Center Parcs Website error there mistake Where so I stand

chapp_man

Hi All
Ok Im a previous customer of CP and last night-early this morning my wife was on-line looking at dates for next year at Longleat.
She found an attractive deal and booked. As it was a good price she continued and made 3 further bookings covering till Easter 2013.

She booked, paid the various required deposits for all 4 bookings. We recieved via e-mail confirmation for all 4 bookings and that the deposits were recieved and showed balances left.

Today my wife has recieved a phone call from C-parcs head office stating that an error was made on the website prices and that all 4 holidays would be cancelled.
My wife asked if they could do that? The woman form CP said in their Ts and Cs Yes they could. Anyway the debate ran on and we have one holiday en-tact and 3 that CP have cancelled.
I have looked into their T's and C's and cant see how they can do it.
We have done everything correct as mentioned in A7 and the CP staff say they can cancel due to section H4.
Please read and see what you think.
Remeber we had confirmation for all 4 and paid 4 deposits too.
Sorry as a new user I cant post the link to Ts and Cs so please Google them.
Mike

cr1mson

T + Cs are here

http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/makeabooking/terms/index.jsp

Did they actually take the deposit i.e. not just showing as being taken on the email confirmation?

H4 looks like a get out clause and they can pretty much cancel at their discretion even if it has been confirmed but would wait for someone with better legal knowledge to reply.

C

susancs

Welcome to MSE. H4 is copied and pasted below with the link:
H4. Cancellation and changes by us We have the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse to confirm any reservation. Where we have indicated that we will not accept a booking from you or accept your presence on any of our Villages, we reserve the right at our sole discretion to cancel any booking you may have made or refuse to allow you to enter any of our Villages or to ask you to leave our premises. If we do so (subject to the provisions of the paragraph below) we will refund any payment made but will not pay any compensation.
We have the right to cancel your booking, or to instruct you or your party to leave the Village immediately, without compensation or refund, should you or any of your party not comply with this agreement, particularly terms relating to behaviour and conduct.
If we are aware in advance that:
• the Subtropical Swimming Paradise will be closed for a significant period or
• 25% or more of the amenities on the Village are not available, and as a result, there would be a material impact on your break, we will offer you the following options, subject to availability:
• change your holiday start date,
• change to another UK Village,
• continue with your break, or
• cancel your break with a full refund (without cancellation charge).
If you elect to change your holiday start date or UK Village the price applicable for the changed start date shall be that which applied at the time you made your original reservation. Should you elect to visit at the original time we will offer you reasonable compensation for this inconvenience, this amount will be communicated to you to assist with your decision-making.
http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/makeabooking/terms/

In my opinion this seems to relate to reservations they have not confirmed (you have yours confirmed by email) and people who are "blacklisted" due to previous behaviour at their park or those who do not comply with terms whilst there. You have had confirmation and complied with their terms and conditions of booking. I would write to the CEO expressing your disappointment (stating first how much you and your family enjoyed CentreParcs and were delighted that unlike so many organisations existing customers were given good offers, which you took advantage of to book 4 holidays).. I would give them and "out" and say that you cannot see how H4 applies to your situation as you made a confirmed booking, using an offer sent to you as a previous customer in good faith and that you would like the bookings reinstated as per your confirmation emails, as the cancellation must be a mistake. Martin Dalby appears to be the CEO. You could try the standard email format of [EMAIL="martin.dalby@centreparcs.co.uk"]martin.dalby@centreparcs.co.uk[/EMAIL] to see if you can email a letter to him.
http://www.!!!!!!/sm.php?em=martin.dalby*centerparcs.co.uk

chapp_man

Thanks, great info.
As far as I can see so far no money has been taken only all the paper work stating they have taken it.
That may well be the sticking point.

They have confirmed with their e-mails all 4 bookings which in my books is well past where section H4 can cut in.

superflygal

Hi folks,

I complained to Martin Dalby last year, as prices had gone down by £40 for my break, and customer services sent a snooty standard reply. The CEO letter was redirected back to same snooty Customer services person, who said that further to her last communication she would arrange for some gifts to be waiting in my accomodation on arrival-I bet that killed her! I thoroughly enjoyed the belgian chocolates and wine though!!

I would certainly recommend writing to him. I would though, and no offence, make sure you say it is 'THEIR' mistake, not 'there' or 'they're' as this is grammatically incorrect. You will be taken much more seriously if your letter is perfect in every way possible (spellings, punctuation etc. Get someone to check it if necessary). They might then think you are a solicitor on something....

Good luck. I cannot see any reason why they should cancel these bookings. Did she book under the 'come back soon' deal? If so, maybe they have T&Cs that state only one break can be booked under the deal? In which case, once your next break is over, just rebook the next break. You can always keep checking that the prices haven't changed. I have booked under this deal for next January, and managed to get a £20 refund-Alrighty!

SFG x

bobajob_1966

superflygal wrote: »

I would certainly recommend writing to him. I would though, and no offence, make sure you say it is 'THEIR' mistake, not 'there' or 'they're' as this is grammatically incorrect. You will be taken much more seriously if your letter is perfect in every way possible (spellings, punctuation etc. Get someone to check it if necessary). They might then think you are a solicitor on something....

You don't have to be a solicitor to be capable of using correct spelling and grammar! :rotfl:

OP, how much of an 'attractive deal' was it, was it an obvious mistake?

chapp_man

Thank you for your replies.
It was a sleep deprived mistake re: There and their.

You can be confident when it comes to "Letter" time it will be a concise and to the point piece of work.

No, it was not an obvious mistake.
My wife looked over a period of a year. Their accomodation were all tiered in price as usual and from date to date all at these prices were consistant, so nothing stuck out like a sore thumb.
We genuinely thought it was an offer window in order for Center Parcs to be able to advertise we sell from this £X to this £Y depending on when you book.

chapp_man

Hello again
As of today 1/11/11 C-Parcs have actually debited my wifes account for the deposits for all 4 holidays.
They have also taken payment of the final balance on the holiday which they said they would honour. We paid that particular balance ASAP to keep our end of the bargain up.
I’m not sure how this changes things legally with regards for them taking the money now for all the holidays, is it now binding? Up until now the confirmation e-mails showing they had taken deposits were just on paper e-mails and nothing was showing as taken-debited on the wife’s account.
As I said before we did get confirmation from C-Parcs initially stating that they had happily accepted all 4 bookings. It showed deposits taken and final balances owed etc. which to me seems to clears section A7 of their T's and C's.
A C-Parcs guest services staff person then phoned around 12hrs of us making the 4 bookings stating that they were going to cancel all of it.
After a debate the wife got 1 out of 4 holidays secured at the advertised price.

At no point did the C-parcs staff apologise that the wrongly advertised prices were their problem. They shifted the blame squarely at us as if we were taking advantage and we should have clearly known better. As if we should have had a comprehensive knowledge of all their prices.

mum26

Would it be worth getting a free half hour with a solicitor? Should find out where you stand in that time? Hope you get it sorted. I've also found Centerparcs "customer services" to be very snotty when i've needed their help.

pinkteapot

If you were to rebook the holidays on the website now, how much more expensive would they be?

chapp_man

TBH the holidays around 50% more on av..
CP- staff phoned us later and more or less placed the blame on us for not knowing any better as if we should have had comprehensive knowledge on their price structure and seen any errors!
Everything looked normal on the site and our bookings covered spring 2012 up to spring 2013 and on every occasion the website showed as normal the prices were tiered and there was continuity on all dates with regards prices. We honestly thought it was a web sales window.
C-Parcs web pages state prices from £199, B1 of their T's and C's states the best place to look for prices is on their web site.
B1. The most up to date prices for accommodation and activities are shown on our website. Any prices shown on our website or other communications are subject to regular review and may change. The agreed price for your break will be quoted when you make a reservation and will be shown on the Confirmation.
We booked 4x breaks over 2012-2013 as we have a very busy year or so in front of us. We recieved confirmation paid 4 deposits thus forming a contract with CP as below.
A7. Our agreement
A contract (our agreement) is formed when we receive the Required Payment and you have received a Confirmation. This will be deemed to be 24 hours if sent electronically and within 10 days if sent by post. If you do not receive a Confirmation within these timescales, please contact us immediately.
Required Payment means either the required deposit or the full amount due for your break.
They state they can cancel on us due to section "H4":
H4. Cancellation and changes by us We have the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse to confirm any reservation.
We made the 4x bookings and Center Parcs accepted the four bookings and sent e-mails confirming the four bookings.
Where we have indicated that we will not accept a booking from you or accept your presence on any of our Villages, we reserve the right at our sole discretion to cancel any booking you may have made or refuse to allow you to enter any of our Villages or to ask you to leave our premises
This section seems to cover past troublemakers and can refuse them before confirmation or throw folk out the villages if they act badly, fair enough but no-where does it state they can cancel at any given point and not after confirmation.