You can apply to the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for reimbursement for unused trips, and the application must be completed in either Swedish or English. It takes several months to process the claim.
Travel agency Detur filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Consumers can get compensation for cancelled trips on securities stored in Sweden. The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has published on its website instructions in Finnish on how to fill in the application form.
According to Kammarkollegiet, which pays compensation, compensation must be claimed within three months of the consumer being informed of the cancellation. To be on the safe side, the FCA urges customers to apply for compensation even if three months have already passed.
However, the compensation practices in Finland and Sweden differ slightly. Kammarkollegiet does not reimburse flights only, unused Detur vouchers or vouchers. Also, trips cancelled by the traveller are not reimbursed.
In Finland, the vouchers would also be replaced, because during the corona pandemic, a law has been in force in Finland, whereby the tour operator could replace a canceled travel package with a corona voucher.
Good access to compensation
According to Vihonen, consumers have a good chance of getting compensation for a canceled trip. Detur has set a guarantee of several million euros, from which the compensation will be paid. However, Finland does not have accurate information on how many people cancel their trip in the Nordic countries.
– It is difficult to assess accurately, because we have not been responsible for guarantees for Deturi for a year, and no production information was received from the company. However, it is about several thousand passengers, says Vihonen.
Bankruptcy of a major tour operator is exceptional
The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has dealt with Deturi’s payment failures several times this year, so the company’s difficulties did not come as a surprise. A couple of years have passed since the previous similar bankruptcy. At that time, the tour operator Matkaveka ended in bankruptcy.
The consumer should pay attention if the trip is exceptionally cheap.
– It is worth paying attention to whether the customer service works, whether inquiries are answered. If a lot of complaints have been made about the company, it is a signal that not everything in the company is working.