Friend refusing to pay cancellation fee of Holiday

Sammi_d_2

Thank you dmg24 - By any chance do you know who I could ask? Where I go to persue? I may wait a bit to see if she will cough up and if not make her aware that I intend on getting legal advice...if that doesnt help I will go through with the claim...If I have one.

mum2one

As the person booking the holiday your liable for the everyone, it souns like your friend has possibly got cold feet and /or changed her mind, did she not pay the deposit at the time when you all booked.
What is the accomodation your booked in, - thinking if you were in a villa / apartment etc it may be worth asking the travel agent to amend the booking to 5, thou there may be a under occupancy supplement to that.
Is the holiday over 12 weeks away, if so you have you tried to get someone else to take her place.

I don't know how many of your party would be prepared to pay nearly 40 extra each, i would write a letter to your friend stateing the facts - that you contacted all of them regarding the price change before u booked it, your liable for £150 and that you want the money back otherwise you will have no option but to start court proceedngs give a date say 21 days from the date of the letter (allowing postal time) and giving her 14 days of the 21 to sort something out. Say that you would be willing to accept instalements say £50.00 per month for 3 months, (your trying to be fair to her) keep a copy of the letter.

For the court as you have no back up ie texts, calls etc, it would boil down to she said this, the other person said that, but as the remaining number of the party all got the message and agreed to the increased price, then the probability would be that you did contact her, as it would be extremely odd to contact 4 other people and miss one. The court would cost you about £50.00, if the case was found n your favour they couldadd your costs to her money owed, if you lost you would not be able to recover the costs.

Legal advice would say you haven't really got a case as you have nothing in writing, - and it would cost you more for a appointment with a solicitor unless you culd get the free intro session, which is usualy 30mins free.

You've got a lot to weigh up, ask yurself how close of a friend is she, if you lost her as a friend would it matter, - not being dramatic - shes can'tbe a friend to do this to you, but I don't know her so can't answer. the other thing to consider was a reason behind the cancellation, had she lost her job, something happened? x Hope you get it sorted out soon,

globetraveller

There is no point in threatening court proceedings as, assuming you are the lead person in the booking, YOU are liable for the payments. Its unfortunate and also a situation where many find themselves in when booking for more than just themselves.

dmg24

You don't need legal advice to pursue a small claims action. The way I would go about it was to make my communications still friendly but gradually more formal. Once you are at the point where you don't think she is going to pay I would first send an email along the lines of:

Dear Bob,

Further to recent conversations, I am saddened that you have still refused to pay the cancellation fee incurred as a result of your withdrawal from our holiday plans. At the time of booking I notified yourself and the other group members of the total cost, and you agreed by text that this amount was acceptable. You calso spoke with Rita and Sue and confirmed that you were aware of the amount (delete if untrue, or if you can't find anyone to back you up!). I am unsure why you no longer recall these conversations, but I would not have committed to paying the money on your behalf had I not had your agreement to do so.

I appreciate that your decision may be due to reduced finances, and as such am happy to agree to a repayment plan if it would help you. If this would be acceptable, please let me know what you are able to afford and we can come to an arrangement.

I do hope we can get this resolved.

Best wishes,

Sammi_d

The offer of a repayment plan is not ideal, but may get her to admit to owing you something ... and you need that in writing!

If she is still not playing you can write a letter, sent by recorded delivery, and advising of your intention to pursue an action in the small claims court if you do not receive the money within x days. In this letter I would put a timeline of events in bullet points, and keep it very 'to the point'.

Are the other friends willing to support you in taking this further, did she speak to any of them about the holiday before she decided not to pay?

dmg24

globetraveller wrote: »

There is no point in threatening court proceedings as, assuming you are the lead person in the booking, YOU are liable for the payments. Its unfortunate and also a situation where many find themselves in when booking for more than just themselves.

Liability for the payments to the travel company of course remain with the OP. However, the friend made an agreement to pay the OP x amount of money, and it is this agreement that she would be asking the court to enforce.

sunshinetours

dmg24 wrote: »

Liability for the payments to the travel company of course remain with the OP. However, the friend made an agreement to pay the OP x amount of money, and it is this agreement that she would be asking the court to enforce.

As you say the threat of a court action may do the trick but following it through I think would be very difficult proving the existence of any agreement (informal or formal). Obviously if the "friend's" name was on the booking form as a named traveller that would help OP?

Mobile phone records would also help prove you texted this girl if you wanted to go that route, but personally I think small claims in this case is a very long shot

dmg24

sunshinetours wrote: »

As you say the threat of a court action may do the trick but following it through I think would be very difficult proving the existence of any agreement (informal or formal). Obviously if the "friend's" name was on the booking form as a named traveller that would help OP?

Mobile phone records would also help prove you texted this girl if you wanted to go that route, but personally I think small claims in this case is a very long shot

I don't think it is a long shot. The OP has built up a clear picture of the situation, and has managed to convince us, so there is no reason why she could not convince a DJ. After all, we are also judging on the balance of probabilities, and many DJs are far less doubting than MSE!

In my experience of small claims, many DJs start their reasoning on the basis that most claimants are not vexatious, and would not start an action if they did not feel they had a genuine case. Whilst not strictly fair, the DJ should be wholly impartial, in reality there tends to be a leaning towards a claimant who presents a well reasoned argument, and it is for the defendant to prove them wrong.

sunshinetours

dmg24 wrote: »

I don't think it is a long shot. The OP has built up a clear picture of the situation, and has managed to convince us, so there is no reason why she could not convince a DJ. After all, we are also judging on the balance of probabilities, and many DJs are far less doubting than MSE!

In my experience of small claims, many DJs start their reasoning on the basis that most claimants are not vexatious, and would not start an action if they did not feel they had a genuine case. Whilst not strictly fair, the DJ should be wholly impartial, in reality there tends to be a leaning towards a claimant who presents a well reasoned argument, and it is for the defendant to prove them wrong.

Yes but they still have to follow basic legal precedents and the concern here would be showing any sort of agreement actually existed.
I do agree you could lucky and get a sympathetic DJ!

melb

that's the point - the judgement is made on the balance of probabilities ie what would a reasonable person believe rather than beyond all reasonable doubt as in criminal law. just bear in mind in any letter you write to be mindful of a judge maybe reading it at some point. i think DMG;s letter was very well put. There will be 5 people who. presumably would be willing to give short witness statements if necessary if it did come to court but i don't think it will go that far if you sent a letter similar to the one above. good luck

victor2

We stopped arranging group functions at work as loads of people agreed and signed up, knowing the cost involved, but subsequently dropped out. For a few more events, a non-refundable deposit was taken, but it eventually became too much trouble to organise.

I'd explain the problem to the remaining group, accept it's your responsibility as you booked it, but suggest maybe they help out with a contribution in some way if an extra person can't be found. If the dropout is a friend of the others, maybe a bit of pressure from them will make her cough up something.