The subject of Atol reform elicits some strong opinions, but some within the travel industry have been criticised for sounding off while failing to take part in the consultations which will shape the future of consumer financial protection.
So, is Atol a burning issue for you? The responses we get here will give us an idea of how many in the industry are willing to stand up and have their say. We’ll pass the views you share to Abta’s working party which is compiling its response to the most recent proposals - so let us know your name and company too if possible.
To get the ball rolling, here are some of the industry reactions we've written about...
...and here are some of the comments we've received on travelweekly.co.uk articles:
Bob Burgher: How would it be if a store were to sell either an amplifier, a pair of speakers or a (showing my age) turntable... it would not be considered 'the principle' and therefore not be responsible for whether the damn thing worked. BUT, if the store were to sell any combination of two items or more, it would need to be either bonded with the Association of Bonkers Tune Agents, or have a trust account with the Trivial Truss Association. Nope, the Sale of Goods Act covers that very nicely, and a similar piece of legislation should be sorted for the travel industry.
Nick Cooper: The bigger picture is about who takes responsibility for the customer - who is going to look after the customer when things go wrong. When things are mis-sold there should be no more passing the buck----- who is the "principal" with the moral and legal responsibilities ----- and are we all paying similar taxation rates with VAT etc etc etc. Consumers would benefit more from clearly knowing who is responsible for their holiday.
Peter Mayne: Brilliant news and about time too. If you combine an aircraft seat and accommodation you have created a package - you are now the principal and must accept responsibility for your actions. Take a small tour operator with an Atol. He buys an air seat from any supplier, then he buys accommodation from a search engine. He has created a package for which he is legitimately obliged to hold a license. So why should Bucket Shop Billy get away with it?
Kirk: Not before time! 'Dynamic packaging' seems to me to be a euphemism for conning people. The public deserve this protection and the trade should be supplying it regardless of any legal compunction. As for click through sales, these are commonly just an invitation for the client to spend more money with yet another unprotected company. We need to take responsibility for what we sell, it's as simple as that.
Unsurprisingly, Steve Endacott from On Holiday Group was also pretty vocal on the matter. You can read his comments in full here.
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/02/07/36083/endacott+lambasts+caa+over+flight+plus+plans.html
Do you think he's got it right?
I went on to twitter and made comments there and will repeat them here as I got a lot of feed back from agents.
The reform really is half hearted and aimed at smaller company's as anyone with an airline can be exempt. Just adds burdens and keeps the 2 tier system that we have now while at the same time cuts competition as smaller company's will have added cost that bigger ones can avoid.
As large ATOL holders and there failures have made a good % of pay outs made from the ATOL fund why would you put a system in place that means they can avoid taking part.
Unless everyone including the Airlines take part this system will be unfair.
This is all after the horse has bolted. We needed this for Excel / Goldtrail / Sun4U etc.
I can't see any more major collapses. Seriously, there are no mid size operators anymore!
Sure if the Agent goes bust then the customers money should be protected, but isn't that what ABTA is for?
I don't normally post, but I have to this time. I like Bob's comments re liking the sale of holiday components to parts of an old music system! The only thing is that if either the single component, or the 3 elements bought together had gone wrong, the store would have taken responsibility! They would not have reviewed the form of the purchase before deciding to help the client or pass the blame to the manufacturer. So is it not time for travel agents to take responsibility for what we sell? This is the case in most other EU countries, and it is time the UK made it simple for suppliers. If they buy from a travel agent, shop, call centre or online, that's who put the product forward, is it goes wrong, I know who to turn to. Simples, and it will in turn make business leaders and owners think about what they are selling and not just plug-in 100,000 hotels via feeds they know not where the contracts come from and hey presto I'm a travel agent! We need to stop talking about the mess we have created in this country and think about all our clients, who for most are buying valuable relaxation, time off, discovering new cultures, ..., a big deal!