Crisostomo v. CA, 409 SCRA 528 (2003)
Crisostomo v. CA, 409 SCRA 528 (2003)
Crisostomo v. CA, 409 SCRA 528 (2003)
ESTELA L. CRISOSTOMO, Petitioner, vs. The Court of Appeals and CARAVAN TRAVEL & TOURS INTERNATIONAL, INC., Respondents. DECISION YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.: In May 1991, petitioner Estela L. Crisostomo contracted the services of respondent Caravan Travel and Tours International, Inc. to arrange and facilitate her booking, ticketing and accommodation in a tour dubbed "Jewels of Europe". The package tour included the countries of England, Holland, Germany, Austria, Liechstenstein, Switzerland and France at a total cost of P74,322.70. Petitioner was given a 5% discount on the amount, which included airfare, and the booking fee was also waived because petitioners niece, Meriam Menor, was respondent companys ticketing manager. Pursuant to said contract, Menor went to her aunts residence on June 12, 1991 a Wednesday to deliver petitioners travel documents and plane tickets. Petitioner, in turn, gave Menor the full payment for the package tour. Menor then told her to be at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Saturday, two hours before her flight on board British Airways. Without checking her travel documents, petitioner went to NAIA on Saturday, June 15, 1991, to take the flight for the first leg of her journey from Manila to Hongkong. To petitioners dismay, she discovered that the flight she was supposed to take had already departed the previous day. She learned that her plane ticket was for the flight scheduled on June 14, 1991. She thus called up Menor to complain. Subsequently, Menor prevailed upon petitioner to take another tour the "British Pageant" which included England, Scotland and Wales in its itinerary. For this tour package, petitioner was asked anew to pay US$785.00 or P20,881.00 (at the then prevailing exchange rate of P26.60). She gave respondent US$300 or P7,980.00 as partial payment and commenced the trip in July 1991. Upon petitioners return from Europe, she demanded from respondent the reimbursement of P61,421.70, representing the difference between the sum she paid for "Jewels of Europe" and the amount she owed respondent for the "British Pageant" tour. Despite several demands, respondent company refused to reimburse the amount, contending that the same was non-refundable.1 Petitioner was thus constrained to file a complaint against respondent for breach of contract of carriage and damages, which was docketed as Civil Case No. 92-133 and raffled to Branch 59 of the Regional Trial Court of Makati City. In her complaint,2 petitioner alleged that her failure to join "Jewels of Europe" was due to respondents fault since it did not clearly indicate the departure date on the plane ticket. Respondent was also negligent in informing her of the wrong flight schedule through its employee Menor. She insisted that the "British Pageant" was merely a substitute for the "Jewels of Europe" tour, such that the cost of the former should be properly set-off against the sum paid for the latter. For its part, respondent company, through its Operations Manager, Concepcion Chipeco, denied responsibility for petitioners failure to join the first tour. Chipeco insisted that petitioner was informed of the
The lower court declared that respondents employee was negligent. This factual finding, however, is not supported by the evidence on record. While factual findings below are generally conclusive upon this court, the rule is subject to certain exceptions, as when the trial court overlooked, misunderstood, or misapplied some facts or circumstances of weight and substance which will affect the result of the case.22 In the case at bar, the evidence on record shows that respondent company performed its duty diligently and did not commit any contractual breach. Hence, petitioner cannot recover and must bear her own damage. WHEREFORE, the instant petition is DENIED for lack of merit. The decision of the Court of Appeals in CAG.R. CV No. 51932 is AFFIRMED. Accordingly, petitioner is ordered to pay respondent the amount of P12,901.00 representing the balance of the price of the British Pageant Package Tour, with legal interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum, to be computed from the time the counterclaim was filed until the finality of this Decision. After this Decision becomes final and executory, the rate of 12% per annum shall be imposed until the obligation is fully settled, this interim period being deemed to be by then an equivalent to a forbearance of credit.23 SO ORDERED. Davide, Jr., C.J., (Chairman), Vitug, Carpio, and Azcuna, JJ., concur.