When Thomas Cook suddenly went out of business, the chaos that ensued was unprecedented. Travelers, travelers-to-be, and employees were in disarray. Today MyChargeBack presents you with the situation as it currently stands, as well as options for getting your money back, should that be relevant for you.
Thomas Cook was one of the world’s first and oldest travel agencies. It operated in one form or another continuously for nearly two centuries. Everything came crashing down, however, on September 23, 2019. Whether the end was sudden or not depends on how closely you’ve been paying attention. But it was certainly sudden enough to strand hundreds of thousands of travelers overseas with no clear way of getting home.
A Very Impressive Operation
The British government stepped in to perform possibly the greatest peacetime repatriation in the country’s (and perhaps the world’s) history. From the point of view of logistics and responsibility, it was a very impressive operation.
Other government bodies and private companies are stepping in as well. They aim to ensure the tens of thousands of suddenly unemployed Thomas Cook employees will be able to rejoin the workforce as quickly as possible.
Finally, there are hundreds of thousands of people who purchased and paid for upcoming holiday packages that are now cancelled. They, of course, all need their money back. But how exactly is that going to happen? The British government website provides the following advice:
Passengers with ATOL protection who are yet to travel are entitled to a full refund on any future bookings. Customers without ATOL protection should speak to their credit card provider or the company they booked their holiday with. You can also speak to your travel insurance provider to see if you are able to claim back any of their costs.
What Is ATOL?
ATOL is a British acronym that stands for Air Travel Organiser’s Licence. It’s a scheme that gives consumers certain protections regarding holiday packages involving air travel. Figuring out whether your specific case qualifies for protection might be easier said than done. Especially considering the deluge of cases that are now pouring in. But assuming you do get through and get the bad news that you’re not covered, what now?
The government’s advice to contact your credit card company is almost charmingly naive and optimistic. Your credit card company (or more precisely, the bank that issued your card to you) is very knowledgeable and efficient at dealing with chargebacks involving unauthorized transactions. Those are purchases made without your knowledge, such as with a stolen card or stolen data. But they can be uninformed (not to mention suspicious) regarding authorized transactions in which the contracted goods or services were not provided.
Don’t Let Scammers Take Advantage of You
This situation has created the perfect opening for a group of professional criminals operating holiday scams. They have begun calling, emailing and texting customers promising easy refunds. All you have to do is give them your credit card number and security code, and they’ll take care of the rest. If you fall for it, they have all the information they need to steal massive sums of money from you. Plus, of course, you didn’t get the holiday expenses back
This is where we step in. MyChargeBack is an international financial services firm with a truly global clientele. We have helped thousands of consumers worldwide recover millions of dollars over the last three years.
If you’re a Thomas Cook victim residing outside of the United Kingdom who needs help getting your booking fees refunded, contact us today for a free fund recovery consultation.
