The Sverdlovsk Region Prosecutor's Office has collected from one of the tour operators the full cost of the paid tour, which the tourist was unable to go on due to temporary disability and the death of a close relative. About how travel agencies should behave in such situations lawyer Alexander Bayborodin, head of the law firm Bayborodin and Partners, told the TRN portal.
As it became known, in 2017, a resident of Nizhny Tagil purchased a tour at a local travel agency for 59 thousand rubles. However, due to the sudden death of her father, as well as the onset of temporary disability, she decided to cancel the tour.
“After the applicant applied to the travel agency with a request for a refund of the money paid for unused services, OOO Lux Travel Agency returned only part of the funds to the applicant (approximately 1/5), citing the actual expenses incurred by the agency in fulfilling its obligations under the contract with the applicant,” the press service of the regional prosecutor’s office, to which the woman applied, reported.
As the department clarified, during the inspection, the fact that the travel agency had incurred any expenses related to fulfilling obligations under the said agreement was not confirmed, in connection with which the district prosecutor's office went to court in the interests of the applicant.
"The court ordered the travel agency and tour operator to pay the applicant the full amount of money she had paid. The travel agency refused to voluntarily comply with the court's decision within the established time limit, and therefore the writ of execution was sent by the district prosecutor's office to the Moscow Department of Bailiffs for the Central Administrative District No. 1 of the Federal Bailiff Service for the City of Moscow. As a result of the prosecutor's office's intervention, the money was recovered from the tour operator and transferred to the applicant in full," the statement says.
According to the lawyer, in this situation it is not entirely clear why in its decision the court collected money not only from the tour operator, but also from the agency.
"First of all, in such situations it is worth establishing who had the money at the time of the tourist's request - the agent or the tour operator. It is absolutely obvious that if the agent did not have the money at the time of the tourist's refusal and paid it to the operator, then the agent should not return the entire amount of the trip "from his own" money," emphasized Alexander Bayborodin.
He also noted that the law does not provide for an unconditional obligation for the operator or agent to return funds in connection with the death of a close relative of a tourist. "But it is certainly necessary to prove the actual expenses incurred - you can't just withhold tourists' money," he concluded.
Source: trn-news.ru