The travel industry needs to find ways of improving consumer protection rules, following the problems of refunds amid the pandemic, according to the boss of The Midcounties Co-operative.
Phil Ponsonby, group chief executive, told a Travel Weekly webcast that the travel division had a “difficult” time refunding its customers, like the rest of the industry, but he hopes there will be a wide review of rules when the crisis subsides.
“We all probably ought to learn from the last year – how we deal with relationships and how we deal with the way we go about payments,” he said.
“My experience in other business areas is that…you do need to look hard at what’s going on and think about the consumer and what’s fair.”
If the industry comes together to find ways to improve the situation for consumers, that would “negate the need for regulatory authority to come in and start imposing things”, he added.
“We’d be better off to look back and learn and perhaps think about how we can do things in a different way,” he said.
“Having been through, just in the last year and a half with the Thomas Cook, collapse and now this [pandemic], you can see how difficult these situations are to deal with.
“When it comes to customers’ money, it’s really important that they’re put at the heart of what you’re doing.”
He said customers who had booked with the inhouse tour operator brand, Co-op Holidays, were covered by a 14-day refund guarantee.
Clients who had booked with other tour operators were refunded when Midcounties received the money from suppliers.
“In some situations, we’ve paid them refunds without having had the money back, because we feel it’s gone too long. We will take the financial liability in that respect,” he said.
“Occasionally I get involved in that because I’ve an email from someone.
“The team has done a brilliant job, keeping in contact with our customers and explaining the situation and helping them every step. That stands us in good stead but it has been difficult.”
When asked if problems about refunds would make the group think twice about dealing with certain suppliers, he said: “It’s been an unprecedented situation. It’s hard to really pick on individual businesses.
“We’ve all had to face into some pretty challenging times. We have ongoing conversations with our partners, and we tried to understand their issues and problems at the same time.
“It’s not quite as black and white, who’s right and who’s wrong.
“It’s just really trying to appreciate and understand the challenges.”
Sara Dunham, chief officer of travel and leisure services at The Midcounties Co-operative, said there is an opportunity to sell more inhouse holidays.
She said fewer than 5% of Midcounties Co-operative’s members buy holidays from the travel business.
Dunham joined Midcounties in February, with responsibility for the Co-operative Travel business including 78 branches and websites, the Co-op Holidays tour operation, 165 Personal Travel Agents and more than 140 members of the Co-operative Travel Consortium.
She replaced former chief retail officer for specialist business Alistair Rowland, who left Midcounties in 2020 to become chief executive of Co-operative Travel Consortium member Blue Bay Travel.
As well as travel, Midcounties’ businesses are in childcare, funerals, food shops and pharmacy sectors.
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