Strawberry World in Administration - HELP!

kayleigh1234

Hi,

My OH just received this email from Strawberry World.

"Dear Sir or Madame,

We are in the holiday-making market for almost twenty years and we have always endeavoured, by all available means, to meet our clients’ requirements and expectations to their fullest satisfaction.

Recently, like in the case of many other businesses, Strawberry World has, too, been affected by the global financial crisis, aggravated by the fact that we are based on an island.

The general down-trend felt in the tourism industry together with the tremendous increases in taxation, followed by the bankruptcy of many tour operators has caused us great cash flow difficulties and, consequently, prevented us from timely fulfilling our commitments with some hotels especially in what concerns pre-paid bookings.

Up until the very last moment all our efforts were focused on reaching a solution to overcome this problem but unfortunately we did not always receive the necessary cooperation. As a result and in order to minimise damages, Strawberry World was forced to pursue legal protection and, to that end, submitted an application to the Judicial District Court of Funchal, Portugal, appealing for admittance into a “Company Revitalization Programme” to which it has only recently received approval. The process consists in protecting the company for a period of time, under the auspices of a Court appointed administrator, with the objective of reviving the company back to normal performance thus enabling settlement with all creditors.

Despite our efforts in fulfilling our obligations with many hotels, including the hotel you have reserved, and as a result of the false information given to the hotels by two associations that the company is facing bankruptcy, we regret to inform you that our clients are being refused entry into the hotel and are being asked to repay for their reservation. As has been explained, we are under a court protection to bring the company back to full health and to compensate everybody that has been affected. We are doing our utmost best to ensure that all of our clients complete their holiday with as little stress as possible.

In regards to the sum that has already been charged from your credit card, please hold on to the receipts and, on your return, you should be able to make a claim for a full refund from the insurance coverage attached to the credit card that was used to pay for your booking through Strawberry World. In the case of those that have paid for their reservation with a direct debit card or by bank transfer, your name and the amount paid will be added to the list of Strawberry World priority creditors.

We apologise for any inconvenience you may experience and assure you that despite the adverse circumstances we are currently facing we shall continue to do everything within our reach to minimise the consequences.

In closing, we reiterate our appreciation for your understanding and undertake to keep you advised of all major developments.

With our very best regards,

Yours sincerely,

The Administration "



We booked our hotel directly through the hotel's website a few months ago. We booked by credit card in case this happened.

We're really not sure how to proceed. Does this mean we have lost our money? And our holiday?

Any help on what we should do would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure what our first steps should be. Apart from asking on these boards!!!

Thanks

Kayleigh xxx

richardw

Ask the hotel if you still have a booking.

kayleigh1234

My phone won't allow me to call abroad But I have emailed them to see if we have a booking.

My OH is currently ringing his Credit Card company to get a bit of advice.

This was supposed to be a real treat before I go back to uni, our last holiday for 4 years. I'm all packed and everything :'(

Alan_Bowen

Looks like you need to make a straight Section 75 Consumer Credit Act claim againt the credit card issuer, it is clear the services you have paid for are not going to be delivered. Time to make a new booking if you want somewhere to stay. You say you booked direct with the hotel, your email from Strawberry World suggests you didn't, if you want to stay in the same hotel, contact the hotel directly and see what they can offer you

iaps

Please, read this thread on Tripadvisor:

Funchal Forum: Strawberry World Financial Problems?

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g189167-i435-k5644491-Strawberry_World_Financial_Problems-Funchal_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html
There are links to other articles.

kayleigh1234

thank you for all your replies. I managed to ring the hotel last night but got reffered to the (closed) reservation number which I'm about to try now.

Thanks for the link to the trip adviser thread about it. It sounds like other people have fallen into the trap we did - thinking you are booking directly with the hotel

As long as the hotel still have our reservation we can still have our holiday and claim all our money back from the credit card company.