ABTA has launched two new member advice helplines.
They will provide 30 minutes of free advice from leading financial experts on how best to dispute a chargeback, or how to protect a business from data breaches and other issues relating to cybersecurity.
The two new helplines join existing ABTA helplines on mergers and acquisitions, finance, employment law, crisis support, training and recruitment and VAT.
All of the helplines are operated by ABTA partners, who are leading experts in their respective fields.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, many refunds have been severely delayed mainly due to suppliers not issuing refunds swiftly, some customers have now turned to their card provider and asked them to raise a chargeback.
In some cases, ABTA members have been receiving chargebacks from their merchant provider even when a customer has already received a refund
The chargeback helpline will help clarify contracts or misrepresentation under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, advise when a chargeback can be challenged as well as the correct processes for doing this successfully.
Travel providers often hold sensitive customer information offering a tempting target for cyber attackers, which can have very serious legal, financial and reputational consequences.
The new helpline will advise on current threats in the industry, technology available to mitigate attacks, correct processes to prevent attacks or breaches, how to assess company data, as well as a plan for investigating attacks and establishing a response plan to maintain your business.
Alice Catterall, ABTA director of partnerships and events said: “The ABTA partner helplines provide an invaluable resource for our members with 30 minutes of free, expert advice on a wide range of issues.
“The two latest additions on how to dispute a chargeback and cybersecurity have been chosen as both areas can have very serious implications for our members’ businesses and I would strongly recommend that all our members take the time to access the helplines to put processes in place to safeguard their businesses.”