活动因疫情取消，找谁退钱？
翘首期盼数月的活动被取消，本身就让人失望，如果再因为没去而且可能再也没机会参与的活动蒙受经济损失，简直就是雪上加霜。
根据银率公司网站bankrate.com的一项最新调查，疫情导致很多美国人取消已预付费用的活动，其中超过一半(占比54%)还因此损失了金钱。最常见的经济损失包括取消短租房屋(占比49%)、体育赛事(占比48%)、飞机航班（占比47%)、音乐会(占比45%)、现场戏剧表演(占比43%)和酒店住宿(占比36%)。
7月底，共计有2624名美国成年人参与了该项由Bankrate与英国市场调查公司YouGov合作进行的问卷调查。Bankrate并没有统计出准确的平均损失金额，但市调过程中对六个常见领域退款的方式和比例做了了解，其中包括消费者获得全额退款、部分退款，退款金额不到原支付金额一半，或者完全得不到退款的可能性分别有多少。
针对旅行，还有现场音乐会和重要体育赛事等大型活动，人们通常会提前几个月预订。许多人在疫情爆发之前就已经确定了夏日的行程。取消酒店、机票和现场演出门票时几乎得不到退款的情况非常普遍。取消旅行计划却没有得到退款的人群中，近六成的人表示已经完全放弃争取退款。
在预付了房屋短租费用的美国人中，大约有三分之一由于取消原定计划而仅取得部分(而非全部)退款。仅有不到四分之一的消费者取消航班、酒店住宿、现场音乐会和体育赛事等收到部分退款。取消活动后收到退款的人中有69%表示等待时间不超过一个月。
Bankrate的行业分析师泰德•罗斯曼表示，这是个“繁荣与萧条交替”的时期，也就是说客户要么能迅速退回钱，要么什么也拿不到。
罗斯曼说：“据我了解，最大的问题在于中间商，例如机票代售网站和旅行社。主要跟客户的资金在谁手里有关。实际上，中间商已经把钱付给其他服务提供者，在客户申请退款时，它根本没有足够的资金处理。”
罗斯曼以票务平台StubHub 举例说明。他解释说: “StubHub商业模式的主要漏洞是，活动开始之前就把款项预付给卖家。现在他们做出调整，不再预付费用。StubHub从来没有想到，会出现成千上万的活动集体取消这么极端的情况。手上资金不够给全部客户退款，只能向客户承诺未来消费获120%积分，然而客户并不买账。人们都想要回实实在在的钱，毕竟以后什么时候能再去体育赛事或音乐会都不知道。”
有趣的是，研究人员发现，年收入在4万美元或以下的消费者比年收入在8万美元或以上的消费者更有可能放弃争取退款。罗斯曼承认，对这一数字十分惊讶。
“说实话，我不太明白。也许刚开始他们买票花费就比较低？考虑到收入水平后，即使票价再便宜相较于个人资产也不算很少，”罗斯曼说。“还有一种可能是，低收入家庭没有太多闲暇时间去争取退款。或者他们只是认为没有希望，就好像整个体制都在做对，已经失去力量反击。”
罗斯曼说，他听到最常见的抱怨主要关于机票代售网站、房屋短租和线上旅行社。三种情况都涉及到中间商。
对于寻求退款的消费者，罗斯曼建议从原始购买处申请。如果商家不合作，接下来可以尝试找信用卡或借记卡发行机构。另外还可以考虑选择向个人售票方、房主或旅游供应商求助。
罗斯曼说：“尽管每个人的情况各不相同，但我强烈建议人们锲而不舍。态度礼貌但要坚定，尽可能尝试各种方式，比如电话、在线沟通、电子邮件等，也可以考虑仲裁和小额索赔法庭等其他方式。”（财富中文网）
译者：Feb
翘首期盼数月的活动被取消，本身就让人失望，如果再因为没去而且可能再也没机会参与的活动蒙受经济损失，简直就是雪上加霜。
根据银率公司网站bankrate.com的一项最新调查，疫情导致很多美国人取消已预付费用的活动，其中超过一半(占比54%)还因此损失了金钱。最常见的经济损失包括取消短租房屋(占比49%)、体育赛事(占比48%)、飞机航班（占比47%)、音乐会(占比45%)、现场戏剧表演(占比43%)和酒店住宿(占比36%)。
7月底，共计有2624名美国成年人参与了该项由Bankrate与英国市场调查公司YouGov合作进行的问卷调查。Bankrate并没有统计出准确的平均损失金额，但市调过程中对六个常见领域退款的方式和比例做了了解，其中包括消费者获得全额退款、部分退款，退款金额不到原支付金额一半，或者完全得不到退款的可能性分别有多少。
针对旅行，还有现场音乐会和重要体育赛事等大型活动，人们通常会提前几个月预订。许多人在疫情爆发之前就已经确定了夏日的行程。取消酒店、机票和现场演出门票时几乎得不到退款的情况非常普遍。取消旅行计划却没有得到退款的人群中，近六成的人表示已经完全放弃争取退款。
在预付了房屋短租费用的美国人中，大约有三分之一由于取消原定计划而仅取得部分(而非全部)退款。仅有不到四分之一的消费者取消航班、酒店住宿、现场音乐会和体育赛事等收到部分退款。取消活动后收到退款的人中有69%表示等待时间不超过一个月。
Bankrate的行业分析师泰德•罗斯曼表示，这是个“繁荣与萧条交替”的时期，也就是说客户要么能迅速退回钱，要么什么也拿不到。
罗斯曼说：“据我了解，最大的问题在于中间商，例如机票代售网站和旅行社。主要跟客户的资金在谁手里有关。实际上，中间商已经把钱付给其他服务提供者，在客户申请退款时，它根本没有足够的资金处理。”
罗斯曼以票务平台StubHub 举例说明。他解释说: “StubHub商业模式的主要漏洞是，活动开始之前就把款项预付给卖家。现在他们做出调整，不再预付费用。StubHub从来没有想到，会出现成千上万的活动集体取消这么极端的情况。手上资金不够给全部客户退款，只能向客户承诺未来消费获120%积分，然而客户并不买账。人们都想要回实实在在的钱，毕竟以后什么时候能再去体育赛事或音乐会都不知道。”
有趣的是，研究人员发现，年收入在4万美元或以下的消费者比年收入在8万美元或以上的消费者更有可能放弃争取退款。罗斯曼承认，对这一数字十分惊讶。
“说实话，我不太明白。也许刚开始他们买票花费就比较低？考虑到收入水平后，即使票价再便宜相较于个人资产也不算很少，”罗斯曼说。“还有一种可能是，低收入家庭没有太多闲暇时间去争取退款。或者他们只是认为没有希望，就好像整个体制都在做对，已经失去力量反击。”
罗斯曼说，他听到最常见的抱怨主要关于机票代售网站、房屋短租和线上旅行社。三种情况都涉及到中间商。
对于寻求退款的消费者，罗斯曼建议从原始购买处申请。如果商家不合作，接下来可以尝试找信用卡或借记卡发行机构。另外还可以考虑选择向个人售票方、房主或旅游供应商求助。
罗斯曼说：“尽管每个人的情况各不相同，但我强烈建议人们锲而不舍。态度礼貌但要坚定，尽可能尝试各种方式，比如电话、在线沟通、电子邮件等，也可以考虑仲裁和小额索赔法庭等其他方式。”（财富中文网）
译者：Feb
It’s disappointing enough to have an event canceled after looking forward to it for months, but then losing money on something you didn’t get to experience at all (and might never again) adds insult to injury.
More than half of U.S. adults (54%) who paid for activities canceled owing to the pandemic have lost money, according to a new study by Bankrate.com . The most common categories for money loss include canceled short-term home rentals (49%), sporting events (48%), flights (47%), concerts (45%), live theater (43%), and hotels (36%).
Bankrate, in partnership with U.K.-based market research firm YouGov, conducted the survey in late July, with a total sample size of 2,624 U.S. adults. While Bankrate did not have hard numbers on the dollar amounts of how much people lost on average, the financial services company did get insights into how often consumers were able to obtain full refunds, partial refunds, less than half the original purchase price, or nothing at all on the aforementioned six core categories.
Travel and larger events, like live concerts and major sporting events, are sometimes booked several months in advance. And even for travel this summer, many people had already booked trips well before the onset of the pandemic. The most common cancellations outright with little to no chance of getting a refund have been for hotel and flight reservations as well as live concerts. Nearly six in 10 people who haven’t received refunds for canceled travel plans said they have already completely given up their efforts in trying to receive a refund.
About a third of Americans who booked but then canceled short-term home rentals got some (but not all) of their money back, while less than a quarter of consumers got partial refunds for canceled flights, hotel stays, and live music and sporting events. Among those who received refunds from canceled activities, 69% said the longest they waited was a month or less.
Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at Bankrate, says that this suggests it’s a “boom or bust” period, meaning customers either get their money back quickly or not at all.
“The biggest problems I’ve been hearing about have to do with intermediaries, for example, ticket resale sites and travel agencies,” says Rossman. “It has to do with who has the customer’s money. Essentially, it was already paid out to someone else, and now the original purchaser wants it back, and the intermediary doesn’t have enough funds to make good on that.”
Rossman points to StubHub as an example. “The main flaw in their business model was that they paid sellers in advance of the event; they’ve since adjusted, and no longer do this,” Rossman explains. “They never thought that thousands upon thousands of events would be canceled all at once. This left them with insufficient funds to repay the buyers, so they’re offering a 120% future credit, which many people are upset about. They want their actual money back, and they don’t know when they’ll be able to attend a sporting event or concert again.”
Also a curious finding: Researchers found consumers earning $40,000 or less per year were more likely to give up hope compared with those earning $80,000 or more per year. Rossman admits this statistic surprised him.
“I don’t really know, to be honest. Maybe they paid less for the tickets in the first place? Although adjusted for income, even a lower ticket price could still be significant relative to one’s overall means,” Rossman says. “It could also be that lower-income households have less spare time to spend wrangling for a refund. Or they just think it’s hopeless, like the system is stacked against them, and they don’t have the power to fight back.”
Rossman says the most common complaints he has been hearing are regarding ticket resale sites, short-term home rentals, and online travel agencies. In all three cases, they’re the intermediary.
For consumers looking for refunds, Rossman suggests to start requests with the original point of purchase. If the merchant isn’t cooperative, consumers should next look to their credit or debit card issuers as a backup. A third option is to appeal to the individual ticket seller, homeowner, or travel provider.
“While everyone’s situation is different, I’d urge persistence. Be polite but firm,” Rossman says. “Be willing to make several attempts via phone, online chat, email, and consider other alternatives such as arbitration and small-claims court.”
