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Agents slam CAA claim form delay
Juliet Dennis and Harry Kemble
Agents have hit out at the Civil Aviation Authority for having to wait two weeks for Atol claim forms following Monarch’s failure.
Forms were finally made
available to the trade this week – six days after direct-booking clients received them. A thousand direct customer claims have already been processed. Agents said the delay hampered
efforts to help clients reclaim money lost on Monarch bookings. Jill Waite, director at Pole Travel,
said: “It is ridiculous because it is still a generic form. They could have sent the form out two weeks ago and we could have filled it in. It makes us look like idiots.” Julia Lo Bue-Said, managing
director of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “It doesn’t feel right that the forms were sent out to direct customers first, even if the delay was due to a technical issue. This puts retailers at a disadvantage. “If the CAA is to be the champion
of consumer financial protection, they should have been prepared
with all the necessary paperwork for the trade. It was not the first time the CAA has had to implement such a process.” Speaking at this weekend’s
Elite Travel Group Conference in Majorca, Sue Foxall, managing director of Kinver Travel, said: “This should have been simple but it’s been horrendous.” Abta head of legal affairs Simon
Bunce said the repatriation operation appeared to have “scuppered the nuts and bolts” of how the failure was dealt with. He said: “The Atol claim forms should have worked like clockwork.” The CAA blamed the delay
on having to focus on its flying programme to repatriate 85,000 Monarch customers. A spokesman said: “Our immediate priority was to bring those customers back to the UK but we want to reassure agents we are working round the clock to process claims.” The authority said it took longer
to secure details of agencies requiring forms. It warned larger agencies could take longer to deal with because of their requests to
process claims through head offices. › Elite conference, page 22
Hays outlets to open in WHSmith
Lucy Huxley
lucy.huxley@
travelweekly.co.uk
Hays Travel has signed an exclusive deal to open concessions in WHSmith shops.
The first Hays outlet in a WHSmith shop will open in the latter’s store at Leeds White Rose shopping centre on November 9, followed by another in Exeter, with three more expected to open across the country shortly afterwards. If they are a success, a further
20 to 30 are likely to follow within a year. Each ‘store within a store’ will have three desks and a bureau de change. Hays has already started recruiting for staff. Speaking exclusively to Travel
Weekly, Hays Travel managing director John Hays said: “We’ve got a list of 200 stores that could accommodate a Hays Travel concession. We’ll be opening the first five before Christmas.” The speed of the rollout will
A notice at Luton on the day Monarch collapsed
depend on how quickly staff are recruited. Each concession will be overseen by an existing, experienced, Hays agent who will manage three recruits. Agents working in the
concessions will be employed on Hays Travel contracts, use the WHSmith stores’ facilities and be entitled to the same benefits as WHSmith staff. Hays said he was approached by WHSmith, adding: “When I started looking at the brand, I found that WHSmith has a lot of people that visit its stores. Its footfall is really high and it is celebrating 225 years in business this year, so there’s a lot of trust and loyalty. It’s a great fit for us and the more I researched it, the more excited I got.” The concessions will sell the
agency’s “normal range of holidays – so short-haul, long-haul and cruise”, said Hays. Each concession will have the
full Hays Travel shop fit, distinctive orange and blue branding, illuminated sign, bespoke desks and brochure racks. Plasma screens in the main WHSmith shop window will direct customers to concessions. Hays is not the first agency to
open within other high street stores. First Choice Retail opened concessions in Asda in 1999. Tour operators Virgin Holidays and Kuoni later opened within House of Fraser and John Lewis respectively.
19 October 2017
travelweekly.co.uk 5 3
John Hays (inset): ‘It’s a great fit’
STORIES HOT
PICTURE: REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
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