancelled due to government restrictions, it limited the consumers' rights under the consumer guarantees in the ACL.
In general, whether consumers were entitled to a credit note or refund for cancelled travel bookings depended on the terms and conditions of their bookings and these vary between providers.
But providers should act in accordance with these terms and conditions from the time of booking.
If they misrepresent consumer rights under contract, they could be engaging in conduct in breach of the law.
"Travel providers should take care not to engage in misleading, deceptive or coercive conduct in their dealings with consumers about the remedies offered for COVID-19 related cancellations," the spokesperson said.
Encouraging greater transparency, the spokesperson said providers should provide accurate advice and updates regarding COVID-19 policies to consumers and an itemised breakdown of monies paid to, and any monies returned by, any primary travel providers within the consumer's booking, including details of any monies (such as fees) being withheld.
TripADeal did not respond to a request for comment.
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