My planned trip from last April was moved to October with a voucher. That trip has also been canceled and now I get a new voucher. I still want my money back. Is that possible?
It is not correct that you will be offered another voucher. The previously issued voucher will remain in effect if the new booking is also canceled. You can therefore refuse the new voucher and that has now been successful.
The voucher has a specific validity period, for example 12 months. When that term has expired, you should be paid the remaining value of the voucher. The customer does not have to ask for this, according to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). The travel organization must take the initiative. For vouchers covered by the guarantee fund SGR, the agreement applies that customers can request a refund after six months. Here, the customer must take action himself.
Vouchers remain a curious substitute for a previous payment. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has drawn up recommendations that vouchers should comply with. One is that customers retain the right to request a refund.
In the spring, some refused to accept a voucher for their package holiday and demanded a refund. When their travel organization refused, they went to the Travel Disputes Committee. At the end of September, he made six rulings and ruled in favor of travelers. They get their money back. It is an average of 4,676 euros.
The Travel Disputes Committee believes that travelers remain bound in principle to accepting a voucher. That is therefore different from what ACM wants. How the judge will judge this is not yet known. Judges make their own assessment, although they often take into account the judgment of the low-threshold dispute committees.
Anyway: suppose you can request a refund. You must then receive the money within a reasonable period of time. Before the corona crisis, this was within two to four weeks, says ACM, but the period may now have been extended to several months.
And what if you are sure that you will never use the travel voucher, for example because your health has deteriorated? You could then sell your voucher to someone else, but that is usually not allowed under the terms of the voucher. That is quite customer unfriendly, especially if the voucher is not covered by a guarantee fund. Perhaps submitting a complaint to the Travel Disputes Committee offers a solution.
Different rules apply to airplane bookings. According to an EU regulation, customers must get their money back within seven days if the airline company has canceled the flight. The customer can accept a voucher, but he must also be able to choose money. Since 1 October, the customer is no longer allowed to automatically offer a voucher. For cancellations made before 1 October, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (www.ilent.nl) will give the airline a maximum of 60 days to repay.
Reinout van der Heijden is editor-in-chief of the Money Guide
Do you have a question for Reinout? Geldraag@volkskrant.nl
