Are verbal agreements legally binding??

EllaBeagle

I booked a short holiday this year for 2012 and paid £25 deposit.

I lost my job recently so had to cancel the holiday and they are now saying I have to pay them £105 because they had a low deposit offer on at the time (something I was unaware of and have never received anything in writing). When I rang up they said when I booked it they had read me the terms and that I had agreed to pay the full amount of the deposit if I were to cancel. I have no recollection of this all I was given was the holiday details and when the remaining amount of the holiday was to be paid.

I'll pay the amount but just wanted to find out, if I haven't signed anything and they have no recording of the phonecall am I really obliged to pay this when I haven't agreed to their terms?

Thanks in advance.

vax2002

Short Answer..... NO

EllaBeagle

Thanks Vax

It says on their letter:

" Under the terms of our low deposit offer, you have now become liable for the full balance of the deposit and any additional charge due. Please refer to the booking conditions you agreed to when you booked"

How would I go about sorting this out?

Hintza

If you are sure they didn't read the terms out to you as they say, then ask for a recording of the phone conversation. Be a liile more circumspect if you are just not sure.

I think it is a bit cheeky of them to come back looking for more (I am assuming this is a summer holiday an they still have plenty time to shift it).

vax2002

By Ignoring them, if they feel they have a case, let them put up or shut up.
The deposit paid formed a legal bond, thats what a deposit is, if they felt that the deposit did not cover losses, they should ask for one that does, not £25.
They may try passing it on to dent collectors, but as they have no contract to collect, they have no credit agreement and no debt to collect.
If anything, they owe you £25, because they dont have to provide the service they sold.

bris

vax2002 wrote: »

Short Answer..... NO

Short answer would be yes, verbal contracts are legaly binding.
The problem is on them proving it, if they have any recordings or if they have their T&C's that state the full deposit would need to be paid on cancelation then they could win. Only a court can decide though so they will have to take the appropiate action, at this stage you can just ignor them.

texranger

verbal agreements are legally binding, regardless if they read the terms to you, you would have received a copy by smail mail or it would be on their site/brochure, by paying a deposit you accepted their terms. The onus is on your to read or understand their terms before paying any deposit.

EllaBeagle

I rang them and they said that by ringing them to book the holiday I am agreeing to their terms and conditions. Sure I may be agreeing to their usual terms and conditions but there was nothing on the website about the low deposit. If by picking up the phone I suddenly have psychic powers to know section 4 of their terms and conditions thats just amazing.

Also, I booked through a small cottage holiday website and it is Hoseasons asking for the money so I have only read the other websites terms I have no idea why Hoseasons are suddenly contacting me for the money when I have made no contact with them or had any from them before.

They said they will be taking me to court for refusing to pay. This is all confusing to me as I have no idea why a different company is contacting me but they have all the relevant details and booking reference.

I can honestly say that on the website and the phonecall I did not see or hear anything about the low deposit or the consequences for cancelling. If they had called it a part deposit I would've had some clue.

EllaBeagle

texranger wrote: »

verbal agreements are legally binding, regardless if they read the terms to you, you would have received a copy by smail mail or it would be on their site/brochure, by paying a deposit you accepted their terms. The onus is on your to read or understand their terms before paying any deposit.

I never received anything from them apart from confirmation of the holiday.

If they have nothing signed from me, no phonecall and I booked through a different website what proof do they have that I was aware of these terms?

texranger

EllaBeagle wrote: »

I rang them and they said that by ringing them to book the holiday I am agreeing to their terms and conditions. Sure I may be agreeing to their usual terms and conditions but there was nothing on the website about the low deposit. If by picking up the phone I suddenly have psychic powers to know section 4 of their terms and conditions thats just amazing.

Also, I booked through a small cottage holiday website and it is Hoseasons asking for the money so I have only read the other websites terms I have no idea why Hoseasons are suddenly contacting me for the money when I have made no contact with them or had any from them before.

They said they will be taking me to court for refusing to pay. This is all confusing to me as I have no idea why a different company is contacting me but they have all the relevant details and booking reference.

I can honestly say that on the website and the phonecall I did not see or hear anything about the low deposit or the consequences for cancelling. If they had called it a part deposit I would've had some clue.

regardless on the size of the deposit you agreed to their terms by booking and paying this. The site will be run by Hoseasons, so the booking will be through Hoseasons

EllaBeagle

texranger wrote: »

regardless on the size of the deposit you agreed to their terms by booking and paying this. The site will be run by Hoseasons, so the booking will be through Hoseasons

But how can I know Hoseasons terms if I had no idea it was through Hoseasons?? There was absolutely no information about this on the website and the correspondence I got was from the website I booked with. Its only now that Hoseasons have contacted me.