VIVID Travel owner Kane Pirie reponds to criticism of his It’s Right to Refund campaign and warns industry of consumer ‘storm’
It seems incredible it was as relatively recently as March 17 that we were advised against all non-essential travel overseas by the government in response to the accelerating coronavirus crisis. On a global level the world will never be the same; for some individuals coronavirus has brought the horror of death. It is a dreadful and unexpected illness. The national economic fallout emerging is frightening.
Coronavirus also brings particular and additional challenges to the travel industry. Pubs cannot sell beer but for travel companies the challenge is greater: having to refund sales going back months. In short: nightmare.
At VIVID Travel we contacted customers impacted and offered a postponement or a refund. So far, happily, all customers whose plans have been impacted have been content with one or the other. To effect the cash refunds, I had to invest significant additional money which I did without complaint. I did not see any other option. It never occurred to me to think VIVID Travel could act without the law.
Across the wider industry reactions were very different. It began to emerge that most of the industry was not following the law, and perhaps worse, had no intention of following the law. Rather, the cry went out, the law should follow us. This raised massive alarms bells for me.
How would our customers – as a whole – react to such an arrogant approach? What would be the impact on real families of denying them their refund? How would households hurt by other financial knocks (job losses; stock market crash; their own businesses stalling etc) feel if the travel industry overall seemed to place our financial distress above that of our customers, and indeed the law?
Grace period
My own view was that there was a better and obvious solution for all parties. The government had without fuss or fanfare put in place a six-month amnesty for vehicle MOT tests. Let’s have the same for travel to afford travel companies the time they would need to raise money to finance the refunds due, a grace period.
I have been working in travel since 2005 including prior roles as chief executive of Travel Republic and an Abta board director. I also had a landmark legal dispute with the CAA over the Atol regulations, happily all resolved in our favour. That industry profile allows helps me to get my message out but never before has my message been so often, so badly or so deliberately twisted by people who disagree for whatever reasons.
I wrote three articles for the trade press very recently arguing against unclear changes to the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs), favouring instead, a simple grace period. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and my views did not persuade the industry to change tack.
Abta detailed out an alternative for their members in the form of Credit Refund Notes. These in effect, if ever sanctioned by PTR amendments, would legalise the delay in payment from the organiser to the consumer. ABTA were referencing a redemption date of July 31. We are now in mid-April and having admitted defeat lobbying only the trade, I launched a campaign for consumers called It’s Right to Refund and directed at the prime minister:
Boris Johnson: ensure travel companies follow the law, updated if necessary, with a short grace period through to no later than 31 July 2020, and guarantee customers their due cash refunds on coronavirus cancelled holidays. 100% and in all circumstances, whatever it takes!
Abta was pretty upset I’d taken it upon myself to go public with a position that did not fit with their own: my preference to effect the grace period without wider changes to the PTRs. And asked me quite emphatically to “fall-in”. Whilst personally I was worried Abta’s approach could open Pandora’s Box, for the greater good of the industry and a lingering sense of loyalty to Abta, we tacked over to accepting the PTRs might need to change to effect the grace period and made this update public.
Taken aback
Within 24 hours, I was taken aback: Abta seemed to be openly sliding on the key date of July 31, 2020. Some other industry commentators seem to forget money is important for customers as well as their own businesses. There are families trying to find money for food so knowing if a material sum of money is coming in tomorrow, July or 2021 is key. Abta were now publicly talking about September 2020, December 2020 and March 2021. It was very confusing for all.
From a campaign perspective, we simply emphasised that we had “dropped anchor” on the July 31 date, first suggested by Abta, and that we would not move on. The campaign has gone from strength to strength since, with over 7,000 supporters in a week, backing from leading lights such as the high-profile Harriet Green, and widespread coverage in the media.
As I predicted from the outset: the customers are increasingly up in arms and angry because (a) they have not received their money (b) they don’t know when they will receive their money (c) the main excuse that the travel company needs their money more than they do is morally bankrupt and antagonistic (d) they feel betrayed by Abta who are now openly endorsing Credit Refund Notes and suggesting to the customer that such an “IOU” is in itself a refund.
They thought Abta would protect them and their rights.
As I try to make sense of the carnage, I do wonder how many other commentators have had the mixed privilege of experiencing personal financial hardship at some point in their lives? Customers want, and in some cases, need, their own money back as per their legal entitlements.
Appointing blame
It has now been suggested that somehow the real reason thousands of UK citizens are up in arms is because of me and the It’s Right to Refund campaign. Codswallop, tripe and chips! Other words sprang to mind but I am 50 years old next month and trying to behave. This is how Derek Jones, CEO of Kuoni, tried to chip away at the campaign:
Sadly, all of this activity sparked the interest of a few people who saw the opportunity to position themselves as the consumer champions, enthusiastically campaigning for the return of something that to this point has not been removed – the right to a refund. Despite the petitions, the hashtags and the pledges of support, the fact remains that their campaign is campaigning for something that already exists and is not under any threat of permanent removal.
Instead of reassuring customers that the industry is working hard to protect their money in the most challenging of circumstances, the campaign has caused a backlash, encouraging customers who would otherwise have been happy to rebook their holiday for a later date to demand a refund now. Many agents and tour operators now find themselves on the wrong side of conversations with angry and upset customers despite genuinely trying to do the right thing for them.
The campaign “call” is online and repeated above. The campaign name means: it is right to refund, as in, it is the right thing to do. I know Mr Jones in fact agrees with that as Which? identified Kuoni, along with Trailfinders and VIVID Travel as three of the very few companies issuing cash refunds as per the law.
So, if you want someone to blame for the mess Mr Jones, blame yourself. Perhaps if you’d spoken up earlier and backed me on a grace period the unfolding disaster for the industry as a whole might have been avoided. But to be honest, I doubt it. That would be to overestimate our abilities to sway other people and to underestimate how important money is to most customers. The industry has been far too casual about not meeting its legal responsibility to pay debts as they fall due. I dare not presume the customers will forgive us. The storm will be big. Get ready.
Finally, you have seen fit to question my motives. You would like me to play Ernst Blofeld to your James Bond. White cat and all. Admit it Kane: you are trying to bring down the industry so VIVID Travel can take over the world. Afraid not.
My motives are transparent.
- First, the law and ethics say pay your dues.
- Second: trust is king, not cash.
- Third: I want all customers to be paid and all travel companies to get through.
A grace period would have effected that. The appalling greed of some in the industry trying to force customers into a multibillion-pound backdoor bailout, without openly asking customers for that loan, without offering a fixed and fair repayment date, has confused everyone, including the government.
I am left unclear as to what your own real motivations are? I am so sorry you are “feeling hurt” by the conflict in the industry. If you do want to pour some oil on troubled waters, I am not sure trying to publicly slight me or twist the consumer campaign, either in your article or on Twitter, will help you achieve that overtly noble aim?
For the record, I actually thought your #KaneFreeWednesdays was a fine idea. I could do with a break. But customers are not amused as you saw, seemingly to your surprise, on Twitter this week. They are apoplectic. And I for one am not in the least surprised. I have warned against this collective madness: a roaring blaze of businesses; brands; and trust ad nauseum from the beginning. Perhaps that is one detail we do both agree on!