"Travel and PG companies should also take joint responsibility"...Timef's conclusion of collective coordination of travel products

8,054 Collectively Adjusted Consumers…Non-refundable amount 13.5 billion won
"Timon, Wemakeff, difficult to refund…Travel and PG joint responsibility"
You must notify us within 15 days of your acceptance…If you agree, the mediation will be established.

[Anchor]
Nearly five months have passed since Timon and Wemakeff's large-scale unsettled situation, but damage recovery is slow.

The Korea Consumer Agency has released a collective dispute settlement result that travel agencies and PG companies should also take responsibility and start refunding the payment.

I'm reporter Hwang Bo Hye-kyung.

[Reporter]
The total number of consumers who purchased travel-related products brokered by Timon and Wemakeff and went into collective dispute mediation because they did not receive a refund, amounted to 8,000 people, and the damage amounted to 13.5 billion won.

Timon and Wemakeff have to pay the full amount, but they don't have the assets to cash in and they're going through court rehabilitation, so it's impossible.

In response, the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee decided to refund not only Timon and Wemakeff, but also travel agencies and PG companies.

All 120 travel agencies and PG companies were jointly responsible, and the scope of refunds was limited to up to 90% and up to 30% of the payment amount, respectively.

For example, if the payment is 1 million won, the consumer can request up to 900,000 won from the travel agency and 300,000 won from PG, and it should not exceed 1 million won in total.

[Bae Sam-hee / Standing member of the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee: I saw that the sellers were responsible as direct parties to the contract, and it is difficult for us to determine whether PG companies are legally responsible, but we believe that we should share some of the losses as market participants.]

The parties should be notified of the mediation decision by the middle of next month and then notify the committee of their acceptance within 15 days, and if they agree to the decision, the mediation will be established.

However, the mediation is not legally enforceable, so if it breaks down, the victims will have to go through civil proceedings.

The victim consumer group urged financial authorities to actively resolve the situation, saying the parties involved in the case are likely not to accept the decision.

[Joo Jeong-yeon / 'Timef' victim consumer representative: When it breaks down, it takes that long, and some credit card companies said that it is difficult to postpone (payment) according to the results of this adjustment..]

In fact, travel agencies and PG companies have argued in several meetings with the mediation committee that they are not responsible for refunds.

The Korea Consumer Agency plans to also consider supporting class civil lawsuits by victims if travel agencies or PG companies do not accept the mediation decision.

I'm YTN Hwang Bo Hye-kyung.

Reporter for shooting
: Park Jinwoo
Design: Lee Ga-eun Jeon Whee-lin