Covid 19 coronavirus: angry parents talk about canceled trips

More parents have turned up to share their frustration over the school trips canceled due to Covid-19 after the Weekend Herald revealed yesterday that some families have received only a fraction of the money they paid to the specialist firm Student Horizons.

Parents at various Auckland schools have contacted the Herald to ask how and why Student Horizons continued to book accommodation and activities as borders around the world began to close.

Many families have lost thousands of dollars because Student Horizons has a force majeure contract clause, which releases both parties from liability and states that all monies paid are non-refundable, even in the event of unforeseen circumstances, including epidemics.

Student Horizons said Friday that despite not being contractually bound, it would try to refund part of the money.

“Our normal business terms state that all monies paid to Student Horizons are not refundable in force majeure events,” he said.

“We decided in March to temporarily relinquish those terms for the April and July 2020 travel periods and do our best to come up with options that we were not contractually obligated to do, but something that we firmly feel we wanted to do.”

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The mother of a Mt Albert Grammar student whose daughter’s visit to Europe was also canceled said she was “stunned” to read the story about the Epsom Girls Grammar situation.

Her daughter’s trip was one of three on Mt Albert Grammar affected by Covid-19.

Yesterday, she received a $ 250 refund, after the family paid more than $ 7,000 for the trip.

“It surprised me,” he said.

“I thought they had forgotten a zero.”

Her daughter was due to travel last month and paid the balance of $ 4,300 for the trip in late January.

But the principal at Mt Albert Grammar Elementary School, Patrick Drumm, said $ 250 was just the first part of the refund.

He expected about 45 percent of what students and parents paid to be reimbursed.

“We hope to recover more than $ 3,000 for those families. It may come back as credits and we will have to deal with that when it happens.”

Drumm acknowledged that the situation was particularly troublesome for the students, as many had raised the funds themselves and the trips were seen as a highlight in their last school year.

The student’s mother asked how Student Horizons was able to fully book the trip and accommodation after the final payment, when the trip was already affected and border restrictions were beginning to be established.

“How did you spend everything in a month when half of Europe was already closed?

“It’s a lot of money for nothing,” he said.

She said she understood the trip was non-refundable and that she was clearly told that when she first enrolled, but that she did not receive adequate information about the insurance policy.

The single mother said she was “furious” about the situation, adding that her daughter had worked hard at an after-school restoration job to raise money for the trip, a job that has now been suspended due to closure restrictions.

Contacted by the Herald about the situation at Mt Albert Grammar, Student Horizons CEO Jamie Wansey said: “When airlines are providing credits, we are passing these airfare credits directly to the school, in addition to cash refunds from Providers”.

Drumm said the school has not received any credit for what he knew.

He noted that dealing with a group credit would be a challenge considering that many students were in their final year of school and said the usability of a credit was “quite questionable” in today’s environment.

The school has a good relationship with Student Horizons and is confident that it will receive “direct” information from the organization, Drumm said.

He said that Mt Albert Grammar, like other schools, was following all the supposed trips that would go ahead.

“We were still looking for ways to keep the trips going until early March, and then of course it all fell apart.”

A Trade Commission spokeswoman said she received a complaint about Student Horizons on Friday, which was being evaluated.

She said the Commission had received 353 complaints about travel cancellations and refunds related to Covid-19.

According to the Commission’s Covid-19 interrupted travel, events and commercial orientation, when a contract is frustrated, the Contract Law and Commercial Law 2017 apply.

The CCL Act says that the consumer is entitled to a refund, but the company can
withhold reasonable expenses and general expenses incurred in connection with the contract.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy agreed that travel agents should retain part of the deposit to cover costs.

However, he recommended asking the agent to justify the amount withheld.

• Covid19.govt.nz – The official government Covid-19 advisory website