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Surge in online travel agency complaints 鈥渁 huge contractual mess鈥�, says UKICC
Posted 10/08/22
A massive increase in complaints about online travel agency activities, saw an 83% rise year-on-year in the first three months of 2022. This brought consumer issues to light in what the UK International Consumer Centre (UKICC) refers to as a 鈥渉uge contractual mess鈥� within the online travel industry.
One of the most noticeable trends from the UKICC鈥檚 1st quarter 2022 data report (from January to end March 2022) was the large number of complaints UK consumers made about online travel agency activities. The increase of such complaints compared with the same period in 2021, meant cases went up from 301 to 552. Most were related to flight bookings and have been made through online booking intermediaries rather than directly with airlines.
Laura Johnston, Consumer Advisor at the UKICC, said: 鈥淐OVID-19 has highlighted a problem that already existed for UK consumers, but the pandemic has made it worse because the numbers of consumers affected has grown considerably.
鈥淧eople are now coming to us in droves as some consumers still appear to be waiting for their money back from flights that were cancelled towards the start of the pandemic.鈥�
Laura outlined the problem, saying: 鈥淭he law (Air Passenger Rights Regulation 261/2004) states that airlines have to give passengers their money back within seven days if their flight is cancelled, but the problem is that airlines usually won鈥檛 deal with passengers direct. Booking intermediaries aren鈥檛 governed by the same laws so aren鈥檛 motivated to help.
鈥淭he difficulty is that passengers have to rely on the booking intermediary they booked their flight with to make a claim to recover the flight cost on their behalf, but booking intermediaries don鈥檛 really want to do that.
鈥淓ffectively what they are saying to consumers is that all they do is book the flights on the consumers鈥� behalf and then wipe their hands of any problem. Some booking intermediaries are even charging consumers to make a claim for the flight costs from the airline.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge contractual mess which deprives UK consumers of their rights.鈥�
Consumers can contact with the UK ICC via the website 鈥� 鈥� or by phone on 01268 886690 Monday-Friday between 10am and 4pm.听
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- For further information or a media interview, please contact UK International Consumer Centre鈥檚 press office on 01268 582206.
- The UK International Consumer Centre (UKICC) works with the European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net). There are 29 centres in the EU, including Iceland and Norway.
- The aim of the UKICC is to provide free advice and support to consumers who have a dispute with a trader based in a European country outside the UK as well as an increasing number of non-European countries. Our advisors will assist consumers in the attempt to resolve the complaint.
- The UKICC can provide advice in the following main areas: buying goods and services, online shopping, internet auctions, holidays, timeshare and holiday clubs, air travel. Contact the UK ICC鈥檚 press office on 01268 582206 for media enquiries.
- UKICC is funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The UKICC service is delivered by the 51黑料 http://www.tradingdelstandards.uk/
- Consumers can make contact with the UK International Consumer Centre via the website 鈥� 鈥� or by phone on 01268 886690 Monday-Friday between 10am and 4pm.
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