Cancel Holiday - booked via phone 06/09/09

iregretitall

Hi All,

I need to get a letter sent ASAP as im on a strict distance selling thing where i have to cancel within 7 days.

My nan has booked a holiday and then found out a lot of bad reviews about the hotel, due to this certain people do not wish to attend the holiday.


I have never put together a formal demanding letter before and have not been able to find much regarding templates for holidays.


Can you tell me if this is ok, or if there is anything i should remove/add.

Thanks



Dear XXXXXX XXXXXX

RE: Cancellation of holiday (Distance Selling Regulations 2000)

Hotel: XXXXXX

This letter is a request to cancel my holiday that was booked and amended between the dates of 06/09/09 and 07/09/09.

The booking reference numbers are as follows:

6XXXXX
6XXXXX
60XXXX

I am aware that I have 7 working days starting from the day after the first booking date.

Please confirm that a FULL refund will be reimbursed to the card that was charged for this holiday within 14 days from the date of this letter in writing to my address.

If you need to contact me for any reason then please do so in writing.


Yours faithfully

fifeken

Someone with more knowledge than me will be along soon, but I don't think package holidays are covered by Distance Selling Regulations.
I found this with a google:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2000/20002334.htm
Follow the link and search for "travel"

Rockporkchop

Fifeken is correct - holidays are not covered by those regulations.

When you buy over the telephone or internet your purchase is governed by the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. These rules say that, usually, buyers have a 7 day cooling off period in which they can cancel their purchase. This would have allowed you to cancel your booking altogether and not incur any charges.

However, purchases of flights, hotels and holidays are exempt from this part of the distance selling rules. In drafting the rules it was decided that operators would suffer unduly as they would not be able to resell those bookings on the same terms. So you can't cancel hotel bookings, flights or holiday packages without incurring charges.

iregretitall

Hi Fifeken & Rockporkchop, thanks for the quick replies.

Rockporkchop, When you state without incurring charges, do you know what percentage roughly or how much I should ask for back ??

Is there only certain fees they can keep if i was to get a breakdown of the charges?

pennylane99

Do they not have a website that states their terms & conditions re cancellation.

Or maybe change the hotel to another one

Rockporkchop

I would be very surprised if they refund you any money at all - have a look at their terms and conditions. You could try appealing to their better nature and asking if you could change hotels, as pennylane suggests, but to be honest I wouldn't hold out much hope. It's not really a valid reason for wanting to cancel the holiday.

iregretitall

Hello I have found two sets (confused even more now) of t&c's located at the bottom of this page.

http://www.co-operativetravel.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/


Booking Terms & Conditions
http://www.co-operativetravel.co.uk/Content/EditorialPage.aspx?id=592

Cancellation and amendments
Any cancellation or amendment request must be sent to us in writing and will not take effect until received by us. If you cancel or amend your booking the Principal may charge the cancellation or amendment charge shown in their Terms and Conditions (which may be 100% of the cost of the travel arrangements).




ATOL Booking Terms & Conditions
http://www.co-operativetravel.co.uk/Content/EditorialPage.aspx?id=593

IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown in the table below:
Period before departure within which written cancellation is received by Co-operative Group Limited.
Amount of cancellation charges shown as a percentage of the booking price.*
More than 84 days - Deposit
57-84 days - 30% or deposit if greater
29-56 days - 50%
22-28 days - 75%
8 - 21 days - 90%
7 Days or less - 100%
Note: if the reason for cancellation is covered under the terms of an insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges. The full insurance premium is retained in the event of cancellation.
• Bookings that include Schedule Flights and/or cruise may incur different cancellation charges. Please enquire at the time of booking.

pennylane99

so has the whole holiday been paid for, or just the deposit...and is the holiday within the next 84 days

iregretitall

She was also told it was not Hurricane season and we she has since then found out it is.

They said to her that with the holiday there would be a £500 saving as it was a special deal and a holiday of a life time and said he didnt know how we were getting it tha cheap it must have been a late cancellation. I found it cheaper elsewhere by £500 ! ! !

They have also charged her 3 lots of £32.xx for paying via debit card (she made 3 amendments), i thouight it was only credit cards they could do this.

iregretitall

Hi the holiday was booked on 6th Sept 09, and they departure date is 22nd Sept 09.
The holiday was paid for in full via debit card.

mattwallisuk

I would certainly reword your current draft, as you are not in a position to "demand" a full refund due to the above being true (distance selling regs not applying to holidays) your going to have to hope your letter reaches the right person in the right mood and see how much of a refund you can get.

I believe if you start introducing excuses (hurricane season etc) then they are less likely to help you out, unless you plan to follow through with those pieces of mis-information and take this legal if required..