Holiday refund

andru1

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice really, so hopefully there's some money saving experts here.
Having booked a holiday on the internet we realized that we had stupidly booked for May rather than July. So we tried to cancel the booking and change it for July but were told that because there are less than 30 days until the may holiday booking we will lose 100%. Obviously you could say it was our fault for not checking carefully but that's besides the point we canceled the booking literally 5 minutes after and now they say we will lose over £300. Even though it is written in the booking conditions there must be something we can do about this as it seems so wrong. Obviously the company will lose no money because the booking was only in place during 5 minutes so they can't say we were blocking possible bookings and we have also booked for July with them so they are still getting our money.
Any advice would be great on how to handle this with customer services, what to say? any legal advice? I was also thinking of using our July booking as leverage as if we cancel it 30 days before we get 100% reimbursement.
Thanks in advance

Sam_Bee

Why did you book with them for July as well? Surely now the leverage has been lost?

It doesn't seem right for you to lose all your money. You are very right about hotels / airlines not charging them if they cancelled 5 minutes after the booking was made. You'll need to speak to someone superior in the company. Who is the company? Does the trip include flights?

Pinklepurr

It was clearly a genuine mistake and I think you'll have to rely on their goodwill in order to get a refund for the May booking. Good luck!

mickyd21

Working in a tour operators call centre, the best bit of advice is call them up ask to speak to a manager and explain the situation, and as already advised ask to go goodwill, or ask if they can offer you somethin in July. Be nice, as a shouting screaming customer really does not get you anywhere. Good Luck

andru1

Thanks everyone for your advice.
The company is Hotelclub.com.
The price does not include flights but flights are cheap so no problem there.
In response to Sam Bee, I don't thing the leverage has been lost as I can cancel the July booking free of charge as its more than 32 days away so that's what i will do if necessary.
The people at the call centre say there is no manager available and just fob me off with the complaints e-mail address. I'm going to try a nice letter asking for goodwill and then try a more direct approach if they don't help.
Thanks again and any more advice would be great especially legal fact.

dmg24

Unfortunately legal fact is not on your side. You entered into a contract, where the cancellation charges were detailed. The length of time between booking and cancellation is irrelevant.

The other posters are correct, the only possibility of a refund is through goodwill.

andru1

In response to dmg24.

I also thought that the fact we had agreed to the contract meant that we could only ask for a refund by goodwill but I also found that there is the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2002 that says that a customer has 7 days cool off period
"You've a right of seven days to cancel

Under Distance selling regulations, you have seven working days to cancel after receiving the goods or if it's a service you have seven working days to cancel the contract, which actually means you have more rights when you buy stuff on the web (or mail order) than you do for buying in a shop (this doesn't apply to fresh food, flowers, or sealed audio equipment).


So maybe there is hope if they refuse to refund through good will.

Anyway I'll keep you updated and thanks again

lisyloo

I have a feeling that distance selling regulations do not apply to holidays (I'm fairly sure).

I'll try to find it for you.

lisyloo

Here you are.
I think you will find it doesn't apply.

The information and cancellation provisions do not apply to contracts for: accommodation, transport, catering, and leisure services, including outdoor sporting events, but only where the supplier agrees to provide these on a specific date or within a specific period. In addition, the provisions do not apply to package travel, timeshare, and contracts for the supply of food, drinks or other goods for everyday consumption supplied by 'regular roundsmen'.

dmg24

The Distance Selling Regulations definitely do not apply to holiday bookings.

budgetflyer

A 24 hr cooling off period for online travel sales would be a great idea.
Its almost everyday someone is on here with a similar tale of woe.
Yes, its a hard lesson, we should all read the t&cs, check and recheck, but its normally(for me anyway) quite exciting booking a holiday and sometimes in the rush to get the great deal, mistakes can be made.

Goodwill is great advertising. If you get a result, let everyone know Andru1.