Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

travel agency regulations

i booked a cruise with a major cruise line through a travel agency for november. I am unable to go on the cruise and notified the agency. they have now stated to me that i am not entitled to any refund even though the cruise line's policy dictates a full refund as long as you cancel at least 71 days before the date of departure. they never notified me of any cancelation policy until now and it isn't mentioned in any of the documents from them. the cruise line advised me that they are returning my $700 to the agency in full. is this legal?


Asked on 8/09/00, 2:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Wright Law Offices of David Wright

Re: travel agency regulations

Wow, that's pretty brazen. Seems like a call to NYS Attorney General Consumer Frauds Unit (120 Broadway?) would get you the money back real fast. I've never heard of that trick before. Of course, unless a business tells you up front that something is non-refundable, it is not non-refundable. If they have a "policy" of doing this, the A.G.'s office may well want to go after them in a more formal proceeding, also, to prevent others from being victimized. Seems to me at the worst, the travel agency might argue you breached your agreement with them, i.e. to book a cruise, and they did the work but are now losing their commission -- which I understand is about 10%. But I can't see any basis to withhold the money which would have gone to the cruise line.

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Answered on 8/10/00, 5:37 am


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