WENDY Kiss, a Helloworld Travel agency owner from the NSW Central Coast, has been successful in challenging a decision by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) which had previously ordered her to refund a client who had booked a trip to Canada.
The initial ruling in late Mar this year related to a booking made in Aug 2019 including non-refundable Air Canada airfares and hotel reservations made via wholesaler Momento Travel.
The Tribunal had judged that based on the Frustrated Contracts Act and the Government’s COVID-19 travel bans, the agent was liable to pay the refund even though the suppliers in question had not repaid the bookings.
Kiss complied with the order and paid more than $9,000 back to the customers, but also appealed the decision in Apr.
In last Fri’s ruling, the Appeals Panel confirmed that contrary to the earlier ruling, “in making the arrangements for travel for the respondents, the appellant [Kiss] was acting only as agent (on behalf of Air Canada and Momento Travel) and is therefore not personally liable to reimburse the respondents”.
The panel cited the agent’s booking terms and conditions which made it clear that she was to provide booking and advisory services only to allow the clients to acquire travel products from third party providers, and noted clear communication that airfares and accom were non-refundable.
The previous ruling was set aside, with AFTA, which had supported the appeal, hailing Kiss’ “resilience, persistence and tenacity” (see page four).
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Source: traveldaily