VIVID Travel has resigned its Abta membership due to its disagreement with the association over consumer refunds.
The operator’s owner Kane Pirie launched the It’s Right to Refund campaign to object to proposed changes to the Package Travel Regulations which would allow travel companies to issue Refund Credit Notes to defer return of payments.
It later supported Abta’s call for a temporary ‘grace period’ on refunds until July 31 but said the association’s subsequent decision to recommend longer repayment windows in many cases was unacceptable.
Pirie said: “I have supported Abta since 2005 but now we have no alternative other than to resign VIVID Travel’s membership as of today. As a business we fundamentally disapprove of the position that Abta has taken in proposing customers should wait for refunds over an extended period, in some cases into 2021, and want to clearly disassociate and distance ourselves from this membership organisation.
“We have already removed all reference to Abta from our website as we now see the Abta brand as shattered. It is associated in the minds of the consumer with an ill-judged attempt to force them to grant over-extended interest-free loans to Abta members.”
Pirie added: “We recognise Abta members face enormous financial strain but believe that could have been solved fairly by a simple grace period through to 31 July 2020.
“As a former Abta board director, I have tried hard to find common ground with Abta but to no avail. We could have supported the Abta Credit Refund Notes proposal provided it did not extend beyond that date which indeed Abta first promoted, and if the CAA had confirmed it was lawful with full Atol protection.
“We can conceive of no justification for asking consumers to finance Abta members for any longer than a reasonable period of time within which members can raise finance from the conventional and proper channels. In short, the Abta position is too orientated towards travel companies and Abta members and neglects a proper concern for the consumer, for some of whom the timing of the refund is critical.”
The statement concluded: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank Abta for all the support extended to VIVID Travel during our period of membership.”
