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KEY FACTS ABOUT THIS REGULATION
The following is a
guide to the way a judge or an arbitrator will deal with a claim for compensation:
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When
you make a business or holiday booking (usually when you get a confirmation
/invoice/ transportation ticket, hotel vouchers etc..) , This is a legally binding
contract with the travel agent , tour operator, airline etc.. - the company
that has taken care of your travel arrangements. The Consumer
protection legislation stipulates that you have the right to expect
what you booked and paid for. You
should make sure to have all the details, terms and conditions of the
services you are being offered and booking. The travel agent/ tour operator is liable for
all the services - car hire, accommodation, flights, etc - as long
as they were part of the package the company arranged for you.
-
There may be many reasons to entitle you to file a complaint and claim
compensation, but for example , bad weather or simply a wrong choice
of holiday for you, and things beyond the tour operator’s control.
-
You have a legal
duty to prove that the travel agent, tour operator, airline
etc.., has broken the terms of the services contract. These are known as
‘express’ or ‘implied’ terms. Examples
of express terms are : the brochure promises full board or water-skiing,
say. Implied terms are those which aren’t spelt out in the contract.
For example, the holiday was not up to standard , as promised
and for the price you paid.
-
To qualify for
compensation you must then prove that you have suffered a loss as
a direct result of a breach of the contract. This is not always
a straightforward process.
-
H ow much compensation
you can reasonably expect (if any), depends on the extent to which
you were prevented from travelling and/or enjoying the holiday. It’s not an exact science.
The law expects you to act reasonably when faced with a problem and
when
looking for things to be sorted out
-
If you have a
complaint about the quality of goods and services you have a legal
duty to ‘mitigate’ your loss - that means taking all reasonable steps
to minimise the disruption to your enjoyment of the holiday/travel. Your
claim may not succeed if you didn’t complain as soon as possible on
the spot while in resort and give the travel agent
representative, tour operator , airline or any other supplier every reasonable
opportunity to put things right, or if you didn’t accept any reasonable
attempts by the company to sort out the problem at the time.
-
Compensation claims
can have three components, although your complaint may not fall into
every category:
-
a) Loss of value: the difference between the value of the holiday
you paid for and the one you actually got
b) Out-of-pocket expenses: refund of any reasonable expenses you incurred
as a result of the breach of contract
c)
Delay and/or Loss of enjoyment: something to compensate for denied
boarding, disappointment
and distress caused by things that went wrong, that is not as
per contract.
-
With
regards to a holiday package , where ‘disappointment’
and ‘distress’ form part of the claim, there is little guidance for
arbitrators or judges to help them work compensation levels. They
will weigh up all the evidence to see if the company has broken the
law, but will also look to see if you have acted reasonably. You must work
out the amount that represents the proportion of the holiday that
was a failure. If, for example, you spent two days sorting out a problem
(eg, an unsatisfactory room) it may be appropriate to base a claim
for compensation on the proportion of the accommodation part of the
holiday which was ‘lost’
-
Remember that
it’s rare to get the whole holiday cost back. Only if the holiday
was a total disaster from start to finish or if your disappointment
and expenses were substantial can you expect a full refund or more.
Also remember, if you’ve already accepted compensation in resort,
you can’t usually reopen your complaint when you get home.
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COMPLAINING
FATTA provides assistance
to you if you have a complaint against companies that are members of our
Association.
The quality of the holidays and services provided by companies members
of FATTA is
crucial to the reputation of the industry - Tour operators and travel
agents are responsible for the sale of the vast majority of package
holidays as stipulated and regulated by the " Package Travel
Directive".
When you
seek
our assistance regarding a possible complaint :
-
We need to see
all the documentation. This includes confirmation invoice, relevant
parts of the brochure containing descriptions of the holiday, and
copies of all relevant correspondence
-
We will immediately
make a record of your complaint
-
We aim to reply
to you within 7 working days
We will deal
without any prejudice directly
and informally with you and with the Travel agent or tour operators
if this company ONLY if this is a member of our Association.
We may be able
to help you settle your dispute by bringing you and our member together.
If this doesn’t work, you could send full details to our Consumer Affairs
Department (see ‘Contact Details’).
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CONTACT DETAILS
FATTA
For more information from FATTA
address correspondence
to :
The Administrative
Secretary
e-mail:admin@fatta.org
Tel/ Fax 21 238614
CONSUMER
AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
4,
Old mint Street
Valletta
Tel:
21 227070
For
complaints regarding Air Passenger rights:
Refer to the notice issued by the Department of Civil Aviation in
Malta
Click here to read Notice:
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