unauthorised payment

sean9894

Hi, staight to the point

I paid a deposit for a holiday a few months ago. I decided not to take the holiday but the remaining balance has been taken from my bank account. Their business terms of trade say they reserve the right to do this. Is this legal?

The email they sent to me said if I didn't pay the balance, monies paid would be forfeited. Isn't this conflicting information?

Thank you, Sean

Valli

you say 'you decided' not to take the holiday - this suggests you didn't inform the company. Is this the case?

antrobus

Valli wrote: »

you say 'you decided' not to take the holiday - this suggests you didn't inform the company? Is this the case?

That would be my first question too.

sean9894

No I didn't inform them. I knew I'd already lost the deposit and from the email sent presumed no more action would be taken. So this deduction to my bank account is out of the blue as didn't read their terms and conditions.



Sean

Valli

Well then, unfortunately you have lost the money*. There will have been, in the contract, cancellation charges. The closer to the holiday dates the more you lose. You chose not to go - they weren't aware of this so they have charged you for the holiday you booked and didn't take. They had sold it to you and were, therefore, unable to resell it.
And the payment was not unauthorised btw, AFAIK you authorised it at the time you paid the deposit.

*unless someone who knows better comes along.

sean9894

Why does the email they sent me say if I don't pay the balance by today I will forfeit my money and the holiday will be cancelled. I wanted to forfeit my money and have the holiday cancelled, therefore I didn't pay and I expected them to follow through with what they said in the email.

However they haven't done that they have taken the balance, therefore whay are they talking about forfeits and cancellations for?

Sean

Wammer

I agree with the above. The T&C's must say that they will take the balance when it is due. It is up to you to read them.

Cancellations are normally required in writing.

Read the T&C's now and check what the cancellation charges are as you may still be able to get something back, but it will be on a sliding scale the closer it gets to departure date.

antrobus

Valli wrote: »

Well then, unfortunately you have lost the money...

I'd agree.

sean9894 wrote: »

Why does the email they sent me say if I don't pay the balance by today I will forfeit my money and the holiday will be cancelled. .... However they haven't done that they have taken the balance, therefore whay are they talking about forfeits and cancellations for?

Presumably because there was a possibility that the payment might have failed for some reason; hence the email serves as a reminder to you to ensure that the money was forthcoming.

Best advice would be; take the holiday.

sean9894

Ok but doesn't the company need to give me a minimum amount of time/warning in advance that it will be deducting money from my account?

thank you for your much appreciated answers,

Sean

Ben8282

sean9894 wrote: »

No I didn't inform them. I knew I'd already lost the deposit and from the email sent presumed no more action would be taken. So this deduction to my bank account is out of the blue as didn't read their terms and conditions.



Sean

Are you serious? You booked a holiday, paid a deposit, agreed for the balance to be taken when due, then changed your mind about the holiday, didn't bother to tell the company and then you complain when they took the balance as agreed.

Why shouldn't they have taken it? How do you expect them to know you don't want the hoiday?

opinions4u

You haven't given them reasonable enough time to remarket the holiday (and earn the money for it from an alternative source).

Not being funny, but failing to tell them you want to cancel and failing to read the T&Cs leaves nobody to blame but yourself.

Ok but doesn't the company need to give me a minimum amount of time/warning in advance that it will be deducting money from my account?

They probably gave you loads of notice. At the time of booking.