HARMONY JETS CASE: ATTENTION! BE CAREFUL WITH THEIR CHARTER AGREEMENT!
I have long heard from various sources the statements like: “The HARMONY JETS operator has the game rigged. They are fraudsters. Pay attention to them!” However, we at BLACKLIST.AERO take seriously only two types of information: firstly, cases from our claimants officially registered in the Registry. Because, according to the Claimant agreement they sign, they bear full legal responsibility for the truthfulness of all the information contained in the case. The second type of information is that which is personally received by the Registry administration and editors during subsequent proceedings.
Finally, we managed to understand what kind of nefarious scheme HARMONY JETS (Malta) is using after the first case against this business aviation operator was registered in the Global Aviation Register of Defaulter companies BLACKLIST.AERO. The investigation carried out leaves us with no other conclusions. Keep reading and judge for yourself.
One of the brokers registered a case in the Register, in which he explained the following: the operator canceled the flight ordered from him and prepaid due to technical reasons. As an option, the charter department of HARMONY JETS offered several options from third-party operators. However, these options were not suitable for the broker, either due to the price, which was higher than the cost of the canceled flight, or the number of passengers the aircraft could carry.
After the broker refused the proposed options, the operator, in turn, refused to return the cost of the paid flight. The broker was told that, according to the signed agreement, his money would be “deposited”, and he could use it within a year.
This “super offer” in the agreement sounds like this:
REFUND POLICY
In the event of an Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situation, the following proposals should be offered by the Carrier to the Charterer:
• Firstly, a different time of departure with the same aircraft; and then, if that is not available or the charterer is not happy with the first option and an aircraft is available:
• Another aircraft to carry out the same flight. Should any extra costs be incurred by the Carrier for this option, the Charterer is to incur these.
If both offers are not accepted, then a credit note will be issued by the Carrier to the Charterer for the amount advanced previously by the Charterer to the same Carrier, deducting all costs already incurred for the Aircraft, including insurance costs. This credit note can be used for any future flights requested by the Charterer to the Carrier within one year from its issue date and is not transferable.
Refunds from the Carrier to Charterer, if any, should only be made as a last resort and always to the same bank account which would have originally been utilised by the Charterer to advance the funds to the Carrier
A representative of the Harmony Jets Sales Department readily commented on the situation that arose with the broker, referring to the clauses of the said agreement. However, when the administration of BLACKLIST.AERO asked for clarification on what would happen to the “deposited” funds after a year if the payer did not use the operator’s services, the representative of Harmony Jets simply stopped answering. Since then, the Harmony Jets company has ceased to show any signs of life at all, tightly “battening down in the tank.”
Well, the operator’s actions are very reminiscent of the trick of various advertising campaigns, during which they offer you a good thing at a very attractive price. However, when you place an order, it turns out that “this exact model is already sold out, but there is much better and a little more expensive.” Surely any of the readers have encountered such a “scam”.
The only difference is that if you have already paid for the product from the advertising campaign and do not want a “different model” (you refuse to purchase), then after using your money for some time, the smart-ass businessmen will still return the money to your card. In order not to have problems with the law and to be able to hook gullible buyers over and over again.
HARMONY JETS decided to take this scheme to the absolute level. Moreover, the agreement that the operator forces its clients to sign is drawn up in such a way that you not only give your money to the operator, essentially saying goodbye to them forever (regardless of whether the service was provided or not), but also remove all responsibility from HARMONY JETS for any troubles that may happen to your passengers during the flight, with the exception of death or serious injury!
Judge for yourself:
LIABILITY OF CARRIER
a) The Carrier does not undertake any carriage as a common carrier.
b) Except as expressly provided within these terms and conditions the Carrier shall not be liable to the Charterer in any manner whatsoever (whether arising from the negligence of the Carrier, its employees or agents, or otherwise) for any loss or damage whatsoever (including without limitation consequential loss) provided that this shall not exclude or restrict the Carriers liability for death or personal injury resulting from the negligence of the Carrier, its employees or agents, unless required by applicable law.
c) All liabilities in relation to the carriage by air of passengers and their luggage shall be governed by the Conditions of Carriage of the Carrier, a copy of which is available on request.
d) The Charterer agrees to indemnify the Carrier and keep the Carrier indemnified against all liabilities, claims, costs and expenses whatsoever incurred to due to or claimed by any third party as a result of any such reason or circumstance save for liability for death or personal injury arising as a result of the gross negligence or willful misconduct on the part of the Charter.
Most of those reading this article are aviation market professionals. There are many aviation lawyers among our readers. Therefore, everyone can draw their own conclusions. The conclusions of the BLACKLIST.AERO editors are as follows:
1. The terms of the agreement allow the HARMONY JETS operator to abuse their rights and uncontrollably use clients’ money for a long time or finally withdraw it in their favor without providing services.
2. Clauses in the agreement allow the operator to implement a scheme whereby the operator can earn more as a charter broker than as a real operator. The absence of the need to return money gives the operator a free hand to further abuse the trust of clients.
3. Commercial law allows your counterparty to write out an agreement in the most Jesuitical way. This agreement is written in such a way that it is difficult to cancel it entirely. Proving that you are right can take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. The calculation of those who initiated this “scam” is precisely that you do not want to spend, say, 50K euros if there is a danger of losing “only” 20-25K.
4. From a professional point of view, this agreement is not just a violation of all the rules governing the rights and obligations of the carrier. This is a outright abuse of common sense and the natural practice of air transportation. And those who initiated and composed it are cynical scammers who need to be kicked out from the aviation.
The administration of the BLACKLIST.AERO registry calls on all participants in the aviation market to refuse any cooperation with the HARMONY JETS operator until this company abandons the practice of sequestration of money from their clients and changes the Charter Agreement, which forces their clients to sign, in accordance with generally accepted practice, regulating the carrier's liability.
I will also add that this case became one of the main triggers that led to the idea of creating WHITELIST.AERO and the Expert Council for the development of recommended whitelisted practices in aviation. Because in the absence of clear professional criteria, any lawlessness, including legally written, is possible. This was confirmed by the HARMONY JETS case.
As stated in the agreement of this operator, they intend to return money only as a last resort. It’s a pity that in law there is no such legal concept as “Last resort”, which is what the management of HARMONY JETS uses. In this particular case, the operator has been keeping the money paid for the charter for 10 months. It is interesting to see what, in the opinion of the drafters of this Jesuit Charter agreement, this “Last resort” is...
Artem Degtiarov, Chief editor at BLACKLIST.AERO
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