Vicky Bouronikos from Melbourne is still struggling to get roughly $24,000 in refunds for an overseas trip she cancelled at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vicky told The Sydney Morning Herald she had booked a six-week family trip for four people to Greece through Helloworld Plenty Valley but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 travel ban.
The travel agency told Vicky it would organise refunds from the airline and various hotels in Greece, but she found out months later the travel providers did not have the money.
According to the newspaper, Helloworld Plenty Valley, a franchisee of large travel chain Helloworld in suburban Melbourne, ceased trading on June 30, 2021.
“[I trusted] the fact it was Helloworld – never in a million years do you think it’s going to happen with the big names,” Bouronikos told the SMH.
Helloworld head office did not respond to numerous requests for comment from the SMH about whether the parent company had any legal or moral responsibility to help customers caught out by its franchisee going out of business.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.
