Helloworld head office did not respond to numerous requests for comment about whether the parent company had any legal or moral responsibility to help customers caught out by its franchisee going out of business.
Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion, who has contacted Helloworld on Bouronikos’ behalf, said: “I’m of the strong belief that if a customer books through a Helloworld franchise that goes bust, Helloworld head office should be taking some responsibility for it, but they just direct customers to the administrator.”
For Hamish Bowman from Sydney, it was a similar story, with months of emails assuring him that refunds from Qantas were in progress. He had booked a family trip to France with his elderly father and other family members; his father is now 86 and less mobile, so the opportunity has passed.
Hamish Bowman booked through Member Benefits Australia but the booking was actually held with a Helloworld franchise.Credit:Steven Siewert
He said Qantas later told him that not only did they never receive the money, but the travel agency made tweaks to the booking every month until the point the flight was cancelled, which had the effect of delaying the payment falling due.
But for Bowman, the situation is more complicated because he booked through a different entity, Member Benefits Australia, which he believed at the time was providing a good deal because of his connection with the University of Sydney.
Bowman said it was not disclosed at any time that the booking would actually be held by Helloworld, let alone a Helloworld franchise in suburban Melbourne, and he would not have booked if he had known that to be the case.
The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age have copies of email correspondence between Bowman and his travel agency representatives who were using a Member Benefits Australia email address. In one case the email was from travel@mbabenefits.com.au but company records reveal the name in the sign-off was that of a Helloworld Plenty Valley company director.
As late as January 2021, these emails were saying they were still “struggling to get the funds physically returned” by the suppliers.
By the time Bowman realised there was a major problem with the refund and tried to cancel the credit card payment with the bank, it was too late. His travel insurance only covered the insolvency of a travel provider such as an airline, not a travel agent.
Glezer approached Member Benefits Australia several times on Bowman’s behalf with no result. Once The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age sent questions about the role and responsibility of Member Benefits Australia, a lawyer contacted Bowman.
The letter to the Bowman family states that the company does not accept liability but would provide a full refund on the condition that they sign an agreement not to disparage or criticise the company, including “there being no mention of MBA in a proposed article in the Sydney Morning Herald”.
Bowman said he wanted the story to run despite the offer. “I think there are [too] many organisations that don’t respect consumers and only respond when they see risk for themselves,” he said.
Glezer said he would take the matter to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal if it could not be resolved beforehand.
“It is disappointing that MBA only offered to return Hamish’s funds in return for their name being removed from this article and not because they wanted to do the right thing by their customer,” Glezer said.
The official statement from Member Benefits Australia provided to this masthead says: “MBA is considering its legal position and is unable to make further comment.”
Jodi Bird, a travel expert at consumer advocacy organisation Choice, encouraged Bowman to complain to NSW Fair Trading and said the industry needed a complete overhaul of regulation to improve transparency.
“This story is similar to many we have seen during the pandemic, where Australians have paid a business for travel arrangements involving a range of other suppliers and it has been unclear where their money has gone,” Bird said.
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“Many people would also be unaware that when booking with a national travel agent brand, they are often booking with a local franchisee rather than the national business.”
Glezer said he advocated for mandatory trust accounts for travel agents to protect customers’ money.
“Lawyers need trust accounts, real estate agents need trust accounts, why do travel agents not need them?” Glezer said.
“All three of them are dealing with funds that are earmarked for a third party.”
Australian Federation of Travel Agents chief executive Dean Long said the devastating impact of the COVID international travel ban meant about a third of Australia’s travel agencies considered closing, and most did so in an orderly and appropriate way.
