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Helloworld Travel agent goes bust, leaving would-be travellers out of pocket

Melbourne man Geoff Berlowitz isn't big on holidays.

Key points:

• Another Helloworld Travel franchisee has gone bust in suburban Melbourne
• The collapse of the Mill Park outlet has left 56 customers out of pocket
• Consumers say Helloworld's head office has declined to help them

"I mean, Coburg would be a big trip for me," he said with a wry smile, referring to the suburb just down the road.

So, in 2019, when he and his wife Margaret paid $22,500 for a tour to see Canada and Alaska, scheduled for May 2020, it was a big deal.

"We didn't sort of spare any expense. We thought bugger it, let's just spend it and have a good time," he said.

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, their trip was cancelled, and they waited for their travel agent — Helloworld Travel Plenty Valley — to get them a refund or a credit from the tour operator.     

"Each month it was excuse after excuse…. but the main thing he was saying was he was waiting on Evergreen [the tour operator] to return the money," Margaret said.

But Evergreen later told the family the travel agent had only ever paid them the deposit.

The Helloworld franchisee lost $21,500 of their money, as the Mill Park business slowly went under.

In July this year, it went into liquidation, owing the Berlowitzs and 55 other customers a combined $340,000, according to administrator Mackay Goodwin.

Helen Harrison is also owed $7,000 from the travel agent.

She had booked airline tickets for her family to travel to the United States in March last year — one final family holiday before her daughters finished high school.

After she cancelled the trip, she was told repeatedly by the store that the airline wasn't issuing refunds, and she'd need to take a credit.

"So we thought, well, that's better than nothing," she said.

After the store went into liquidation, she was told by the airline that it had refunded her money in April this year.

Helloworld Travel Plenty Valley held on to it before going under three months later.

"Realising that somebody actually got your money back and then didn't bother to let you know, when you've been chasing it for 12 months, it's just awful," Ms Harrison said.

"$7,000 is a lot of money to lose … we'd saved up for a few years for it," she said.

The Plenty Valley store was the latest of at least four Helloworld Travel agencies to go bust in Melbourne's north and east.

In February, Helloworld Travel Monbulk and Bentleigh went into liquidation, owing $68 thousand to 53 clients, while in September 2020, Helloworld Belgrave went under.

The franchiser, Helloworld Travel, has 2,224 stores across Australia and is worth $280 million, but Margaret Berlowitz said when she asked head office to give her her money back, they wiped their hands of the issue.

"They virtually said 'It's not our problem. It's a franchise'," she said.

The Berlowitzs say the only reason they booked with Helloworld, and not an independent agent, was because they assumed they were dealing with a big company and their money would be safe.

"We presumed Helloworld was all one company, under one name," Margaret said.

Helen has also been demanding that head office give her her money back, to no avail.

"It's just not good enough," she said.

Helloworld Travel declined to respond to questions about the issue.

Last week, reflecting a horror 18 months for the travel industry, it posted an un-audited full-year loss of $35.9 million.

Calls for better regulation of travel agents

Consumer advocate Adam Glezer said the situation showed the need for better regulation of all travel agents, including the use of trust accounts for customer funds.

"Lawyers require them, real estate agents require them," he said.

"Why are they not required with travel agents?"

The government-run Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) used to cover consumers in the event that a travel agent went bust, but it was abolished in 2014.

Agencies are now self-regulated, through the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA), which also represents Helloworld Travel.

In a statement, AFTA said more regulation of travel agents was not necessary and its agents had been tireless in their efforts to secure refunds and credits for people who couldn't travel due to COVID-19.

It said travel agents who are members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are required by that organisation to maintain a trust account for airline ticket purchases.

"Additionally, travel agents should already have a trust or client account [for other transactions]," the statement said.

"Consumer and Criminal Law applies to all agencies as with the wider population, and, while not commenting specifically on any case, remedies are already in place for breaches including for fraud."

None of the Helloworld franchisees are facing any criminal or civil charges and no suggestion is made by the ABC that they have engaged in any criminal conduct.

Mr Glezer, who runs Facebook pages for would-be travellers left in the lurch during the pandemic, believes more needs to be done to prevent travel agents spending customer money on expenses other than the holidays that customers have booked.

"What we have got to do is actually fix the problem that is in front of us to ensure this does not happen moving forward," he said.

In June, Liberal MP Kevin Andrews put a motion to federal parliament for better regulation in the industry, which was seconded by Labor MP Michael Freelander.

The issue has stalled since then.

But for the Berlowitzs and the Harrisons, the fight with Helloworld Travel continues.

"I'm not going to let this go," Ms Harrison said.

"Just wiping their hands of this is unacceptable."

For Geoff Berkowitz, the experience has left such a bad taste, he said he probably wouldn't travel overseas again.

"I'd rather spend money on something else," he said.

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Swagman Tours to close

COVID-19 has claimed yet another travel industry victim, with Swagman Tours majority owner Wayne Hamilton confirming that the business has been placed into liquidation.

Long-time Africa expert Hamilton joined Swagman almost a decade ago as its 70% majority shareholder (TD 13 Apr 2012), and significantly expanded the operator’s portfolio to encompass India, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and South America.

More recently the ATAS-accredited and AFTA member company, which has been in operation for 30 years, had pivoted to also offer trips in Australia and New Zealand.

However in a heartfelt message sent to industry partners late on Fri, Hamilton advised that “we fought a good fight but just could not see the light at the end of the tunnel”.

Geelong-based Scott Andersen from Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants has been appointed as liquidator.

“Swagman has been a great passion since me joining them as Managing Director and majority shareholder, but sadly comes to an end today,” Hamilton said.

“I have enjoyed many years of both business and personal relationships…today one door closes for us all,” he added.

Hamilton paid tribute to his fellow shareholder and director Soula-Jane Burgess as well as Marketing Manager Treacey Dowd-Hamilton for the “outstanding job they have both done to continue to operate Swagman and try and keep the business going through this pandemic”.

“I know this is a terrible blow, and a tragic end to not only my business, but my whole passion and career, we are truly devastated, we have fought for so long to keep it going.

“This pandemic has wrecked so many lives and businesses, all of which has been completely out of our control,” Hamilton added.

The post Swagman Tours to close appeared first on Travel Daily .

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Thomas Cook travel company forced into liquidation

Hundreds of thousands of holiday-makers are being flown back home after the collapse of Travel Agent Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook has gone into administration, after 11th hour talks to bring the company back from the brink of financial collapse, failed, and put 22,000 jobs at risk worldwide.

The head of the world's oldest travel company announced on Monday it had entered into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect.

Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser said he failed to secure emergency funding from creditors.

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