Consumers’ flight tickets canceled due to MERS Consumer Council succeeded in solving almost 50 disputes

Due to the MERS outbreak in June this year, many consumers needed to cancel their flight tickets heading to Korea. Consumer Council received 46 complaint cases in which consumers could not get in touch with the airline company for ticket cancellation. All disputes were solved after follow-up by the Council. The MERS outbreak in Korea happened earlier in high season, and consumers were advised not to travel to Korea by governments of all regions. Consumer Council received 79 cases regarding flight ticket cancellation of consumers during June and July, around 50 complaint cases were solved by extending the valid period of flight tickets, change of destination, or ticket cancellation with service charges. The Council indicates that 46 cases involved consumers purchasing tickets online from the airline company website but were unable to contact the airline company when trying to cancel their tickets. Consumers approached the Council for help and the Council finally reached the airline company, where its registered office is in Korea, and succeeded in helping consumers resolving their cases and meeting their needs. The Council indicates that a lot of consumers now tend to purchase their flight tickets online from airline companies registered overseas, this kind of distance selling involves issues such as applicable laws and enforcement, and these make procedures for handling the dispute more complicated when dispute arises. Prepayment consumption consists of all kinds of risks, consumers are advised to check the background information of the website and make sure it is reachable, payment with credit card is better than making transfer through bank accounts since consumers may ask the credit card company to terminate the transaction in case the website is shut down, or service or products could not be provided. For enquiry, please call 89889315.