Tour operators can now “legally” not return money for trips?!

In Russia, tourism services are provided by tour operators and travel agencies. It is important to understand the difference between them. A tour operator directly works with the formation of a tour (concludes contracts with carriers and hotels, develops a route, etc.), and a travel agency distributes vouchers. A tour operator, as a rule, offers tours only from its set, and a travel agency can work with different tour operators.

When choosing a vacation trip route, the travel agency must provide information about the tour operator that created the specific tour. A claim, if the services provided turn out to be of poor quality, can be submitted to both the travel agency and the tour operator.

Where to go

The first thing to do in such a situation is to complain about non-compliance with consumer rights and legislation to the company’s management, using the contact information that is printed in the contract for the provision of tourism services or posted on its official website.

If this does not bring a positive result, the complaint should be sent to the following authorities:

1. Federal Agency for Tourism.
2. Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
3. Rospotrebnadzor.
4. Prosecutor's office.
5. Court.

Attention! Read the article on how to properly file an official complaint against a tour operator.

Terms of consideration

If the client submits a complaint directly to the tour operator, it is necessary to have two copies of it with him. One will remain with the company, and the second will remain with the client. On the latter, the authorized specialist will put a stamp and signature, which will indicate that the papers have been accepted.

From the moment of submitting the documents, the travel agency has ten days to make its final verdict. If there is no response after this period or the answer is negative, the client has every right to appeal to higher authorities.

Federal Agency for Tourism

Rostourism is a federal executive body where a consumer can complain about a tour operator in the following ways:

1. By postal service, sending a registered letter with notification to the address: Russia, 101000 Moscow, st. Myasnitskaya, 47. If necessary, and to confirm the arguments set out in the document, the relevant materials or copies thereof can be attached to the claim.
2. At a personal reception held by the head of the Federal Tourism Agency or his deputy at the address: Russia, Moscow, st. Myasnitskaya, 47 (public reception). You can make an appointment every Wednesday from 10.00 to 17.00 by calling (495) 607-76-80. If the stated facts and circumstances turn out to be obvious (i.e. there is no need for subsequent verification and sending requests to other authorities), then the response to the appeal can be given orally during a personal reception. In other cases, the answer to the question posed is submitted in writing and within the period prescribed by law. Personal appointment time, as a rule, does not exceed 15-20 minutes.
3. By e-mail
4. On the Rostourism website via the form russiatourism.ru/feedback. After indicating your data and contact information, you should select “Complaint” as the type of complaint and in a special field (“Message”) write the name of the tour operator and succinctly describe the current situation that prompted you to contact the Agency to protect your rights and interests.

Application form Application form

Important! When submitting an online application, the user will not be able to attach additional materials to the form. If available, it is better to choose another available method of appealing against the actions of the travel company.

What to include with your complaint

To achieve a favorable decision, the tourist must attach to his complaint as much evidence as possible that it is truly justified.

These may include:

• originals and copies of documents that are relevant to the case (including tickets, hotel room reservation receipts, checks, and so on);
• written testimony of witnesses (very often these are other tourists who traveled on the same program);
• any photo, video and audio materials that confirm the words of the author of the complaint.

If documents are submitted electronically, when sending non-text files, you must adhere to the requirements of the resource through which the transfer is carried out.

Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

Due to the fact that the Ministry of Culture is authorized to carry out legal regulation and supervision of the activities of tourism companies, to protect their rights and interests, a citizen can contact this federal body through the following communication channels:

1. By mail, sending a letter to the address: 125993, GSP-3, Moscow, Maly Gnezdnikovsky lane, 7/6, building 1, 2. The received document will be registered and considered on the merits of the facts provided within 3 days. The response will be sent by email or Russian Post.
2. At a personal reception, which is held in Maly Gnezdnikovsky lane, in the building 7/6, building 1, 2 without prior registration on a first-come, first-served basis from Monday to Thursday according to the schedule from 10.00 to 16.00 (on Friday - until 15.00) including lunch break from 12.00 to 13.00.
3. A written complaint against a tour operator can be dropped into a box installed in the lobby of the Ministry of Culture. Reception and registration of such requests and applications is carried out by an employee on weekdays from 10.00 to 13.00 through the public reception.
4. By fax. This method should not be used for voluminous complaints when a large package of additional materials and other evidence of violations by the tour operator is provided.
5. Online on the website of the Ministry of Culture mkrf.ru. Having selected “General Questions” as the subject of the complaint, the user will have to fill out an electronic complaint form and select the method that is convenient for him to receive a response (by mail or email). In the form you will need to write personal data, contact phone number, feedback information and describe in detail the essence of the complaint, indicating the circumstances of the current situation. In this case, the citizen must provide information about the tour operator who violated the law or consumer rights. Using the “Attach File” button, you can attach additional materials in certain electronic formats of no more than 5 MB to the complaint.

Online complaint against a tour operator Online complaint against a tour operator

Attention! Electronic requests are sent only by filling out a special form.

Who will be responsible for poor quality tourism services?

As a general rule, even when purchasing a tour through a travel agency, the tour operator is still responsible for its quality. The travel agency in this case is an intermediary and is responsible only for the money that is its remuneration for the sale of a tour package (usually from 10 to 30% of its cost). And it doesn’t matter what you paid to the travel agency, it transfers most of this money to the tour operator, who forms the tourism product itself. These conditions are usually specified in the contract.

One of the few reasons when a claim should be lodged with a travel agency is their late payment for your tour to the tour operator. Such a maneuver by a travel agency may well cost you an increase in the price of your trip or a deterioration in its quality. In order to establish this, you need to request information about the timing of payment for your tour to the tour operator and the timing (you can also ask the tour operator itself) when you paid the travel agency.

Rospotrebnadzor

For the protection of consumer rights in the tourism services market, a citizen can also contact Rospotrebnadzor. Depending on your capabilities and the availability of additional materials that can be used to analyze the current situation, you should complain:

• By phone. In this case, it will be necessary to verbally explain what became the subject of disagreement with the tour operator, what actions were taken to resolve the issue, and obtain up-to-date information about the use of available methods of protecting consumer rights.
• At a personal reception with an official of Rospotrebnadzor, guided by the current work schedule and the location of the reception rospotrebnadzor.ru/index.php/upravlenie/priemnaya. During such a visit, the answer may be given orally if the facts provided and the information available are sufficient to consider the merits of the case.
• By Russian post, sending a complaint to the address 127994, Moscow, Vadkovsky lane, 18, building 5 and 7.

Legal advice: it is better to send a registered letter with notification in order to have confirmation that the correspondence was delivered to the addressee.

• On the Department’s website through a special function designed for submitting online applications. Depending on the situation and the goal that the consumer has set for himself, he has the right to complain without authorization or with authorization to the ESIA, which will become the basis for an unscheduled inspection. To send an online complaint, you will have to fill out a detailed form rospotrebnadzor.ru/petition/, providing Rospotrebnadzor with all the necessary information to consider the case and make a decision: personal data, address of registration/residence, fax or email address. Having selected the structural unit to which the claim will be sent, the user must clearly and concisely describe the situation when the company that provided the tourism service violated his rights, the terms of the contract or the current law (the name of the tour operator should be indicated in the text and the relevant details of the legal entity should be written). You can also attach additional materials to the form (copies of receipts, service agreement, cash receipts, etc.) using the “Attach document” function.

To which authorities does it make sense to complain and what to expect?

If you have complaints about the quality of the tourism product itself (trip, transfer, flight, etc.), then you can complain about the travel agency/tour operator to the following authorities:

• Court (more on that below);
• Rospotrebnadzor (receives complaints about any violations of consumer rights);
• Rostourism (direct supervisory authority);
• Association of Tour Operators (a non-profit association of the country's leading tour operators, which sometimes really helps solve problems with them).

If there are any violations regarding payment for your tour, you can contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office.

I personally encountered a situation where several dozen people suffered from the actions of a regional travel agency. The director simply collected money from everyone and did not transfer it to the tour operator. The investigation reached the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the UBEP and the PC.

Prosecutor's office

In case of serious violations, when the activities of the tour operator fall under the provisions of the Administrative or Criminal Code (for example, in the case of obvious fraud), he must contact the Prosecutor's Office to protect his rights and interests. Based on such a statement, a prosecutor's investigation will be carried out, as a result of which the perpetrator will suffer the punishment prescribed by law. This method of appeal should be used only if the victim has evidence confirming the company’s illegal actions, and he was unable to resolve the conflict without the intervention of regulatory authorities.

You can contact the Prosecutor's Office with a complaint about the actions of a travel agency:

1. By mail, having received the details for sending a letter on the page genproc.gov.ru/contacts/map/?DISTR=&SUBJ=, where contacts of all territorial divisions are indicated. If the document is sent by letter with notification, the post office will provide the client with a track number to track its movement. Residents of Moscow can send documents to the Prosecutor's Office at the address: 109992, Moscow, pl. Peasant Zastava, 1.
2. At a personal reception conducted by the prosecutor on duty. Depending on the conditions of working with citizens’ complaints, reception can be carried out by appointment or on a first-come, first-served basis. Muscovites can apply to Krestyanskaya Zastava Square at building No. 1, where they can file a complaint on a first-come, first-served basis from 9.00 to 18.00 on weekdays (on Fridays - until 16.45).
3. Online on the website. Residents of individual territorial bodies can contact the Prosecutor's Office online, which can also become the basis for an unscheduled inspection of the tour operator (for this purpose, such functionality must be introduced on the unit's website). In Moscow, this can be done via the link mosproc.ru/ipriem/iemail.php, where you must provide reliable and accurate information that will be used to review the current situation. Additional materials can be attached in electronic files of certain formats, but the total volume of such attachments should not exceed 5 MB.

Important! If the Prosecutor's Office receives an appeal on an issue the resolution of which is not within its competence, it will be forwarded to the institution or official vested with the appropriate powers.

Complaints against a tour operator/travel agency should begin with a careful reading of the contract

Many tour operators try to protect themselves as much as possible from possible customer claims by writing in the contract (or in its appendices) all the details about the tour, right down to the landscape outside the room window that you will see. This allows you to protect both the tourist and the tour operator from subjective claims and failure to fulfill obligations.

But even if the contract does not specify anything about the specific conditions of your stay on vacation, you have the right to demand exactly what you were promised. Clean room, adequate food, comfort and respectful attitude. YOU PAID FOR ALL OF THIS!

Court

If a citizen is interested in returning the funds spent on paying for the services of a tour operator, plans to receive a penalty, or is going to seek monetary compensation for moral or material damage caused, then he must contact the Justice of the Peace (if the amount of the claim is less than 50 thousand rubles) or a civil court. It is better to file a claim at your place of registration, especially if the defendant’s company is registered in another federal district. It can be done:

1. By mail (letter with notification). Details for sending can be found on the page sudrf.ru/index.php?id=300 (courts of general jurisdiction) and sudrf.ru/index.php?id=300&var=true (magistrate judges).
2. Personally submit the claim and additional materials to the office, presenting an identity card (this can be done by the representative of the plaintiff if he has the appropriate document representing his interests in the initiated process).

You will need to submit to the court:

• a claim drawn up in accordance with the norms of current legislation;
• receipt of payment of state duty;
• a copy of the claim that was submitted to the tour operator;
• a copy of the service agreement;
• other materials that may indicate non-illegal actions of the defendant.

Based on the documents presented, the court may refuse or satisfy the plaintiff’s claim (in part or in full). Moreover, if he used the help of a lawyer who prepared documents or represented his interests during the trial, then the costs of paying for such services may be borne by the defendant.

Drawing up a complaint

A complaint against a tour operator can be made in free form. The document must comply with the basic rules provided for formal business style. Personal insults and unfounded accusations should be avoided. The tourist should be as concise and logically consistent as possible (especially if the tour operator has committed more than one violation).

The text of the complaint itself should include the following details:

• full name of the travel company against which the complaint is being made;
• all basic information about the author of the document (full name, address, contact information);
• Title of the document;
• information about the services that, in accordance with the contract, the tour operator was supposed to provide (it is necessary to describe them in the smallest detail: on what dates, in what cities, hotels, in what transport, under what conditions and for what price);
• information about what exactly the violation (or violations) committed by the tour operator was. It would be ideal if the client indicates which specific clauses of the contract and/or legal provisions were violated;
• client requirements;
• request to restore justice in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation;
• list of attached documents;
• date and signature.

Some authorities or travel companies may even provide the client with a ready-made form to fill out a complaint, however, if he decides to draw up the document himself, it is better to be guided by this example.

The legislative framework

To appeal the actions of a tour operator, return money spent or receive compensation for moral or material damage caused, you should be guided by the following legislative acts:

1. Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” No. 59-FZ dated May 2, 2006.
2. Federal Law “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation” N 132-FZ dated November 24, 1996. (ed. December 28, 2016).
3. Federal Law "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation" N 2202-1-F dated January 17, 1992. (as amended on July 29, 2017).
4. Civil Code of the Russian Federation N 14-FZ dated January 26, 1996. (as amended on March 28, 2017).
5. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation N 63-ФЗ dated June 13, 1996. (as amended on July 18, 2017).

What can you expect if you want to file a claim for a poor quality tour?

1. Compensation for damages and forced expenses;
2. A proportionate reduction in the price of the tour;
3. Free elimination of deficiencies in the services provided;
4. Penalty of 3% of the order price for each day of delay if your requirements have not been met;
5. Compensation for moral damage (it was inflicted on you, right?);
6. Fine under Part 6 of Article 13 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights” - for refusing to satisfy your demands voluntarily.

Just don’t think that you can just call a travel agency and they will immediately reimburse you for anything, or return part of the money back... To prove that you are right, you need to try...