TRAVEL industry stakeholders have
raised an alarm regarding local tour
operator Top Places Travel. Allegedly,
the operator demands upfront
payment for all accommodation and
arrangements but then fails to pass
on the funds to the relevant service
providers, leaving agents and
establishments out of pocket.
Mary Reynolds, md of Reynolds
Travel, says her agency dealt with
Top Places Travel for many years
without any problems. However,
when the company changed
ownership around two years ago,
things started going awry. It became
clear, quite quickly, that the new
owners of Top Places Travel were
“bad payers”, with payouts of
commissions often delayed by
several months, she says.
The situation escalated in December
2013 when Reynolds Travel booked
accommodation in Cape Town for a
group of 20 travellers through Top place travel.
The group paid
for their accommodation in full
ahead of time but one month
before they were to travel,
Top Places advised they had
service delivery issues with
the hotel and recommended
that the group change
establishments. Mary says Top
Places gave Reynolds Travel
the undertaking they would
resolve the issue but shortly
after the incident the tour
operator began refusing phone
calls and Skype appointments
with both Mary and the clients.
Reynolds Travel was
forced to find alternative
accommodation for the group
at the last minute at the
agency’s own cost. “Top Places
accepted responsibility for the
funds that were paid to them
for the group and confirmed
in writing that funds would be
paid back to Reynolds Travel.
To date we have received only
half of this money and only
after taking the matter to
legal counsel to pursue.”
Christopher Peppas, gm
of De Doornkraal Historic
Country House in the Western
Cape, has also experienced
a number of issues with Top
Places Travel.
Top Places Travel booked
eight rooms for four nights on
a dinner, bed and breakfast
basis for a group, says
Christopher. The hotel did not
receive pre-payment for the
rooms, so when the clients
arrived at the establishment,
they were initially refused
check in. Christopher phoned
Top Places Travel and
demanded to see proof of
payment. Top Places faxed
through documents which,
only later, did Christopher
pick up were an audit trail
and not proof of payment.
Payment for the booking never
materialised, he said. “What
followed was a ping-pong of
emails and phone calls. They
gave me incorrect credit card
details, they called me stupid
and they intimidated my staff.
It has influenced the way we
do bookings today.”
“Often these ‘bilkers’ use
bullying tactics when people
try and collect their money,
saying that they will bad mouth
the establishment or post a
negative review on TripAdvisor,”
says Donovan Muirhead,
chairman of the National
Accommodation Association
South Africa. He says these
tactics tend to frighten people
and they give up, allowing the
fraudster to simply carry on.
Donovan says affected
establishments should report
the incident to the police and
lay a charge of theft or fraud.
“Stick to your guns and, if you
are in the right, don’t allow
these bilkers to get away with
this.”
When approached by TNW,
Bernadette Terblanche of
Top Places Travel declined
to comment, saying she had
referred all queries to her
attorney
