Travelers, agencies feud over trip cancellation

By Kim Rahn

Travelers have locked horns with travel agencies over obtaining refunds for cancelling trips to Japanese cities in the aftermath of the natural disaster there.

Tour companies are refusing demands for full refunds to apply to all Japanese regions, saying places relatively less affected by the earthquake could still be accessed.

Since the earthquake and tsunami caused much destruction in Japan last Friday, travel agencies have been flooded with calls to cancel trips to Japan.

However, the lack of clear regulations governing the cancellations of trips to cities hit by a natural disaster is intensifying the battle between travelers and tour agencies.

Hana Tour, the nation’s largest agency, said all 200 customers who booked trips to Tokyo over last weekend gave up going there.

While agencies refunded tour programs to the northeastern part of the main island of Honshu, which was hit hardest by the quake, many of them instituted punitive cancellation fees for programs to other parts of Japan, drawing criticism from customers.

A customer who booked a trip to Hokkaido between March 17 and 19 posted an article on the website of Mode Tour, another large-sized travel agency, on March 13, denouncing the agency’s refund policy.

“We were watching the news and the damage was getting worse and worse, even with the threat of radioactive materials leaking. In this situation do you think a normal trip to Japan is possible? We called you to make a cancellation and get a refund, and you said Hokkaido was safe so you would charge a cancellation fee. How can you can say it is safe to travel there, when the whole country is in panic and suffering aftershocks?”

The customer continued, “How will you compensate travelers if anything bad happens as you push ahead with the trip? If I cancel the trip for personal reasons, I should pay the fee. But if it is because of such a massive natural disaster, I think you should return all the money.”

A Mode Tour staff said the agency is refunding fully for Tokyo and northeastern Honshu programs but is still selling programs to other regions such as Hokkaido.

“Some customers are going to those regions as scheduled, while others cancel in fear. For the latter, we charge cancellation fees as stated in our regulations,” she said.

She said the agency doesn’t profit from the fees but has to collect them because of contracts with airlines and hotels.

“We connect customers with hotels and airlines, which charge us fees if customers cancel their trips without enough notice. So, if airlines operate flights despite the natural disaster, we have to charge customers,” the staff said.

Currently, airlines operating between the two countries ― Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways ― aren’t charging cancellation fees, but whether this applies to all Japanese cities or only specific cities in Honshu, and for how long differ according to each airline.

“There are no specific rules on refunds in such situations: Right after the recent quake in New Zealand, we refunded fully even though airlines operated. We deal with it case by case, according to protocol set by the airlines and considering the emotional shock,” the staff said.

여행자들과 여행사, 여행 취소 둘러싸고 갈등

일본 지진의 여파로 일본 여행을 취소하려는 여행자들이 환불을 놓고 여행사와 마찰을 빚고 있다. 여행사들이 지진의 영향을 덜 받은 지역은 여행이 가능하다며 전액 환불을 거절하고 있기 때문이다.

지난 금요일 지진과 쓰나미가 일본을 강타한 이후로 여행사들에는 일본 여행 취소 전화가 쇄도하고 있지만, 천재지변을 당한 곳의 여행 취소에 관한 규정이 모호해서 갈등이 일어나고 있다.

여행사들은 주 피해지역인 혼슈의 동북부 지역의 여행상품에 대해서는 전액 환불을 하고 있지만, 대부분의 여행사들이 다른 지역에 대해서는 취소 수수료를 물고 있다.

3월 17일에서 19일까지 모두투어에 호카이도 여행을 예약했던 한 여행자는 여행사 홈페이지에 “뉴스를 보고 있는데 피해가 점점 커지고 방사능 물질 노출 위험까지 있다고 하더군요. 이런 상황에서 정상적인 여행이 가능하다고 생각하십니까? 취소하려고 전화를 했더니, 호카이도는 안전한 곳이어서 취소 수수료를 받겠다고 하더군요. 나라가 통째로 공황상태에 빠지고 여진이 일어나는 상황인데 어떻게 여행해도 안전하다고 할 수가 있습니까?”라는 글을 올렸다.

그 여행자는 또 “여행을 강행시켜서 무슨 일이 생기면 어떻게 보상할겁니까? 개인적 이유로 취소한다면 당연히 취소 수수료를 내야하지만 이런 천재지변에 의한 것이면 전액 환불해야 한다고 생각합니다”라고 말했다.

모두투어 관계자는 “계획한대로 여행을 떠나는 분들도 있고, 불안감에 취소하는 분들도 있다. 후자에 대해서는 규정대로 취소 수수료를 물고 있다”고 말했다.

이 관계자는 수수료로 여행사가 이익을 챙기는 것이 아니라 항공사와 호텔에 수수료를 줘야 하기 때문이라고 말한다. “우리는 손님들과 항공사와 호텔을 연결해주는 역할을 하는데, 항공사나 호텔은 갑자기 여행을 취소하는 경우 수수료를 물고 있다. 따라서 천재지변이 있더라도 비행기가 취소되지 않고 운행하는 한 수수료를 받을 수 밖에 없다”고 덧붙였다.