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Goldtrail collapse costs agents thousands of pounds
A Freedom Travel member claims she has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket by the Goldtrail collapse because of an administrative error by the travel distribution group.
The Wigan-based agent claimed she booked dynamic packages with Goldtrail without realising that the operator had been removed from Freedom Travel’s ATOL licence for 2010.
"Goldtrail bookings were covered by Freedom Travel last year and I didn’t realise they’d been removed from the list when I made the bookings," she Linda Welch of Little Travel Shop.
"Freedom accepted the booking and took payment for the ATOL, but no protection was provided.
"I complained to Freedom that I should have been automaticcally warned that the Goldtrail had been removed from its list when I made the booking and I dread to think how many others were not aware of this situation and have found themselves liable for the cost of the clients’ lost holidays."
Welch said she has had to refund clients £4,000 for three bookings following Goldtrail’s collapse.
Hundreds of more travel agents could be left out of pocket by the Goldtrail collapse due to an administrative oversight, which led many of them to book holidays with the tour operator as ATOL holders rather than retailers.
In December last year, Goldtrail changed the invoices issued to some agents to show that the bookings were being made on an ATOL-to-ATOL basis, but many agents failed to spot the switch as the Turkey operator did not bring it to their attention.
The Civil Aviation Authority is insisting that retailers who inadvertently made ATOL-to-ATOL bookings with Goldtrail must pay repay the Air Travel Trust fund £150 plus tax for each of their customers brought back home.
ABTA has contacted the CAA to complain, saying that it believes the ATOL-to-ATOL invoices were issued in error.
"We believe that our members sold seats on a retail basis and the CAA should treat them as such. We are waiting for a response from the CAA," said ABTA spokesman Sean Tipton.
He said it was too early to say how many agents have been left to foot the bill of the Goldtrail collapse.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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