AK Kärnten wins lawsuit against German tour operator

Due to the Corona travel warning, a woman from Carinthia canceled her trip to Turkey in August 2020. The provider from Germany not only withheld the deposit, but also sued the woman for a cancellation fee of 1.800 euros.

A holiday in Turkey that never took place turned into a bureaucratic odyssey for a woman from Carinthia. At the time the trip started, there was a travel warning for Turkey in Austria, which is why the consumer canceled the vacation. The travel provider from Germany insisted that he could withhold the deposit of almost 600 euros, because Germany no longer had a travel warning for Turkey at the time of the planned vacation. And that's not all: The provider canceled the trip at a cost and demanded an 80 percent cancellation fee and initiated a dunning procedure in Germany - 1.800 euros should be paid by the woman.

The woman turned to the consumer protection of the AK Kärnten with her case. She had a total of around 2.400 euros to lose. "According to our legal view, neither the withholding of the deposit nor the 80 percent cancellation fee was legal, which is why we took action," explains AK consumer advocate Herwig Höfferer.

In 2021, the AK raised an objection to the dunning procedure in Germany, with success. In Germany, the case against the Carinthian woman was discontinued. "And then Austrian law came into play," explains Höfferer and explains: "We took the position that the woman was also entitled to the down payment of around 600 euros. So we sued the provider and got right. The woman does not incur any costs for the journey that she never took!”

"If you are unsure or have questions about travel issues, every Carinthian can contact the experts of the AK consumer protection! Our service is free of charge,” says AK President Günther Goach.