Travel Agency Refusing Refunds During the Coronavirus Pandemic

On June 15, 2020, consumer rights attorney, Todd Friedman spoke with NBC Los Angeles in regards to issues some customers were having with Overseas Adventure Travel.

As of April 29, 2020, Overseas Adventure Travel paused all “main” trips through the end of 2020 and cancelled “all departures of our itineraries that operate in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Mongolia through the end of 2021.” The travel agency did not offer refunds, instead extended credit towards future travel automatically rebooking “affected reservations for future departure dates in 2021”. Their policy as April 29th stated, “If you transfer to another departure date by 12/31/20, whether you already have an existing reservation or book a new one, we will waive any change fees for 2020 and 2021 reservations.” essentially sitting on their customer’s money, in some cases through the end of 2021. On June 3, 2020, after pushback and threats of legal action from some clients, Overseas Adventure Travel has changed their policy and has provided refunds to those requesting their money back in lieu of rescheduling their travel to a future date. If you are in a similar situation and would like to discuss your options with an attorney, please contact the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman to schedule a free initial consultation at 877-619-8966.