AN AGENT who is running the risk
of losing her business licence
and ticketing authority has
highlighted the danger of processing
payments on behalf of another party
in the supply chain.
Club Travel ITC, Anelle Behr,
processed a card payment from a tour
operator’s client to the tour operator
(Trip and Travel) as a favour to that tour
operator, for a hotel booking in Zanzibar
worth over R60 000. According to
Anelle, the operator then failed to pay
the funds over to the hotel and then
remained unreachable by her and
by the client when the date of travel
approached.
Anelle made many bookings with
tour operator, Anton Olivier, of Sikukuu
Travel (formerly Trip and Travel) while
he worked at a reputable Zanzibar tour
operator. In November last year, Anton
left the company to start his own tour
operator business, also specialising in
Zanzibar, but struggled to obtain the
necessary licences for his new venture.
Based on Anelle’s established
relationship, she felt comfortable
stepping in to process payments for
bookings on Anton’s behalf. In this
particular instance, Anelle swiped the
credit card of one of Anton’s clients
in December last year for the sum of
R60 410 for a hotel booking at Gold
Zanzibar for October 20. Anelle says
Anton asked her to forward the funds
to his personal banking account as he
did not yet have a business account,
which she flatly refused. As a result,
Anton promptly opened a business
account and Anelle completed the
transaction.
Two weeks ago, Anelle got a surprise
call from the client, with whom she
had never been in direct contact.
“The client had found the name of my
company on their receipt from when
they made the payment and found my
details online. They wanted to know
why Gold Zanzibar was still asking
for payment,” she explains. Anelle
immediately contacted Anton, who told
her that the hotel had been paid. To-ing
and fro-ing went on but nothing was
resolved.
By the end of last week, Anelle could
no longer get hold of Anton on his
phone numbers, email or via Facebook.
Gold Zanzibar said it was still awaiting
payment and offered to give the client
one last extension, to October 10 at
17h00. The client proceeded to send
an email to both Anton and Anelle
threatening to report the payment as
fraudulent, meaning that their bank
would reverse the payment and Anelle,
being the merchant, would have the
funds come out of her account.
On the Saturday, Anelle was advised
by Anton’s mother that, as he had been
hospitalised, she would ensure the
payment was made. By October the
payment still had not been made to
Gold Zanzibar. At the time of publishing,
Anelle was in talks with Gold Zanzibar
and the client. “It looks like the only
way to avoid a case of fraud against
myself and losing my business licence
and ticketing authority is to pay the
hotel out of my own pocket,” she says.
“This has brought me to my knees both
emotionally and financially.”
On September 2, Trip and Travel’s
Facebook page had the following
post: “Due to circumstances out of
my control and some uphill battles I
have had to make the very important
decision of changing my company
name. We will still be selling the same
packages and holidays to
the same destinations but
it will now be under our new
company Sikukuu Travel …”
At the time of going to
print, Anton contacted TNW
and said on the night of
October 10 he had contacted
the agent and the client and
that things were “sorted out”
and payment would be made
this week. His explanation
was that he was sick and in
a clinic. Anton added that
the hotel had agreed to wait
for payment until the client
arrived. Anelle confirmed that
she received the email, which
stated payment would be
made before the guests were
checked in.
“We always recommend
that retail members of
Asata work with partner
and wholesale members of
Asata,” says Asata ceo, Otto
de Vries, adding that these
companies have illustrated
a commitment to following
ethical business practices,
ensuring the entire channel
is safeguarded. “We would
highly recommend that
travel agents do not process
payments on anyone’s
behalf or facilitate card
transactions on behalf of
other travel providers. It is
not allowed in terms of your
merchant agreement with
your acquiring bank and if
there is a dispute you will be
held liable. If the customer
had paid the supplier directly
using their credit card,
they would have had some
recourse.”
