Consumer Council conducts a questionnaire on the application details and disclaimer of travel agents for package tours, 9 travel agents will exchange consumers with another tour or refund them in case of Force Majeure, though certain travel agents charge consumers a service fee and the highest fee amounts to 40 percent of the package tour cost. Consumers are advised to pay attention to all different fees involved. Details of the questionnaire can be found in the latest issue no.269 Consumer Report. In recent years, package tours are often canceled due to Force Majeure as sudden incidents like public health and political issues arise, Consumer Council therefore sent out questionnaires to 9 travel agents to check their application details and disclaimer, including all charges involved and ways of withdrawal from package tours. Regarding tours canceled due to Force Majeure, 3 agents will refund consumers according to their requests, or help them switch to another tour; 3 agents will only switch consumers to another tour without any refund; 1 agent will only refund consumers while another 2 agents state that both refund or switching tours depend on contract terms and arrangements of airline companies. 4 agents are found to have a service fee of up to 40 percent of the tour cost levied on consumers regardless of the solution plan, while 1 agent states in its response that the amount of service fee varies case by case. The questionnaire also reviews that travel agents will switch tour or arrange refunds for consumers if package tours are canceled due to other reasons, although most agents do not refund consumers if withdrawal from package tours are made due to consumers’ personal reasons. Notification time of different travel agents regarding unsuccessful tour varies from 1 to 7 days or 5 to 14 days. Consumer Council believes that notification time affects consumers’ holiday arrangement and therefore advises consumers to pay attention to travel agents’ terms and conditions when signing up for package tours. The mentioned questionnaire also compares promotional information of the 9 travel agents, and details can be found in the latest issue no. 269 Consumer Report. The latest Consumer Report also includes a report on the promotion of ‘Certified Shops’ by The Institute for Sustainable Development of Macau University of Science and Technology as commissioned by the Council. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the Council (Av. Horta e Costa, N.º 24-A, Edf. Cheung Heng, R/C), and the service counter of the Council at Macao SAR Government Service Centre (Rua Nova da Areia Preta, Nº52), Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza, libraries and bookstores. Consumers may also access the magazine online on the Council’s official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo) and WeChat official account. For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
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