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Sta travel closes down.

STA Travel South Africa has closed down after its Swiss parent company filed for insolvency this month. The travel agency specialised in youth travel and has been operational since 1979.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the global travel industry. In a statement on their website STA Travel South Africa said: ‘To our valued customers, due to the recent announcement that STA Travel South Africa has ceased trading, unfortunately our travel experts are unable to assist you at this time.

‘Please be assured that if you had a previous booking with us, or hold a live booking, you will receive further communication in the coming days. We are sorry for the inconvenience and the limited information available to you at this time.’

STA Travel was named the Best Youth Travel Agent in the world at the Global Youth Travel Awards from 2014-2017 and again in 2019.

Image credit: Unsplash

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Employees and customers left in the lurch by Swiss-owned STA Travel

No answers and no communication from management since 10 september.

Since STA Travel in South Africa ceased trading on 21 August, staff and customers have been left in limbo. Photo: James Stent

• STA Travel South Africa ceased trading in August, but its liquidators have not been announced.
• Staff have not been able to apply for UIF because their contracts are still valid even though they have not been paid since August.
• Hundreds of customers are owed money for cancelled trips.
• Staff know little more than the customers now harassing them for answers.
• Swiss holding company Diethelm Keller is not giving any answers.
• Liquidators of STA Travel’s Australian and New Zealand country branches do not expect creditors to be refunded.

Employees of STA Travel in South Africa have been left in limbo since 21 August, when the company ceased trading, one of the Covid-19 pandemic’s many business casualties. The company says staff contracts are still valid, which means employees can’t apply for UIF. Yet staff have been paid only a fraction of their August salaries and no September salary.

There has been no communication from the company since 10 September. A STA employee told GroundUp, “Termination letter requests continue to be ignored.”

The international travel company had been operating throughout the lockdown. Staff were working from home at reduced salaries, and the group had managed to reduce costs by negotiating rent holidays on the 21 branches across South Africa, according to a STA manager who wished to remain anonymous.

STA continued to sell packages during lockdown and people were encouraged to book their 2021 trips. Customers whose travel plans were cancelled due to the lockdown, received ‘travel credits’ instead of cash refunds. They were told that these would be refundable when lockdown eased.

Then on 19 August, the holding company, STA Travel Holding AG, revealed to its worldwide staff it would be filing for insolvency. In a statement, Casper Urhammer, the Switzerland-based CEO of both STA Travel and of its holding company, Diethelm Keller Travel Group (which is itself 85% owned by Swiss firm Diethelm Keller Holdings) announced that he would be resigning from leading the STA Travel group, and handing over operations to outside administrators.

On 20 August, it was reported that STA Travel Holding AG had filed for insolvency.

As in South Africa, STA Travel in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, signalled that they would be entering liquidation the next day, on 21 August. In Australia, and in New Zealand, Deloitte was appointed to administer the liquidation.

No public announcement was made about the status of the South African company.

On 24 August, STA Travel South Africa posted an announcement on its Facebook page: “To our valued customers, due to the recent announcement that STA Travel South Africa has ceased trading, unfortunately our travel experts are unable to assist you at this time. Please be assured that if you had a previous booking with us, or hold a live booking, you will receive further communication in the coming days. We are sorry for the inconvenience and the limited information available to you at this time.”

On 25 August, Justin Kable, the country manager for STA Travel SA, sent an email to all STA Travel employees, which announced that – following the decision to cease trading – “We are trying our best to provide as much information as we can during these difficult times and will provide regular updates.”

On that day, employees were not paid, though this was not mentioned in the email.

The next and so far final update from Kable was on 10 September. Kable announced then that the STA South Africa board had decided to enter voluntary liquidation, and that the board had “recommended this view to the shareholder and requested that the shareholder adopt a special resolution to voluntarily wind up the company under the supervision of the creditors”.

According to the Swiss companies register, STA South Africa’s shareholder is STA Travel Holdings AG. With this shareholder being liquidated, how and who is responsible for issuing the special resolution is uncertain. GroundUp’s attempts to contact STA Travel Holdings AG have been met with silence.

STA employees

“Whilst we await action on the above view, presently all contracts of employment between the Company and employees continue as per their existing terms and conditions. You will be provided with further updates as to effect on the employment relationship as the process of winding up the company progresses,” Kable said in his 10 September email.

Since staff contracts are said to be still valid, staff claim they are unable to apply for UIF. Many are hoping they can get Covid relief funds.

A STA employee told GroundUp, “We’ve still received zero update on our August salary. Termination letter requests continue to be ignored.”

Some employees told GroundUp that there had been retrenchments during the lockdown period, and reduced salaries, but the liquidation announcement came as a shock, since staff had been selling travel packages believing that these would be honoured.

Frustrated customers have been harassing their travel agents to find out about the status of their trips and the money they paid. Some staff have shut off their social media accounts and personal phones because of the constant calls. They say they have just as little information as the customers.

According to the Insolvency Act, when employees’ contracts are suspended due to liquidation proceedings, they are entitled to unemployment benefits. But no liquidators have been announced.

Attempts to find out whether a liquidator has been appointed in South Africa have so far been unsuccessful. The computer system for the Masters of the High Court in Johannesburg, where STA Travel holds its registered headquarters, has been down for more than a week, according to a staff member. Calls to the national office of the Masters of the High Court have been unanswered. Deloitte has said it is not involved.

GroundUp has contacted STA Travel’s South African auditors, PWC, and is awaiting a reply.

Meanwhile hundreds of customers have been left stranded. STA Travel SA’s Facebook page is filled with customers who have no idea what is happening to their deposits. Some claim STA Travel has received refunds from airline companies, and has not passed these on to consumers.

On the company’s website, all pages have been replaced by a statement: “Please be advised that the board of directors of STA Travel (Pty) Ltd has resolved not to begin business rescue proceedings (as contemplated in the Companies Act, 2008),” and a link to a pdf which contains a copy of the Form CoR123.3 (Notice of Decision Not To Begin Business Rescue), and a fuller statement from the board of STA Travel. This communication is signed by Reinhard Kotzaurek.

On the website of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, STA Travel South Africa is now listed as being in voluntary liquidation.

Attempts to contact the directors with the details available on STA Travel South Africa website have been unsuccessful.

Diethelm Keller Holdings replied to us: “STA Travel Holding AG was an independent legal entity. You may want to contact the local authorities to find out more about the assigned official administrator in respective countries – we may not provide any contact details. FYI, Diethelm Keller is not insolvent.”

According to the Diethelm Keller Group’s 2019 Annual Report , their business unit, Diethelm Keller Travel (85% owned by DKG), of which STA Travel was the jewel in the crown, achieved sales of approximately R23.4 billion in 2019.

The international picture

In Australia, Deloitte has been releasing public statements and guides for consumers who have been affected by STA Travel Australia’s liquidation. The liquidators report that creditors in Australia are owed approximately R838.8 million. Included in this amount is a R168 million fine issued by the Australian courts in April this year for “false or misleading claims” made by STA Travel about one of its products. The liquidators report that attempts to communicate with the Swiss-based holding company to see if STA Travel Australia could be rescued have been in vain: “We have had no response and consider a global restructure unlikely”.

In New Zealand, it was reported Deloitte was running into difficulties locating money. Stuff New Zealand reported Deloitte as saying that, “Because the international STA group has run a global treasury and finance function, this has meant that a lot of the necessary data and information have been difficult to secure.” The liquidators have pointed to irregularities in the manner in which STA Travel had managed client money, holding it in accounts used for operating expenses and sending it overseas.

According to a 5 October report from the liquidators, so far approximately 900 creditors are owed between NZ$11.5 million (over R125 million) by STA Travel Group in New Zealand. Employees alone are owed R4.5 million. The liquidators do not see good prospects for the return of client money.

In the United Kingdom, people who booked trips with STA Travel should be able to get full access to refunds, thanks to the UK’s Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL) scheme. ATOL is a government-run financial protection programme run by the Civil Aviation Authority that reimburses travel consumers when travel service providers go under.

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Brick walls all around

Dear Editor

Thank you for your many attempts to help us find recourse as consumers. All other articles on STA Travel's betrayal of their customers haven't been so thoughtfully investigated. The fact is, we have no legal entities protecting us. Sadly, all your leads seem to land up in dead ends. We cannot even approach the liquidators.

Admittedly, it was my mistake for trusting this fancy agency, for not harassing them much earlier and assuming that we have good consumer protection rights.

Singapore Airlines confirmed that the agency has been refunded, yet STA Travel selfishly steals our hard earned cash with impunity. Because we are just South Africans after all. Let's keep engaging and keep the story in the news.

Sincerely Vasanti Diar 14 Oct 2020

© 2020 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.

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Home » Collapsed Travel Agency Owes Millions to Customers and Staff

Collapsed Travel Agency Owes Millions to Customers and Staff

The first report by the provisional liquidators of STA Travel paints a grim picture of the defunct travel agency. STA Travel has gone into liquidation, a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. With assets of R3.7 million and liabilities of R213.5 million, few people will see their money back. About 200 employees and 27,000 customers are […]

The first report by the provisional liquidators of STA Travel paints a grim picture of the defunct travel agency.

• STA Travel has gone into liquidation, a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• With assets of R3.7 million and liabilities of R213.5 million, few people will see their money back.
• About 200 employees and 27,000 customers are owed money.

STA Travel was placed in liquidation on 30 September, following the submission of a special resolution to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

On 13 October, GroundUp reported on the chaos that followed the collapse of the company.

Shortly after publication, on 16 October, an official of the Masters of the High Court confirmed to GroundUp that a liquidation application had been launched in Cape Town. On 28 October, Jurgens Steenkamp and Cheryl Jones from JJS Administrators were appointed as provisional liquidators.

According to their first report, a hold has been placed on STA Travel’s accounts by the liquidators. Its total assets amount to R3.7 million, while its liabilities total R213.5 million, including R2.1 million owed to about 200 employees. Approximately 27,000 customers are owed an estimated R91 million.

According to the liquidators’ the next step in the liquidation process is for the Masters of the High Court to convene a meeting of creditors and shareholders. This meeting would finalise the appointment of liquidators and submission of proof of claims.

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CAPE TOWN FOR CAPETONIANS

Employees and customers left in the lurch by Swiss-owned STA Travel

Employees of STA Travel in South Africa have been left in limbo since 21 August, when the company ceased trading, one of the Covid-19 pandemic’s many business casualties. The company says staff contracts are still valid, which means employees can’t apply for UIF. Yet staff have been paid only a fraction of their August salaries and no September salary.

There has been no communication from the company since 10 September. A STA employee told GroundUp, “Termination letter requests continue to be ignored.”

The international travel company had been operating throughout the lockdown. Staff were working from home at reduced salaries, and the group had managed to reduce costs by negotiating rent holidays on the 21 branches across South Africa, according to a STA manager who wished to remain anonymous.

STA continued to sell packages during lockdown and people were encouraged to book their 2021 trips. Customers whose travel plans were cancelled due to the lockdown, received ‘travel credits’ instead of cash refunds. They were told that these would be refundable when lockdown eased.

Then on 19 August, the holding company, STA Travel Holding AG, revealed to its worldwide staff it would be filing for insolvency. In a statement, Casper Urhammer, the Switzerland-based CEO of both STA Travel and of its holding company, Diethelm Keller Travel Group (which is itself 85% owned by Swiss firm Diethelm Keller Holdings) announced that he would be resigning from leading the STA Travel group, and handing over operations to outside administrators.

On 20 August, it was  reported  that STA Travel Holding AG had filed for insolvency.

As in South Africa, STA Travel in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, signalled that they would be entering liquidation the next day, on 21 August. In Australia, and in New Zealand, Deloitte was appointed to administer the liquidation.

No public announcement was made about the status of the South African company.

On 24 August, STA Travel South Africa posted an announcement on its Facebook page: “To our valued customers, due to the recent announcement that STA Travel South Africa has ceased trading, unfortunately our travel experts are unable to assist you at this time. Please be assured that if you had a previous booking with us, or hold a live booking, you will receive further communication in the coming days. We are sorry for the inconvenience and the limited information available to you at this time.”

On 25 August, Justin Kable, the country manager for STA Travel SA, sent an email to all STA Travel employees, which announced that – following the decision to cease trading – “We are trying our best to provide as much information as we can during these difficult times and will provide regular updates.”

On that day, employees were not paid, though this was not mentioned in the email.

The next and so far final update from Kable was on 10 September. Kable announced then that the STA South Africa board had decided to enter voluntary liquidation, and that the board had “recommended this view to the shareholder and requested that the shareholder adopt a special resolution to voluntarily wind up the company under the supervision of the creditors”.

According to the Swiss companies register, STA South Africa’s shareholder is STA Travel Holdings AG. With this shareholder being liquidated, how and who is responsible for issuing the special resolution is uncertain. GroundUp’s attempts to contact STA Travel Holdings AG have been met with silence.

STA employees

“Whilst we await action on the above view, presently all contracts of employment between the Company and employees continue as per their existing terms and conditions. You will be provided with further updates as to effect on the employment relationship as the process of winding up the company progresses,” Kable said in his 10 September email.

Since staff contracts are said to be still valid, staff claim they are unable to apply for UIF. Many are hoping they can get Covid relief funds.

A STA employee told GroundUp, “We’ve still received zero update on our August salary. Termination letter requests continue to be ignored.”

Some employees told GroundUp that there had been retrenchments during the lockdown period, and reduced salaries, but the liquidation announcement came as a shock, since staff had been selling travel packages believing that these would be honoured.

Frustrated customers have been harassing their travel agents to find out about the status of their trips and the money they paid. Some staff have shut off their social media accounts and personal phones because of the constant calls. They say they have just as little information as the customers.

According to the Insolvency Act, when employees’ contracts are suspended due to liquidation proceedings, they are entitled to unemployment benefits. But no liquidators have been announced.

Attempts to find out whether a liquidator has been appointed in South Africa have so far been unsuccessful. The computer system for the Masters of the High Court in Johannesburg, where STA Travel holds its registered headquarters, has been down for more than a week, according to a staff member. Calls to the national office of the Masters of the High Court have been unanswered. Deloitte has said it is not involved.

GroundUp has contacted STA Travel’s South African auditors, PWC, and is awaiting a reply.

Meanwhile hundreds of customers have been left stranded. STA Travel SA’s Facebook page is filled with customers who have no idea what is happening to their deposits. Some claim STA Travel has received refunds from airline companies, and has not passed these on to consumers.

On the company’s website, all pages have been replaced by a statement: “Please be advised that the board of directors of STA Travel (Pty) Ltd has resolved not to begin business rescue proceedings (as contemplated in the Companies Act, 2008),” and a link to a pdf which contains a copy of the Form CoR123.3 (Notice of Decision Not To Begin Business Rescue), and a fuller statement from the board of STA Travel. This communication is signed by Reinhard Kotzaurek.

On the website of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, STA Travel South Africa is now listed as being in voluntary liquidation.

Attempts to contact the directors with the details available on STA Travel South Africa website have been unsuccessful.

Diethelm Keller Holdings replied to us: “STA Travel Holding AG was an independent legal entity. You may want to contact the local authorities to find out more about the assigned official administrator in respective countries – we may not provide any contact details. FYI, Diethelm Keller is not insolvent.”

According to the Diethelm Keller Group’s  2019 Annual Report , their business unit, Diethelm Keller Travel (85% owned by DKG), of which STA Travel was the jewel in the crown, achieved sales of approximately R23.4 billion in 2019.

Source: GroundUp

Picture: James Stent

Article written by capeetc

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By Kaunda Selisho

11 minute read

28 Aug 2020

What’s next for STA Travel customers left thousands of rands out of pocket?

While some are hoping their loss will be covered by travel insurance, others are hoping a credit card refund is possible under south africa's consumer protection laws as they paid for goods and services that they never received. .

Image: Shutterstock

In the spirit of making 2020 her year, Nthabiseng Salemane decided she would travel. So she saved up in 2019, booked her trip with STA Travel in September 2019 and committed to paying off the balance by February 2020.

However, thanks to the travel restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown put in place to manage the spread of the virus, she never got to take her trip.

All the while, Salemane said she had kept in touch with her STA Travel agent, Bianca, who repeatedly reassured her that she would still be able to travel once restrictions eased up.

Towards the end of March, upon the government’s announcement that the country would go into a lockdown and ban international travel, Salemane decided to initiate the process of getting her money back. She was told she would lose her R1000 deposit if she did so, and she indicated that she did not have a problem with this.

“I’d much rather lose a thousand Rand than fifteen thousand Rand which I can save and then take out later once everything is back to normal, whenever that may be,” said Salemane in a chat with the Citizen.

According to Salemane, Bianca then tried to coerce to rather convert the funds into STA Travel credit instead of taking a cash refund and added that the travel credit came with all sorts of wonderful incentives. She declined and insisted on getting her money back and was then told that it would take at least 120 days before she would see a cent.

“I found that within this entire process I had to be the one to follow up with them, they never once came to me to say ‘Hi Nthabiseng, these are the options available.’ That never once happened and I was very frustrated because as an organisation, you need to inform your consumers of what’s happening.”

Things became dodgier in May when Salemane could no longer reach her travel agent who, until that point, had been easily contactable and very helpful. She then began communicating with Bianca’s manager Chevon, who told her that STA’s refund policy had changed since their last chat and that a cash refund would no longer be possible.

Chevon offered Ntahbiseng STA Travel credit which would be loaded to her profile and would be valid for two years for her to use when booking a trip through the agency in future.

“You can only enter into a cash refund after 12 months of the issue date of the travel credit… I was a little bit mad because Bianca never told me this and I only found this out after following up with them.”

Salemane was further blindsided by the news that STA Travel would cease to exist before they concluded the matter of refunding her the R16,000 she had paid them for her trip. News she found out about on Twitter on Monday when the news of the company’s closure broke and everyone took to their feeds to react.

The announcement came on Monday amid an ongoing five-month ban on international leisurely travel as part of national regulations aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.

Many attributed the company’s closure to the global pandemic and heavy decline in international travel from all countries, however, STA Travel and its Swiss holding company Diethelm Keller Holding (DKH) seem to have been in trouble for months.

RELATED: How the coronavirus pandemic ravaged medical tourism

The decision to close STA Travel offices worldwide came after the announcement that DKH was to be placed under administration.

It was first decided that “day to day operations may continue” at subsidiaries including the UK business but that decision later changed.

Travel Weekly UK reports that STA Travel Holding AG shared their own decision to file for insolvencey just days after it was announced that DKH was to be placed under administration.

“The global magnitude of the pandemic crisis has brought the travel industry to a standstill, including STA Travel, a student and youth travel company.

“Over recent months, the company took decisive measures to secure the business beyond Covid-19. However, sales have not picked up as anticipated, due to consumer uncertainties, further restrictions and renewed lock-down measures, which are expected to largely continue into 2021. As a consequence, STA Travel Holding AG, is filing for insolvency.”

Picture: iStock

Information about what this means for STA Travel employees and customers all over the world remains scant as the company has yet to issue any more public communication.

“I don’t even have the travel voucher, it’s just credit that was sitting on their profile,” lamented Salemane.

Heather Coyle-Dowling had a similar experience and both she and her husband are currently at their wits end about what to do in order to get their money back from STA Travel.

Much like Salemane, Coyle-Dowling initially had a very pleasant experience with her travel agent and the company when booking an Easter trip for her family.

However, upon trying to receive some sort of refund for the trip they could not take due to lockdown, both her agent and the company became cagey and unreachable.

“Then the fun and games started because obviously a lot of people wanted refunds because they [STA Travel] had got refunds from the airlines and the hotel, and I know this for a fact because I was working with my consultant quite a bit.”

“They wouldn’t physically refund and it was in the form of what they called a travel credit. Initially, it was valid for one and a half years and they upped it to two years and I mean, I tried on numerous occasions… and I said to the lady ‘you know I have such a fear that you people are closing down and I don’t feel secure with my money lying at a third party’…”

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Like Bianca (the travel agent) did with Salemane, Coyle-Dowling’s agent assured her that her money was safe and that they would not be closing down.

“I think she rattled off that they were members of some or other something which was our protection. But, I have since gone back on that email and the link that she provided me. Before, it used to take you to the website and you would go on to their terms and conditions but I see it doesn’t do that anymore because obviously the website is frozen.”

Coyle-Dowling says that her agent’s reassurances put her mind at ease but they did nothing to calm her husband’s anxieties and he insisted that they find a way to get their money back in cash.

Her family trip was actually part of a group booking which she opted in to at a later stage than everyone else and she estimates that they have collectively lost over R200,000 to STA Travel under the current circumstances.

“So we never got our refund, we got a travel credit and we hadn’t booked our new dates yet because we were just waiting to see. We were hoping to go in Easter next year. We were just waiting to see with Corona and yeah, next thing I see, I was on Facebook and they had popped up that they had closed. That was really a big shock the way that was handled.”

Over and above the travel insurance offered by STA, Coyle-Dowling took out her own additional travel insurance. However, she was told that the company she took the insurance out with that they do not cover instances of insolvency.

Young couple on vacation in Dubai Marina. Image for illustrative purposes only | Image: iStock

Asanda Mkhize and her boyfriend Sandile booked their trip last November and have thus far paid STA R38,000.

Unlike most other clients, the pair opted not to cancel their trip but rather postpone it until government allowed cross-border travel. STA Travel accepted this decision and promised to keep them informed of any developments.

As the months went by, it became increasingly difficult to reach their travel agent, whom she says was working out of the Cresta branch.

She had to resort to calling other branches in order to get some sort of answer from the company and was told that all the company’s agents were not available at all as they had no access to the company’s systems, due to the fact that they had to work remotely under lockdown.

“I was passed around from branch to branch, spoke to different agents and different managers. There was a point where even the agents were not available and the manager told me that it was just them basically.”

“I asked them if they were going through some kind of downsizing or anything like that because at the time, Flight Centre was downsizing because every time I called the one [office] I started the process with they were not available.”

Asanda says the manager she spoke to reassured her that, that was not the case and that it was simply due to the fact that everyone had to work from home.

The couple was supposed to depart for their trip on 5 August.

“As the date was approaching, I kept asking them ‘okay, what are we going to do?’ And they said they would give me a credit voucher. They then promised that they would update me once the airline updated them.”

Due to how uneasy she felt about the minimal communication she had had with STA Travel thus far, Asanda contacted the airline, Cathay Pacific directly. They initially informed her that she would have to wait to hear from the travel agency before later confirming that the flights that had been booked under her and her partner’s names were now cancelled.

She then tried to call STA Travel after hearing from the airline in four different emails.

“I tried to call them for days without reaching anyone, leaving messages etc, with no one calling me back. Eventually, I got through to another manager. He was actually shocked, he didn’t even know that I knew that my flights were cancelled.”

Asanda noted her frustration with having to be the one going off in pursuit of more information on her own accord and struggling to reach the agency.

She too was eventually given an STA Travel credit voucher and reminded that she could not use this to pay directly for flights and accommodation as it was only on STA’s books.

She once again asked STA Travel what would happen on the off chance that they closed up shop and says they assured her there would be a refund process but would not explain any further.

Asanda has not heard from STA Travel since.

The money owed to two Absa bank clients the money is urgently needed to fulfil important financial commitments. Image: iStock

So what now?

Though STA Travel is not a member of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents, the organisation confirmed “the industry as a whole has made every effort to assist customers to reschedule their travels with little to no compensation since the travel ban was implemented in March, as international outbound travel remains closed.”

Asata had nothing further to say on the matter of STA’s collapse and the lurch its customers now find themselves in.

However, according to Joseph Selolo, Director of Prosecutions at the National Consumer Commission “consumers will have to communicate with the liquidators appointed by the court and submit their claims” because the company is in liquidation.

They will then be required to submit proof of their claims and hope for the best.

Like Selolo, Ouma Ramaru of the Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman (CGSO) suggests that consumers contact the liquidators to find what process they need to follow in order to lodge a claim on the estate.

“I am sure the liquidators’ contacts are available to the public. Alternatively, consumers can seek legal assistance.”

Ramaru added that there were actually a few complaints lodged at the CGSO against STA Travel during the lockdown and that the business did refund the consumers in question.

“We are just not sure [if] the complaints that we still have open on our side against them if they will attend to them following the business closing down.”

Other customers have opted to looking into whether or not they are covered by travel insurance, which is most likely not the case, while some customers are hoping credit card refund is possible under South Africa’s consumer protection laws, as they paid for goods and services that they never received.

“Customers who opt to use their credit card for transactions have the added peace-of-mind of qualifying for chargeback rights, should merchants not deliver goods and services, as promised, that have been paid for by the customer,” explained Cowyk Fox, Managing Executive: Everyday Banking, Absa Retail and Business Bank.

“In essence, a chargeback prevents customers from suffering financial loss and engaging in lengthy disputes with merchants – the bank takes care of this within a clearly defined process. Generally speaking, where a merchant has not delivered a service or product paid for by a card, there would be a chargeback right (which can be processed to the merchant’s acquiring bank).”

Fox adds that chargebacks are typically applicable from the point at which the service was to be delivered, which, in this particular case, would be the point of liquidation.

“Absa has taken note of the unfortunate situation surrounding STA Travel and empathize with customers who have now been inconvenienced. Absa customers who have booked via STA Travel, are encouraged to approach us (or email: [email protected]) to assist with the chargeback process. As with all chargeback requests, each matter is evaluated in line with the VISA and MasterCard chargeback rules,” concluded Fox.

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STA Travel Eastgate, Johannesburg

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http://www.statravel.co.za

+27 11 615 0641

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UEFA EURO 2024 fixtures and results: When and where are the matches?

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Article summary

UEFA EURO 2024 kicked off on Friday 14 June and ends with the final in Berlin on Sunday 14 July. See dates, venues and schedule.

Article top media content

Article body

Check out the full UEFA EURO 2024 final tournament schedule below. All kick-off times are CEST.

When are the EURO 2024 matches?

Group stage.

14 Jun e Group A : Germany 5-1 Scotland ( Munich )

15 June A : Hungary 1-3 Switzerland ( Cologne ) B : Spain 3-0 Croatia ( Berlin ) B : Italy 2-1 Albania ( Dortmund )

16 June D : Poland 1-2 Netherlands ( Hamburg ) C : Slovenia 1-1 Denmark ( Stuttgart ) C : Serbia 0-1 England ( Gelsenkirchen )

17 June E : Romania 3-0 Ukraine ( Munich ) E : Belgium 0-1 Slovakia ( Frankfurt ) D : Austria 0-1 France ( Düsseldorf )

18 June F : Türkiye 3-1 Georgia ( Dortmund) F : Portugal 2-1 Czechia ( Leipzig )

19 June B : Croatia 2-2 Albania ( Hamburg ) A : Germany 2-0 Hungary ( Stuttgart ) A : Scotland 1-1 Switzerland ( Cologne )

20 June C : Slovenia 1-1 Serbia ( Munich ) C : Denmark 1-1 England ( Frankfurt ) B : Spain 1-0 Italy ( Gelsenkirchen )

21 June E : Slovakia 1-2 Ukraine ( Düsseldorf ) D : Poland 1-3 Austria ( Berlin ) D : Netherlands 0-0 France ( Leipzig )

22 June F : Georgia 1-1 Czechia ( Hamburg ) F : Türkiye 0-3 Portugal ( Dortmund ) E : Belgium 2-0 Romania ( Cologne )

Did you know...?

As part of UEFA's commitment to making EURO 2024 a reference event for sustainability in sport, venues and matches have been organised in regionalised clusters. This reduces the number of flights taken by teams by 75% compared to EURO 2016, as well as ensuring easier, sustainable transport between matches for supporters.

23 June A : Switzerland vs Germany ( Frankfurt , 21:00) A : Scotland vs Hungary ( Stuttgart , 21:00)

24 June B : Croatia vs Italy ( Leipzig , 21:00) B : Albania vs Spain ( Düsseldorf , 21:00)

25 June D : Netherlands vs Austria ( Berlin , 18:00) D : France vs Poland ( Dortmund , 18:00) C : England vs Slovenia ( Cologne , 21:00) C : Denmark vs Serbia ( Munich , 21:00)

26 June E : Slovakia vs Romania ( Frankfurt , 18:00) E : Ukraine vs Belgium ( Stuttgart , 18:00) F : Czechia vs Türkiye ( Hamburg , 21:00) F : Georgia vs Portugal ( Gelsenkirchen , 21:00)

Rest days on 27 and 28 June

When does the EURO 2024 round of 16 start?

29 June 38 2A vs 2B ( Berlin , 18:00) 37 1A vs 2C ( Dortmund , 21:00)

30 June 40 1C vs 3D/E/F ( Gelsenkirchen , 18:00) 39 1B vs 3A/D/E/F ( Cologne , 21:00)

1 July 42 2D vs 2E ( Düsseldorf , 18:00) 41 1F vs 3A/B/C ( Frankfurt , 21:00)

2 July 43 1E vs 3A/B/C/D ( Munich , 18:00) 44 1D vs 2F ( Leipzig , 21:00)

Rest days on 3 and 4 July

When do the EURO 2024 quarter-finals start?

5 July 45 W39 vs W37 ( Stuttgart , 18:00) 46 W41 vs W42 ( Hamburg , 21:00)

6 July 48 W40 vs W38 ( Düsseldorf , 18:00) 47 W43 vs W44 ( Berlin , 21:00)

Rest days on 7 and 8 July

When do the EURO 2024 semi-finals start?

9 July 49 W45 vs W46 ( Munich , 21:00)

10 July 50 W47 vs W48 ( Dortmund , 21:00)

Rest days on 11, 12 and 13 July

When is the EURO 2024 final?

14 July W49 vs W50 ( Berlin , 21:00)

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