NEWS COLLAPSE
THOMAS COOK
CAA under fire over ongoing Cook refund ‘nightmare’
Amie Keeley
Agents say the CAA’s handling of Thomas Cook refunds continues to be “appalling” after it emerged many customers are still waiting for their money back more than three months after the group’s collapse. Agents said there had been
us anything. It’s been handled so badly, it’s appalling. It’s a joke.” David Hoyle, a homeworker with
STORY TOP
“no consistency” in how customer claims were being processed by Cega, the claims company tasked with handling agency booking refunds, with some being told their bookings do not exist. Olwen Ogden of Dragon Travel
Agents said: “We have been given no guidance. Everyone of our clients has been dealt with differently. There’s no consistency. They’re also asking for information we have already sent. “The CAA said they couldn’t tell
travelweekly.co.uk
The Travel Village, said only one of his customers’ 60 claims had been refunded in full. “I have submitted all the
paperwork but, 58 days later, my customers are receiving emails saying their booking
cannot be found,” he said. “In other cases [Cega] has
told us they’ve not received the application because they can’t receive emails bigger than 2Mb. Then there’s a spate of emails saying the claims are not covered under Atol. “One client received the lion’s
share of their refund, but not the deposit. There’s no consistency. There are so many comings and goings. It smacks of disservice. The CAA is culpable.” Marie Vaughan, also a
There’s no
consistency. It smacks of disservice. The CAA is culpable
homeworker for The Travel Village, said 12 of her customer claims were still outstanding, including one client who had booked a £7,000 holiday to Dubai for Christmas. “It’s been an absolute nightmare,”
she said. “They don’t know what they are doing and it looks bad on us.” Shelly Taylor of Taylor Travel said
only two of her customers’ 41 claims had been refunded. “When I call the CAA they have no information on the bookings and we’re told it’s just a waiting game,” she said. On December 24, the CAA
said it had settled 90% of all claims from Thomas Cook customers,
with refunds totalling £290 million handed to 300,000 claimants. But it admitted some were
taking longer than expected due to the “complexity of the booking” or because it was “waiting to receive the correct information” and carrying out additional security checks “to reduce the risk of fraudulent claims”. Agents hit out at the CAA three
weeks ago as their customers were awaiting refunds, with some clients unable to pay balances due for replacement holidays (Travel Weekly, December 12). All refunds should have been paid within 60 days from when the refund application process opened on October 7. CAA chief executive Richard
Moriarty said: “This is the highest Atol payout since the scheme was established in the 1970s. We thank consumers for bearing with us as we continue this programme.”
2 JANUARY 2020 5
PICTURE: Shutterstock
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
