The holiday trip to Alanya in Turkey did not turn out quite as Marita Aarvik and her husband had expected. When they arrived, they were told that the hotel had not received payment. This despite the fact that she had booked and prepaid for the trip through the travel company Detur. – We have paid all-inclusive. The hotel has not received the money, and now demands that we pay the cost of having us live here, she says. The hotel wanted her to shell out 900 euros to cover the stay. After several phone calls with the travel agency, Aarvik was suddenly told on Thursday evening that she had to go home already a few hours later – a week earlier than the original travel plan. – We have to pack our bags tonight and take the plane back early tomorrow. She was told by Detur to collect the receipts in order to get the amount refunded when she gets home. Several tourists have experienced being asked to take the hotel bill themselves, after payment to Detur has not arrived at the hotel. Photo: Ivar Lid Riise / news Debt for fake fax In an e-mail to news, Detur expresses his understanding that the stay has not been paid. The fact that Aarvik and other travelers in Turkey will have to pay for the hotel stay in order to get this covered, they claim, is due to a fake fax. – It is not Detur that has sent the fax that appears to be in circulation, they write. They write that the fax is about the fact that Detur has not paid for hotel rooms, and that guests are asked to pay directly to the hotel, in order to get a refund against a receipt or invoice. Furthermore, they write that the case is being investigated both by Detur and by the Turkish authorities. – No guests must pay directly to the hotel for an already pre-paid trip. The hotel has neither the legal nor moral right to demand payment from the guests. The company is in the middle of a restructuring and confirms that they have stopped operations in the autumn period in order to make future plans. Friday morning they updated their homepages. There they write that the rest of the 2022 season has been cancelled, and that they regret the inconvenience this may cause. – But it is unfortunately necessary to create the organization required to be a strong and healthy company in the future, they write. According to TV 2, everyone who is not allowed to travel must have their money refunded within 14 days. On Detur’s website they write that everyone affected by canceled departures will be contacted. Tourists from all over Nordic Aarvik are not alone in having to pay double. The hotel in Aarvik confirms that they have five rooms for which the hotel has not received payment from the travel agency. On the Facebook group “On holiday with Detur?” Write frustrated tourists from all over the Nordics about similar incidents. Several people find that the hotel has not received payments, even though they have paid in advance through Detur. Media in Sweden and Denmark have also written about tourists who have to pay for hotels, even if the trip was pre-paid through the travel company. Among other things, dr.dk writes about Danish Dan Bakken who was met by a note on the door stating that the room had not been paid for, while SVT writes that a bus with fifty passengers had to turn around on the way to the airport, because Detur had canceled the flight they were going to go on holiday with. The Consumer Council: – Do not pay again Thomas Iversen, senior legal adviser at the Consumer Council, describes that a package holiday is characterized by the fact that you buy a more or less complete travel package. – Then the company you have ordered from must settle payments with all the subcontractors. If it is not done, then it is clear that the consumer will not pay anything further, he says. He advises the consumer to be restrained in paying for additional expenses themselves, because it can take time to get the money back from the travel company. Iversen points out that businesses are allowed to make changes to or cancel a trip before departure. – But once you have recovered from your guard, there is no opportunity to shorten the journey, unless there are extraordinary circumstances at the destination, such as war or natural disasters. If this happens, you are entitled to a discount. – Not an insurance case Communication adviser Siri R. Svendsen in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that they are aware of the situation, and encourages those affected to contact their insurance companies. Andreas Handeland, director of communications at If and European Travel Insurance, denies that this is an insurance matter. – We have been contacted by many worried and confused travellers, who believe that this is a typical insurance matter. In fact, it is not, he says and adds: – Other than that, this type of incident is not a travel insurance matter like in the case of illness, delay or cancellation. Here, it is the travel company itself that has to sort out its own mess. On the way home On Friday, Finnish Yle reports that the Turkish Ministry of Tourism is intervening in the chaos that is raging. This afternoon and evening they meet local representatives from Detur and hotels where tourists have had to pay again. At the same time, Aarvik is at Gardermoen, trying to get home to Western Norway. She thinks it is bitter that they looked forward to the holiday as much as he did. – When we understand that Detur has struggled with the economy for as much as a month, I think it is more than strange that they send people down without having given any information to the customers, she says. She is clear that she will ask for the money for the rest of her stay back. – But what about all the extra costs? We have parking at the airport for 14 days, we have booked a boat trip in Turkey which we cannot take part in, and we have to get new plane tickets home from Oslo, she says.
ttn-69
The travel agency did not pay for the hotel – Marita must pay twice – news Vestland
