| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 21/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 3 |
| Copyright: Other |
Cancellation charges
FTO rejects calls for lower penalty fee
THE Federation of Tour Operators is resisting calls for the industry to lower cancellation fees or risk legal action.It has written to the Office of Fair Trading, which is calling for operators to justify the charges, rejecting claims that customers are being ripped off.
The move follows a prolonged attempt by the OFT to reduce the level of cancellation fees. It has argued the cost of cancelling a holiday, which can rise to 100% of the price, is not in parallel to the operator’s loss.
But FTO secretary-general Alan Flook said the arguments have no legal or commercial grounds.
“The OFT does not seem to understand that the operator’s losses, due to cancellations, are on average more than what is recovered,” he said. “Operators have a high commitment to airline seats and beds and in many instances, the loss will be 100% if a holiday is cancelled.”
He added the OFT’s own statistics show only a few complaints have been lodged by the public. An OFT spokesman said it was analysing operators’ 2001 cancellation charges before taking the matter further.