Twelve students from Jüri School were due to travel to Spain this fall through organizer Gerri Vihman and his company Keeleõppereisid OÜ. Each family paid €1,260 for flights, host-family accommodation, language classes in Madrid and insurance.
According to one parent, everything seemed fine until their latest meeting with Vihman, where concerns were raised about his previous issues organizing trips, including a canceled trip to England for Lagedi School.
Asked whether the same thing could happen to them, Vihman replied that he had learned from his mistakes. Concerns grew, however, when Vihman failed to send the families their plane tickets and then canceled the trip.
When teachers inquired whether parents could book the kids' flights themselves, Vihman reportedly said he could not refund them because the money was gone. The parents later learned that he had made no payments in Spain either.
"We realized he had probably planned from the start to steal our money, or that this was fraud," one parent told ERR.
In all, Vihman had collected €15,120 from the Jüri School students' families.
Organizer: All but last two trips paid back
Vihman told ERR that he has organized language trips for nearly 20 years and has never deliberately canceled a trip to keep customers' money.
Every business, he said, has its ups and downs, and most trips have gone smoothly. Over the years, he has canceled seven organized trips for various reasons.
"Sometimes people have canceled by choice, sometimes I've had to cancel myself," Vihman said, admitting that there have certainly also been shortcomings in financial management involved.
Even so, he said he has refunded all but the two most recent canceled trips.
"I am working on the refund process, but everything takes time," the organizer said, adding that he has already been in touch with the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA).
About 40 students' families are still waiting for refunds totaling roughly €50,000.
Vihman also confirmed "in the interest of honesty and transparency" that a Tartu school's trip had been canceled under similar circumstances.
"Lessons learned, and we need to address the situation and work with the parties involved, whether that's the TTJA or the police," he said.
No stranger to consumer regulator
The TTJA's Consumer Disputes Committee has received four complaints this year involving Keeleõppereisid OÜ, said Margot Leen, a consumer rights adviser at the authority. Two consumers received refunds, one withdrew their complaint and one case remains under review.
In 2024, the committee received 10 complaints involving another Vihman-owned company, Keelereisid Eesti OÜ. Five consumers received refunds, four withdrew their complaints and one case was closed because the consumer did not provide the information missing from their complaint.
"Consumers are entitled to a refund if they have paid for a trip and then the organizer confirms it has been canceled," Leen said.
Consumers should first submit a written complaint clearly stating what they want. If the company fails to respond within 15 days or the consumer is dissatisfied with the response, they can turn to the Consumer Disputes Committee.
In contractual disputes, final decisions can be made either by the committee or in court.
Two troubled companies
Before buying anything or signing a contract, consumers can check whether a company is listed as noncompliant with the Consumer Disputes Committee.
Business register records show that Vihman owns both Keeleõppereisid OÜ, registered in 2013, and Keelereisid Eesti OÜ, registered in 2024. Neither company has submitted all required annual reports, and Keelereisid Eesti OÜ's latest filed report showed no sales revenue and a loss of €124,022 in 2023.
Under the Tourism Act, travel companies must not only register their activity with the register of economic activities but also maintain sufficient financial security to cover obligations such as customer refunds if they become insolvent, said Diana Lints, head of the TTJA's Services Supervision Office.
The authority launched supervisory proceedings against Keeleõppereisid OÜ on April 30, issued a precept over its failure to meet the financial security requirement and issued the company a penalty fine.
Schools say earlier trips went smoothly
Jüri School principal Triinu Luiga said the school had acted only as an intermediary for the planned Spain trip, with teachers recommending the organizer to parents who paid the company directly.
"The school had previously taken five successful language trips with companies run by the same person," she said, adding that the teacher involved had also run a background check on the organizer and found no obvious warning signs.
Luiga said the teacher eventually contacted the Madrid school directly to confirm whether the arrangements were still in place, only to learn that Vihman had not been in touch with them at all.
She said the company sent parents a letter on October 14 promising refunds within 14 days.
he school is seeking help from a municipal lawyer but has not filed a police report; because parents paid the company directly, they must file any reports themselves.
Lagedi School principal Oliver Hoole said his school had taken six trips with Vihman without any issues, however a trip planned for this spring was canceled about a week before departure. Vihman told the school that the host language school could no longer accommodate the students.
"Sixteen students were supposed to go, and so far, half of them have gotten their money back," Hoole said, adding that one parent had paid more than €1,000 for the trip.
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