Travelers considering booking without a travel advisor should be aware of the risks.
A recent report in Travel Weekly laid bare the struggles many travelers face when trying to get a refund on canceled bookings.
According to the report, Miami-based OTA Kiwi.com is the subject of numerous complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau. Customer grievances include refund delays and a lack of responsiveness, earning the company a grade of "F" from the bureau.
"Answering complaints is very important, and businesses must respond in order to maintain a good BBB rating," a BBB national spokesperson told Travel Weekly. "If we keep seeing the same complaint over and over, we'll reach out to the business. It's always our goal to help businesses be better, but they have to be willing to work with us. If they don't resolve the underlying problem that led to the pattern of complaint, their rating will quickly fall from a D or even an F."
For its part, Kiwi.com issued an apology.
"The pandemic has, of course, hit the whole industry incredibly hard, whether you are an airline, a travel agent or an airport-the extraordinary levels of requests for refunds has sadly impacted greatly on customer satisfaction for all involved, and there is not an airline or an agent currently who is not experiencing a public backlash," a spokesperson for Kiwi.com said in a statement. "We sincerely apologize for the unprecedented delays and thank our customers for their patience as we continue to work with airlines to obtain their refunds and manage every individual case to get what they are entitled to."
While travelers should understand that many travel-related businesses are under extreme financial pressure at the moment, this report highlights the importance of finding and booking with experts and the advantages that befall those who do.
Booking with a travel advisor doesn't mean that you will receive immediate refunds, but the relationships that advisors have with companies and within the industry could prove useful in preventing trip cancelation in the future. Travel advisors are a valuable resource and stand as an advocate for their clients when things go wrong.
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