I Don’t Want My Money Back
I would like to go to the theatre, concerts and other events in the future. If I demand my money back from everyone now, I’ll cut my own throat.
To make it clear right from the start: I fully understand if someone has just lost his or her job and therefore can’t afford to be generous with his or her money.
But my income and that of my wife will continue to run even during the Corona crisis. We don’t need to take back money that we paid months ago for events that may never happen now.
In our case, it’s theatre tickets, plane tickets, and a trip.
I consider the money for the small theatre, which is already struggling even without the current crisis, to be a donation. The play will probably never be made up for, but I can live with that.
We cannot get the plane tickets refunded. The general terms and conditions of the airline exclude this. But we can rebook the flight to another time and destination. We will make use of this option. We would have rebooked even if a refund had been possible.
We have also rebooked our trip planned for the summer. So we will get our holiday and everybody could be satisfied.
But on the tour operator’s Facebook page, I read hundreds of comments from other customers who vehemently demand to get their money back immediately. They don’t want to rebook, and they don’t even want to wait and see if their trips can take place as planned.
We are talking about travel dates, some of which are not scheduled until the end of 2020.
These people are afraid that the tour operator will not survive the crisis and go bankrupt. Then all the money would be lost.
I do not want to join in this hysteria. The government in Germany has launched massive aid programs for companies in need. Just yesterday, the tour operator in question was granted emergency aid of over one billion euros.
In human terms, therefore, the company will continue to exist after Corona — unless all customers now insist on having their advance payments refunded and cause the company additional difficulties.
Sure, this tour operator is not a small corner shop and usually makes millions of dollars in profits. But people are working there as well who are dependent on their jobs. Why should we care less about the employees of large corporations than we do about the restaurant owner from our neighborhood?
If we don’t show solidarity with those we don’t know personally, we are part of the problem instead of being part of the solution.
I am willing to accept vouchers instead of money. I’m ready to change plans and take a different trip than the one I first chose.
I am ready to give the ticket price to the small theatre in our city without insisting on getting anything in return.
Now it’s a matter of ensuring that as many companies as possible survive the crisis unscathed.
Instead of just taking responsibility for the health of my fellow human beings by keeping my distance and staying at home, I also want to take on economic responsibility.
An expired concert ticket will not ruin most of us. But if a thousand customers want their money back, the organizer might not survive.
Who will organize the concerts we attend in the future? Who will provide a stage for actors? What will we do with our money if we can no longer spend it on culture and travel because most of the offers have disappeared?
I do not want my money back. I want the people and companies I have entrusted it to, to survive.
If this crisis makes us fearful egoists, we have lost much more than a little freedom of movement and money. Let’s not let it happen that way.
René Junge a published author writing on ILLUMINATION.
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