Successful reimbursement of costs due to an early return from a holiday

With a Slovenian travel agency, a consumer booked a package trip for March with return flight and accommodation, which was organised by a German travel agency. The consumer and his young family wanted to visit a travel destination in Spain for a short vacation.

As an epidemic had been declared in Slovenia, on 12 March, one day before departure, the consumer verified with the Slovenian agency whether the trip was still possible in light of the situation. The agency's reply was affirmative, while it also informed the consumer that, if he cancelled the trip at the last moment, he would not be entitled to reimbursement of the costs of the holiday.

The arrival of the family at the holiday destination coincided with strict coronavirus response measures, which came into force one day after their arrival and were enforced with the help of the military. 

Based on the rapid escalation of the situation, the young family decided to return home early as a precaution. Both the Slovenian and the German travel agency advised the family to wait for the previously booked flight home as immediate return on a new flight supposedly could not be arranged. Understandably, the consumer and his family did not follow the suggestion as they were trapped inside their rented apartment. Therefore, they bought return tickets at their own expense, which proved to be the right decision as their planned return flight was cancelled due to the coronavirus situation. The German organiser also informed them that they would be entitled to reimbursement of the costs of the plane tickets in case of an early return.

Regarding the complaint and the request for reimbursement of costs, the consumer had to contact the German travel agency, which, in its reply, distanced itself from the unforeseen circumstances, for which it did not feel responsible, and offered a EUR 150 voucher to the consumer as compensation for the inconvenience suffered, whereas the package trip had cost the consumer about EUR 600. Moreover, he had spent another EUR 1000 for travel arrangements to return home. 

The family feels that they were taken advantage of as they sought advice from the provider and the organiser before the trip as to whether it made sense to travel considering the circumstances. Based on the responses from both travel agencies, they expected that the agencies would take responsibility and offer them protection in the event of complications, including help and support in organising an early return.  

After intervention from ECC Slovenia, which referred the case to its German colleagues, the travel agency offered a EUR 775 voucher to the consumer in July, whereas the consumer had requested reimbursement of costs in the amount of at least EUR 600, i.e. the amount he had paid for his family`s package trip in Spain, which never happened. As the consumer rejected the voucher, the travel agency contacted him directly. After some time, ECC Germany received a new offer from the travel agency, which had not been able to contact the consumer; namely, it offered reimbursement of costs in the amount of EUR 925 to avoid a legal dispute. 

Happy with the offer, the consumer received the reimbursement from the travel agency after about two weeks, thus successfully concluding the case.

Photo: depositphotos