Agency shut down after failing to refund customers almost £600,000
Ilaria Grasso MacolaA London agency has been shut down after cancelling dozens of holidays at short-notice only to then fail to pay refunds, leaving around 300 customers nearly £600,000 out of pocket.
Felix Travels and Tours was wound-up earlier this month following a High Court liquidation ruling after customers complained of last-minute cancellations and missing refunds.
Trading also as Felix Holidays, the firm was established in April 2020 with a call centre in Sri Lanka offering travel packages with flights, accommodation, transfers and extras such as Disneyland tickets and ski passes.
The agency was found guilty of not providing the services customers had paid for, leaving them to seek the same service again from a different agency.
The Insolvency Service said the company also misled clients into thinking that their holidays were Atol-protected when in fact they were not. The outstanding refunds totalled £592,000.
’No option’
Insolvency Service chief investigator Cheryl Lambert said the government agency “had no option” but apply to have the company wound-up “to protect customers in the future”.
“Felix Travels and Tours claimed to be a high-quality, trusted travel agency,” said Lambert. “This was sadly not the experience for holidaymakers who had packages cancelled at the last minute or were left missing accommodation or other services they had paid for in advance.
“To make matters worse, around a quarter of the company’s total customers are owed refunds approaching almost £600,000.”
After agreeing the total holiday cost with customers, Felix took initial deposits and arranged payment plans. However, customers who had set up monthly payment plans were subsequently advised not to make further payments as their holiday package could not be fulfilled.
Meanwhile, clients who had paid in full didn’t receive the package in full or had their holidays cancelled at short-notice.
The Insolvency Service began investigating Felix in August 2023 following a report from a partner agency. It concluded the business had ceased trading at the end of February 2023 when it stopped paying suppliers and for its call centre operation to continue.
Trade suppliers are estimated to be owed around £7,000, the Insolvency Service added.
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
