In 2019, Dave Russell finished 40 years in the army, and he and his wife Christine were ready to celebrate the best way they know how – by going on a series of cruises.
The couple booked three Carnival cruises through travel agent Defence Escapes, an agency that promotes itself as offering the best deals for serving and non-serving service personnel.
“We booked a whole heap of voyages during 2019, to cruise from August of 2020, to celebrate my husband finishing his service in the army after 40 years. This was our celebratory, ‘lets go and do a big trip’,” Christine Russell told Cruise Passenger.
However, the celebrations did not unfold as planned.
The couple booked a number of cruises, accommodation and internal flights in America. But when the pandemic hit, like hundreds of thousands of cruisers, their plans were put on the back burner.
“Then obviously, the world got a cold – it all got cancelled.”
Mrs Russell understood her refund might not come straight away, but did not anticipate the upcoming struggle that she faced two years from when they booked their dream holiday.
“We got formal confirmation in May of 2020 that everything had been cancelled, so I sent the travel agent an email asking ‘Can you cancel everything, we’d like our money back, we don’t know when we’ll be able to get to the States’ and so on.
“I remember my very first email to her, I said ‘I understand it’s going to take a bit of time for the refunds to come back, that’s all good’.”
“It was back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and now we have radio silence. She will not respond to any emails, calls, texts, nothing. We haven’t even heard from her since late 2020 or early 2021.”
Currently, the Russells are $25,000 out of pocket.
“The one big trip was about $23,000 and we also had deposits for another cruise, which are also lost.
“The three cruises she booked alone were about $18,000. We have written confirmation from Carnival that a deposit of $250 was the only money paid to them and that was reimbursed to her in October of 2020.
“I’ve also contacted the two hotels we were meant to stay at in America and neither of them had been paid either.”
Mrs Russell has not taken the situation lightly, fighting through multiple avenues to try and get her money back.
“I’ve gone to Fair Trading, I’ve contacted the ACCC, I’ve contacted the consumer law centre here in Canberra. The Fair Trading in Canberra contacted her on our behalf early this year and she told them that she hadn’t got any of the money back.
“After she told Fair Trading she hadn’t got the money back, they told us they couldn’t go any further and couldn’t help us.”
The missing money has also had repercussions on the pair’s broader financial circumstances, with the couple being forced to draw down on their mortgage and seek additional work.
“It’s horrendous. You can’t help that the trip got cancelled, the world got sick, we couldn’t do anything that’s fine. Not long ago we had bought a house (in early 2020), so we decided to do some renovations, thinking that money would come back. But because we’ve never seen a cent of our refund, we’ve had to withdraw money from our mortgage to pay for the renovations.
“Dave, now in the army reserves, has had to go and look for work, doing extra days to try and recoup some of these funds, because we haven’t got it back.
“The stress is just, you can’t even explain it.”
For now, Mrs Russell is left to keep following up with government agencies and consult with consumer advocate Adam Glezer, and heartbreakingly, has been left doubting her and her husbands future with cruise and travelling.
“We love cruising. We’ve done it for a number of years, it’s our time when we’re together, we’re relaxed and it’s fun. It’s time away from reality.
“Now I don’t know if it’ll ever be the same. Until we get our money back, that’ll always be in the back of our minds.
I work full-time, because I have to. But Dave should be able to enjoy his pension, which he can’t. We just want to know what’s happening and get our money back.”
It has destroyed Mrs Russell’s trust in travel agents. “I will never ever use a travel agent again. How am I going to trust anybody booking a trip again, it’s hurt a lot. If we want to travel, we need to save really damn hard.
“I’ve left her voice messages effectively in tears, begging for her to give us our money back. I’ve said we are not going to be unreasonable, we know you’ll be struggling as well. Pay in instalments, tell us what’s going, be transparent and let us know what you’re planning on doing. Not telling us what you’re doing isn’t getting anyone anywhere.
“I’m at a loss that somebody could do that to somebody.”
Mrs Russell had also previously recommended her travel agent to friends, who have now suffered the same fate as her.
“We’re not the only people in this. I know at least four or five other people, if not more, who the travel agent has done this too as well.
“I feel guilty because we recommended her as a great travel agent to other people. I think that’s why I’m fighting so hard for all of us, I guess I feel like I need to. To try and get their money back as well.
“That on top of everything else, hurts a lot.”
Cruise Passenger has reached out to Defence Escapes but has yet to receive a response.
According to the Defence Escapes website: “We have been tirelessly working on getting refunds for our clients without any income to the business, $0. We thank our clients for their patience as it has not been easy for them.
“As we are all aware, travel was the first effected by the pandemic and will be the last to recover. Refunds from suppliers around the world have been extremely slow and still a lot to come. Australian travellers had at least 4 billion dollars invested in forward booked holidays when our borders were closed. We understand at least a billion is still outstanding.
“We are in process of rebuilding a new website with up to date tours along with new Ts & Cs to reflect this new era of post COVID 19 travel.”
And it adds: “If you have confidence in committing your hard earned to a holiday in the future and your booked travel is cancelled due to COVID 19 border rule changes domestically or internationally, you must be prepared to, at minimum, to expect those funds spent to go into credit or a very long wait for a refund.”
Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion said: “What I find particularly disappointing is that the agent blamed Carnival for not returning Christine’s funds when it appears they were holding the majority of them the entire time.
The problem for travel agents is they have probably been paid (or deducted) their commission and spent it paying running expenses. So the cruise line only refunds the fare LESS the commission back to the agent. Then the agent hasn’t got the rest to put with it. So it stalls.
As before, that’s not the passenger’s problem. That’s the cruise line’s problem.
This is a sad story, but why has it caused them financial hardship? Weren’t they always planning to part ways with the $25k? They simply couldn’t go on their cruises.
We are in the same situation waiting on a refund from inspiring vacations. They have offered us a credit but my husband has since developed health problems and we are unable to go on any holiday.a lot of money was paid for 2 trips and we need our money back.
I feel very bad for these poor people, but surely when you commit to this kind of costly trip don’t you take out the insurance offered? Also the story never says she paid any deposit except $250 which was refunded. The article just says she is out if pocket x amount. Isn’t it usual to pay a deposit and the balance thre to four months before the actual event?
Wow, so terrible for you both I hope you get it back soon.
Contact a local tv station in the state where the travel agent does business. Inquire about an investigative reporter. Give that person all pertinent info and they will investigate free of charge, they will also publish an article in the local newspaper about the agency. You’ll see how quickly they respond. It worked for me. Good luck.
Go on current Affair on channel nine. Tracie will light a fire under the travel agency………
When the bookings were made, the Client must have received booking confirmations with booking number, stateroom number, payment schedule, etc. With that confirmation number contact Carnival cruise line directly. Otherwise there is something no right with the booking process.
Hope they get their money back as it appears the company has not lodged with cruise lines. This said, I’m not sure how this has created hardship and requiring additional work to recoup loss. Had the holiday occurred, then the money would have been spent.
Any reason you keep knocking back my comments about cruise companies being liable for the actions of travel agents? It’s true. It’s law. Check it out. If the agent is not doing things correctly the cruise line must do whatever for the passenger and then sort out whatever with the agent.
I have had the same situation during Covid. Paid $20k up front, told my cabin had been booked. 6 months later Covid hits, the travel agent goes into liquidation, I lose $19k. Travel insurance does not cover the loss, the cruising company only received 5% of the initial funds, they refund that amount. Last time I will ever use a travel agent.
Why there was a delay in paying the cruising company I have not been informed.
Sorry to hear of their plight. There is a lot of chicanery in the cruise industry. You’re rolling the dice when you book. Is travel insurance or cancellation insurance available for these bookings? The world is full of crooks. Sadly the laws protect them and not their victims. Upon retirement, we bought a motorhome and travel in our own country and love it.
For Australians:
By law the travel agent is NOT your agent. They are the agent of the cruise line. Just look up the fine print on all agent documentation. Says it there.
That means the cruise line is liable to the passenger, no matter what. If the agent hasn’t paid up, then the cruise line MUST pay you DIRECT. If they have already given money to the their travel agent, and you have not received it, then it’s up to the cruise line PAY YOU FIRST and later on sort that out with THEIR travel agent.
I helped out my neighbours. Told the cruise line the above, they checked it out, found out it was true, and then paid up in days.
Reading the story it’s not clear where the couple are from. I assume they are Australian citizens and Mr Russet was in the Australian Army. I’ve also had to assume the agent is Australian. These facts should be stated
I don’t use agents I go direct to airlines when I fly but that’s just me
Go to A Current Affair and tell your story.
Sadly this is partly a consequence of the govt removing the requirement for agents to be licensed and bonded. Any Joe Bloggs can now open a travel agency in their bedroom if they wish. I’ve been a TA for 45 years and had my own agency for 34 years and hate seeing people’s faith in our industry hurt by rogue operators.
All good suggestions.
Here’s another which works 100% under Australian law.
1. The travel agent is NOT your agent. Get out the fine print. They are an agent of the suppliers ie the cruise company.
2. Common law of Agency says that the suppliers are responsible for the actions of their agents. No ifs, no buts. Absolute liability. If they were your agent, they can’t legally be paid commissions by the cruise line! Once there is a commission arrangement, that’s it – cruise company is liable.
3. That means, no matter what the agent or cruise line says, you can claim against the cruise line. It does not matter if the cruise line has already refunded to the travel agent. There is absolutely NOTHING that changes their liability to you for their agents. They MUST pay you DIRECT. It’s then up to the cruise line to sort out whatever between themselves and THEIR agent.
Had to explain this to Flight Center and Princess Cruises. My neighbors had received some money from the (defunct) agent, but were still owed thousands. The staff at Princess did not know the above. However once they found out I was right, they promptly refunded the missing balance of the cruise refund (including the $300pp cancellation fee Flight Center got stopped from charging by ACCC) + hotel cancellation fee + balance of their travel insurance refund. The insurance company correctly kept a nominal amount for time on risk. Princess paid that.
Good news!
We had booked a trip for 2020 which started with a few days in Hawaii in an Airbnb, Alaskan and Rocky Mountain tours, and inside passage cruise; a flight to England and some accommodation for a trip through Britain and a half world cruise to return to Australia. I also booked a weekend comedy cruise for my four daughters to celebrate one of them turning 40. I am happy to report that I have recouped every penny spent either as return cash or credit. Some of the bookings had a No cancellation policy, but still refunded (including Airbnb) because it was Covid and they didn’t want us anyway. I am happy to report that the comedy cruise is going ahead this year, and our other credits have been converted to a round-the-world cruise. Hello World was our agency and the agent kept us informed of her progress as the refunds and credits came in.
To that travel agent, if you done the right thing you would & should have paid the money to Carnival when you booked the cruise as they would hold the booking & money. We have used our agent for ten years & that is the correct procedure as we have booked with Princess who are part of Carnival & we had no problems getting our 5-6 refunds, at times slow but because Princess were holding our deposits & payments for cruises & had thousands of refunds to action.
The Fair Trading were pathetic in their dealings with that agent, they should have requested bank statements on where & when she made those bookings with Carnival. Sounds like no procedures were followed & surely the Russell’s would have documentation that the monies were paid along with details of their cruise.
Sounds like this person is starting up their business again, they shouldn’t be allowed as sounds like a few other people have been burnt.
if you paid by credit card, lodge a disputed transaction with the card issuer / bank. Otherwise, go to small claims tribunal, get a court order to have them pay the refund, and if they don’t, get a winding up order issued.
Find out where in USA the cruise line is registered for sales of rooms. Then contact the associated state’s tourism board or branch of state government that allows sales of cruise passage. I had trouble getting money back from a second party agent, until I contacted the Florida state department of commerce. Once I supplied them with all background information, it took about two weeks to get a check in the mail. I don’t know why the middle man couldn’t just refund my credit card. Good luck