37 travel agencies registered with the ERIF Register of Debtors may spoil your holidays!

The warmth of the sunlight, idyllic atmosphere of the beach, photos of sights you have visited. Is this how you want to remember your holidays? Make sure that the travel agency organising your trip is a reliable service provider. Financial credibility of tour operators may be checked in the ERIF Register of Debtors. Currently, the register includes data of 37 indebted travel agencies which may fail to perform their contractual obligations.

It is peak holiday season. Many Poles are still considering where to go on holidays and which tour operator to choose. The choice is difficult because there are many travel agencies on the market. Offers are plenty which increases the probability of a mistake. It may happen that your super deal was offered by a travel agency that will go out of business during your trip. What usually happens in such cases is that neither the hotel you are staying at nor the carrier who was supposed to take you home will receive their money. If things go really bad, you may no longer be a welcome guest. In a matter of one moment, you may be transferred together with your luggage from a luxury hotel with a swimming pool to the beach or into the street.

The fact that one should be cautious with travel agencies is also proven by the growing number of complaints received by Consumer Ombudsman Office. Only in Warsaw there were 239 complaints received in 2009.

How can you make sure then that the organiser of your dream trip does not spoil your holidays? What to do to prevent buying a trip from a company which will soon go out of business and will leave you to your own fate? It is a good idea to contact the Polish Chamber of Tourism  which is an organisation of travel industry professionals. At www.pit.org.pl there is a list of companies whose reliability is confirmed by the chamber.

Another option is to verify the tour operator in a credit information bureau. Details of a past due debt registered with a credit information bureau should flash a red light in your head. Services of such a travel agency should not be used. It may turn out that the company will become insolvent and will not transfer due payments to its foreign counterparties. For holidaymakers it will mean only trouble. Today, there are details about past due debts of as many as 37 tour operators registered with the ERIF Register of Debtors. The total amount of their outstanding past due debts nears half a million zloty (PLN 449,000). The most indebted tour operator owes its creditors in excess of PLN 101,000.

"The average debt of a tour operator registered with the ERIF Register of Debtors tops PLN 12,000. It is an amount significantly exceeding the average value of a family trip abroad," said Urszula Okarma, President of the Board of the ERIF Register of Debtors BIG SA. "Among the creditors of tour operators are both domestic companies and individuals. For example, it may happen that a customer had paid for a trip whose programme has not been implemented and the travel agency has not returned the money paid. Another possible scenario includes a tour operator which does not pay its subcontractors. In such case, the ultimate costs will again be borne by the consumer. Thus, before choosing a holiday offer, it is a good idea to check the reliability of your future service provider at the credit information bureau," added Urszula Okarma.

Such verification may be done online at www.infoKonsument.pl which is a service making available the data stored at the ERIF Register of Debtors. Using of the service is very easy and does not require any personal, correspondence or even telephone contact with the register. All you need to do is to open an account. To activate the account you will need a scan of an identity document (e.g. personal ID card).

Therefore, if an inquiry at the register does not return the details of your selected travel agency, the chance for a holiday without unpleasant surprises is much higher. The only thing that remains to be done is to select the trip and pack sunblock. Have a safe trip!