Client rights
─ Hello, dear editors!
Please help me figure out this issue. The fact is that you cannot get through to tour operators, it is impossible to get an answer. And we do not understand how we should be ?!
Even before the pandemic began, we bought a ticket. Not only that now we have to put up with a bunch of restrictions imposed, but also the operator announced a possible change of the airline we will fly, and possibly a change in the day and time of the flight. Tell me, do the operators have the right to do this? And in what case can we claim compensation?
Irina T, Mönchen-Gladbach.
─ Dear Irina!
A specific airline, if one is agreed upon at the conclusion of the contract, is an integral part of it. This means that the tour operator has no right to change essential clauses of the contract without the consent of the client and the contract partner.
If the general conditions of the contract provide that the tour operator has the right to unilaterally change the airline or the date and time of the flight, then the client’s rights depend on how much the service in the modified form still remains within the agreed and desired by you as a client. As a rule, the service does not meet the agreed service, the new airline is much worse in terms of service or safety than the original one.
Exclusively a change in the flight time, as a rule, does not constitute a significant change in the contract, since the day of departure and arrival is recorded in principle as a day on the road. The situation looks different if your return flight is postponed to a very early time of the day and your night rest is almost completely lost.
In a ruling dated December 10, 2013, the German Federal Court ruled that many of the contractual provisions allowing the tour operator to change flight times and minimize their liability for their quality are invalid.
If a significant part of the package of tourist services cannot be provided, for example, sightseeing of central attractions is not available, this is a significant deviation from the contract.
There are no precedent court rulings on the corona virus measures, in particular the obligation on holidaymakers to wear masks while on holiday on site or on their way to the beach.
In principle, it should be said that, depending on the circumstances of a particular case, it should be individually considered whether the changes in the proposed trip are so significant that they significantly affect the quality, essence and basic data of the agreed product.
If the answer is yes, then you have the rights provided by law in connection with the violation of the contractual conditions, in particular the right to reduce the cost of the trip or the right to terminate the contract indefinitely without paying a penalty.
It is important to immediately state your claim, notify the tour operator of your disagreement, or existing violations, if you are already at the holiday destination.
The tour operator has the right to provide you with an absolutely equivalent alternative. If you do not agree with its equivalence, then there is an opportunity to terminate the contract before the start of the trip or use the trip, requesting a price reduction. Price reductions vary on average from 5 to 25 percent of the cost per day, depending on the severity of the violations.
The voiced legal assessment is not a consultation and does not replace it, since such is possible only with knowledge of the circumstances of a particular case.
Ksenia KRUG, lawyer,
Schanzenstraße 102, 40549 Düsseldorf,
info@krug-recht.de,
0211 16377014,
www.rechtsanwalt-krug-duesseldorf.de
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