Tour operator asks for undue money

Question

Some time ago I purchased a trip from a leading tour operator in Germany (I’m resident of a close-by country).

They asked me to provide them with a credit/debit card details so they can collect €1000 fee. Their payment processing time is weird and was taking several days. Initially I provided them with a card “A” (linked to bank “account-A” in my local currency), then two days later I asked them to actually switch and use card “B” instead (linked to “account-B” in EUR currency).

Now what happened:

1. I was charged the correct €1000 fee on “account-B” ✅
2. At the same time my “account-A” was credited equivalent of €1000 🔴. My bank converted this amount to my local currency and took significant part of it (currency exchange spread).

It clearly seems the company responsible for charging my card incorrectly returned me €1000 on “account-A”, while collecting €1000 from “account-B” at the same time.

Now, after a long period of time, this Tour Operator sent me physical letters stating that I owe them €1000. I responded by email explaining what happened (like above), and that I’m happy to return them €1000 minus currency-exchange fees that my bank has taken (let’s say it’s €900).

1. They didn’t understand my explanation, claimed it’s a problem of my bank which I should resolve on my own, and that I still owe them €1000.
2. They don’t answer phone calls, and respond to emails with 30-days delay (making communication very hard).
3. In the meantime they sent me yet another physical letter with charges for an “extra reminder”.

What shall I do?

Answer 1

So you both did sometime wrong here. You first gave the wrong payment details and then you did not contact them when you received the credit on card A, from which you where never charged. They send you a credit for card A despite never really charging you on it in the first place.

One question is, what would have happened, had they already charged you on card A when you requested to change payment to card B. I guess you would have got you money back the same, and would have had to swallow the conversion fee.

What I would try: Immediately pay the €900 you received erroneously and at the same time send them a letter where you argue that their mistake to reimburse you on card A has induced charges (provide proof) and you will not stand up for those charges as you already payed for the trip with card B (provide proof).

Caution though, IANAL - If you are interested in the legalese, maybe the law stack exchange would be a better place to ask.