Can I get a refund if I cancel Van hire?

kikboy

I booked a small van on the i-net but the next day the company sent me an email stating it was unavailable.

So I phoned them and paid £175 (incl. £100 deposit) for a medium sized van. I also then phoned around and found an alternative van which met my needs so I phoned the first company within 20 minutes of making the booking to cancel. They advised me that they would not refund the £75 for the hire, only my deposit of £100, which they have done so.

So am I entitled to a refund (cooling off period/ distance selling etc)?

Is there anything I can do in this case and if so what?

InsideInsurance

From what I understand as providers of transport they are exempt from the DSR http://www.out-law.com/page-430#Partexempt

That said, they in theory can only hold what they genuinely lost due to your cancellation though arguing that can be time consuming and may, in time, cost you more than you'll get back. How far off was the hire?

kikboy

Thanks for the quick reply - I booked and paid on friday morning at 11am to pickup at 5pm the same day. But I cancelled at 11:20am.

I am not sure what exactly they would have lost in the 20 minutes.

As a matter of interest would they not have had to tell me their cancellation policy at time of payment?

Flyboy152

How did you pay?

arcon5

Was the vehicle made available for you?

somethingcorporate

Did you ask about the cancellation policy? the T&Cs binding the purchase would likely be the ones on the website that you originally tried to book through.

kikboy

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Did you ask about the cancellation policy? the T&Cs binding the purchase would likely be the ones on the website that you originally tried to book through.

No I did not ask about the cancellation policy when I booked on the phone.

However I have read their T&C but cannot see any mention of cancellation charges:
http://www.cheepervanhire.co.uk/terms.html#age

arcon5 wrote: »

Was the vehicle made available for you?

What does 'made available; mean?

If you mean was it made ready as in denied to somebody else who asked for it then I don't think so - as I cancelled within a period of 20 minutes so I am really not sure if they lost any business becuase of this. You see most of other hire places let you cancel within 24 hours of hire and so I assumed that this company would be similar.

I am minded to ask them to prove any loss.

Flyboy152 wrote: »

How did you pay?

Unfortunately by debit card - Doh

Flyboy152

kikboy wrote: »

Unfortunately by debit card - Doh

You could try for a chargeback from your card issuer.

McKneff

Why did you keep shopping around when you had already booked a van

Flyboy152

Like most people. I guess he wanted to see if there was anything cheaper, that is why most people shop around.

arcon5

But most people shop around before entering into a contract elsewhere.

Personally I can't see a chargeback being successful.