should credit card pick up the tab

Degenerate

I'd be interested to see any legal references people can supply for this "booking agent" loophole. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but it doesn't smell right, and the fact that the OP got their money back suggests they did have the right to claim. The overriding principle of underlying section 75 protection is that you shouldn't incur debt for things you haven't had.

Who sold the holiday? My gut feeling is that Travel Republic hiding behind the status of "booking agent" should be irrelevant if they took payment and acted as the only point of contact. This to me would be similar to shops selling goods that turn out to be faulty trying to palm off responsibility to the manufacturer. As much as they would like to wash their hands of it, they can't because the contract of sale was between them and the customer. If delivery of a holiday wasn't part of the deal, what exactly was Travel Republic's role in the transaction? To sit in the middle and take money for nothing?

YorkshireBoy

Degenerate wrote: »

I'd be interested to see any legal references people can supply for this "booking agent" loophole.

See the first link in my post #4 above. See also the Act itself...

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/contents

Start at section 75, and then work back through sections 12b & 12 c, before ending at section 11.

The key phrases you're looking for are "pre-existing arrangement" and "debtor credit supplier agreement".

...the fact that the OP got their money back suggests they did have the right to claim.

Unless the card provider is offering 'goodwill'. We don't know yet as the OP hasn't replied to my question.

The overriding principle of underlying section 75 protection is that you shouldn't incur debt for things you haven't had.

And if you buy directly from the supplier you won't. The Act itself, and the OFT's guidelines, already provide for this.

If delivery of a holiday wasn't part of the deal, what exactly was Travel Republic's role in the transaction? To sit in the middle and take money for nothing?

Not exactly "nothing". They carried out work for their money...simply put, they actioned the customer's request and took payment for it.

Degenerate

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The key phrases you're looking for are "pre-existing arrangement" and "debtor credit supplier agreement".

This is indeed the key, I viewed them as an associate of the supplier, in line with this paragraph in the MSE article:

If you're not covered elsewhere, as many travel companies act as an agent of the tour operator, a claim against your card provider could be successful, so give it a try.

This is how I had envisaged it. The travel company working for the tour operator to sell the holidays, rather than working for the customer. But it seems you are correct, Travel Republic do present themselves as an agent contracted by the customer.

Not exactly "nothing". They carried out work for their money...simply put, they actioned the customer's request and took payment for it.

Not nothing, just next to nothing. I'm just surprised that in the age of the internet such parasitical businesses can still exist - they're totally redundant. Back in the day, I could see the justification that an agent adding value by providing information and facilitating transactions between customers and tour operators, but nowadays the customer can get all the information themselves, booking is automated, so all they are doing is running an aggregator site and adding £62 for the privilege of using it. I can't fathom why anyone would choose them over going direct to tour operators, or creating their own package via Expedia or lastminute.com with ATOL protection and a significant discount.

YorkshireBoy

Degenerate wrote: »

I'm just surprised that in the age of the internet such parasitical businesses can still exist...

I think it's the preceived protection that makes people use them (add in the fact that hardly anyone reads or understands T&Cs and these companies are on to a winner!). A little like thinking because you're spending £5K on a used car it's better to get it from a dealer rather than through Autotrader's private sale listings. And with a dealer you'll pay considerably more 'mark up'.