DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: In 2019, I booked a visit to Antarctica by means of Aurora Expeditions, an Australian firm. I reserved the tour by means of Expedition Journeys, a Seattle-based journey company. I made a $5,000 deposit and the journey was scheduled for late 2020.
In fact, all of those journeys had been canceled due to COVID-19. Aurora rescheduled the journey for November 2021, and we agreed to just accept the reschedule.
However since that point, Aurora has rescheduled the journey two extra occasions. Now, they’re departing from Chile as a substitute of Argentina on account of COVID-19 restrictions. That, mixed with some latest well being points, made the journey a lot much less fascinating.
I’ve been working with my journey company, and Aurora has agreed to cancel our reservation and return our deposit.
Expedition Journeys says it would take Aurora as much as 90 days to problem a refund. We organized the cancellation on Aug. 28, and so they needed till December to problem a refund. To me, that’s outrageous. They’ve had my cash since early 2019, and as we each know, had I been tardy in sending a deposit, they wouldn’t have been very forgiving. Issuing a refund must be merely the clicking of a button on a pc display screen.
My journey agent has been nothing aside from useful and courteous. They inform me that they will’t problem me a refund till Aurora pays them. I get that. The difficulty is on Aurora’s finish. I’ve not reached out on to Aurora since all of my correspondence and communication has been with my agent. Are you able to assist me get my refund?
— Steven Meisel, Woodbury, Minnesota
ANSWER: You’re completely proper. Aurora has had your cash for lengthy sufficient and will return it shortly. And one other 90 days looks like a very long time, however that’s not as dangerous because it sounds.
Through the pandemic, refunds routinely have taken 6 to 12 months, and typically even longer. That’s as a result of corporations, and notably smaller companies, would go underneath in the event that they needed to problem all of their refunds without delay.
In an ideal world, refunds would take a couple of week. However through the pandemic, vacationers needed to minimize airways, lodges and tour operators a little bit slack. If Aurora may get you a refund inside 90 days through the pandemic, that may be fairly common.
Out of your perspective, issues look a little bit totally different. It’s simply been means too lengthy, and also you don’t need to wait any longer. You contacted me in mid-October, which was about seven weeks after Aurora agreed to refund your deposit. Your company had been responsive and well mannered about your refund request. And also you’re completely proper — the company is simply your middleman. It doesn’t have your cash and might’t power Aurora to problem a direct refund.
You possibly can’t actually power a refund any sooner. You actually may have reached out to an government at Aurora to ask to your cash. However in my expertise, the accounting division strikes at its personal tempo.
“The worldwide circumstances and challenges attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic have been widespread and impacted the journey trade considerably,” defined Ashton Palmer, president of Expedition Journeys. “Whereas I’m sympathetic to Mr. Meisel’s frustrations, I’m assured that his refund will arrive accordingly. I’m additionally very sorry to be taught that Mrs. Meisel is unable to journey on account of her medical situation. I actually hope she returns to good well being quickly.”
Shortly after that — about eight weeks after Aurora promised your refund — you bought your full $5,000 again.
