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Waive normal cancellation charges

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Tan Kok Liang

Matta’s appeal to airlines, hotels

KUCHING: Airlines and hotels have been urged to waive normal cancellation charges, otherwise travel agents will suffer a double whammy.

In making the call, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) expressed regret on the double standards practised by some airlines and hotels for offering full or partial refunds to the customers.

Matta president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said offering customers full or partial refunds were not fair for travel agents as they had disbursed money collected from customers to various suppliers.

“Regrettably, Matta has received complaints from travel agents concerning double standards practised by AirAsia which are not only unfair to travel agents but have also confused the public.

“This is because the budget airline is offering full or partial refunds to passengers who booked directly with them.

 “As a result, travel agents have been wrongly accused of cheating. It is time for AirAsia to stop discriminating against travel agents and not abuse its dominant position, which is against the Competition Act 2010,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The cancellations on bookings which were made by the customers due to fear of contracting Covid-19, he explained, were not forced by travel agents.

“Instead, customers were cancelling of their own accord due to the outbreak of the Covid-19,” he added.

He said it was simpler for customers to negotiate with their travel agents for amicable solutions rather than waste resources pursuing legal action.

“Customers who insist on full refunds are disregarding a global standard industry practice where payments must be made in advance to secure reservations and once made, any refunds will be subject to the cancellation policy of a particular supplier such as an airline, hotel or theme park.

“Asking for refunds from the travel agents is truly not fair because they have disbursed money collected from customers to various suppliers and are unable to get a refund based on terms and conditions governing all affected parties,” he emphasised, adding that the travel agents and tour operators were looking forward to explaining and assisting the consumers.

“But the panic caused by the Covid-19 outbreak has also caused many customers, adamant in their demands for full refunds, to seek legal redress,” he added.

“From late January, the coronavirus outbreak began to spread at an alarming rate and affected global travel with many tourists cancelling or postponing their holidays,” said Tan.

“In Malaysia, many customers have already paid for tour packages, especially from February to June, and travel agents in turn have made payments to airlines, hotels and other suppliers on behalf of their customers.

“Instead of being victimised, we hope airlines, hotels and the travelling public will treat travel agents fairly,” he said.

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