First Choice possibly cancelling our holiday…

mna78

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advise?

Our holiday balance is due today, have spoken to the finance team and admin team today, as we can't pay it until Friday. However they have been really unhelpful and in some instances damn right rude to me on the phone:mad: they are just not interested that I can pay the outstanding balance on Friday. Basically all they keep saying to me is that if I don't pay today then our holiday is going to be cancelled, I tried to explain that the majority of the holiday has already been paid and they're just not interested they told me that they can reinstate the booking for an admin fee of £50 per person within 7 days of them cancelling it. That's going to be an extra £200 on top I can't speak to any managers or supervisors as they won't be back in until Monday.

Sorry if it's a bit of a rant, but I'm just really stressed and upset tbh, I've also been told that if the holiday is cancelled and we don't reinstate it then we loose all the money already paid we are due to travel 15th Oct.

claire16c

Im sure youve already thought of this but is there a family member you could borrow it off?

What about putting it on a credit card and then just pay it off next friday?

Im guessing they get people saying this type of thing to them all the time who then dont pay, so perhaps thats why they are not being helpful.

Zoetoes

mna78 wrote: »

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advise?

Our holiday balance is due today, have spoken to the finance team and admin team today, as we can't pay it until Friday. However they have been really unhelpful and in some instances damn right rude to me on the phone:mad: they are just not interested that I can pay the outstanding balance on Friday. Basically all they keep saying to me is that if I don't pay today then our holiday is going to be cancelled, I tried to explain that the majority of the holiday has already been paid and they're just not interested they told me that they can reinstate the booking for an admin fee of £50 per person within 7 days of them cancelling it. That's going to be an extra £200 on top I can't speak to any managers or supervisors as they won't be back in until Monday.

Sorry if it's a bit of a rant, but I'm just really stressed and upset tbh, I've also been told that if the holiday is cancelled and we don't reinstate it then we loose all the money already paid we are due to travel 15th Oct.

I have had an extension before without any problems, just try ringing again until you get someone a bit nicer? Failing that borrow the money?

mna78

Hi,

Thanks for your quick responses, but we don't have anyone we could borrow the money off and don't have a cc will keep trying though and fingers crossed they won't cancel it until Monday, was hoping if I could speak to a manager/supervisor then they may agree to us paying Fri fingers crossed.

claire16c

Just to say how are you paying for the holiday? Because you are better protected if you pay with a credit card incase the company were to go bust or you had an emergency whilst out there. Obviously this doesnt help you now but could be something to look into for future hols?

Hope you can get it sorted

interstellaflyer

claire16c wrote: »

Just to say how are you paying for the holiday? Because you are better protected if you pay with a credit card incase the company were to go bust or you had an emergency whilst out there. Obviously this doesnt help you now but could be something to look into for future hols?

Hope you can get it sorted

Not really an option as they don't have a credit card, also they will charge you for the privelidge, all travel agents do, as we are talking about First Choice I don't think worrying about the company going bust would be at the top of my list of what could go wrong.

I'm supprised that they won't grant an extention, my Thompson paper work for our holiday makes it quite clear that you should not worry if you can't make the payment on time and suggests extentions can be arranged, but I booked though one of their high street shops, maybe the online staff are less sympathetic. One thing worries me though, if things are soo tight you struggle to make the last payment, what are you gloing to do for spending money? not really much time to save.

mna78

Hi interstellaflyer,

Thanks for your response, no they are adamant that they won't give payment extensions for anyone apparently. Basically our hol is £2700 we've paid £1800 thought the payment was due end of Aug which it isn't due today however we get paid Fri which isn't an issue to pay the outstanding balance. Don't go away until mid Oct.

richardw

Perhaps consider a very very short term loan http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/Interest-free-short-term-loans

evesamcam

If you aren't travelling until 15th October (8 weeks today) - check the booking conditions - on your invoice or in the First Choice brochure - it will tell you how much you need to have paid - so many days before departure.

If you have paid this amount then they it is at their discretion whether they grant you an extension on payment.

Ask to speak to a Supervisor or someone higher.

stephb34

The reason is at 8 weeks before departure it goes into cancellation charges which i think is 50% of the holiday costs and gets more as the weeks go on. I actually thought canx fees started at 10 weeks now and if you'd booked in a shop the balance would have been due 14 weeks before. I'd be very surprised if they actually went ahead and canx your hol but they are within their rights because if you dont pay you will have broken your contract and its all in the terms and conditions, not that this helps you. Could you send them a cheque that would take a few days to clear.

Alias_Omega

The cheque idea sounds good. If you had it in mon, it may take a few days to be processed.