lastminute .com refusing to refund

Atomik1

Hi,

That's a good point about the % of rooms they were maybe offering with free cancellation were limited and then reappeared later.

What caused anger was the fact they stated the Premier rooms were always excluded from this offer, yet one premier room clearly still had the offer and as said when I went back last night both premier room options were showing as on offer. They seemed to us to be simply changing policies etc to suit themselves and not what the website/email had said.

Thanks again for your feedback

hollydays

So your email says it's free to cancel, and no booking fees will be taken?

Atomik1

The booking confirmation email states that they only penalty to be applied is if I cancel within 24 hours of when we were due to check in. And that penalty would be the equivalent of one nights stay. It also said this at the time of booking (I now have a screenshot saved showing this) I also have a screenshot saved showing the wording 'free cancellation before 19/3' next to the room option I had chosen.

It is for this reason that I really cannot understand why they are insisting I would lose 100% of my money! I pointed out what the website said AND the hotel policy as shown in the booking email, but their response was they would just need to investigate, and they kept changing their version of what was happening. But with this email and screenshot of their website etc, I cannot understand how they can refuse the refund.

lb364

As the 19th is tomorrow I think you should send another email stating what was said during the phone call, reiterating that you want to cancel as per the T's&C's and that you await their response and your refund because otherwise (judging by the way the person on the phone acted) they might accuse you of never having called and never having said they'll investigate.

Atomik1

Hi,

That's a very good point! After I spoke to her I seriously doubted I would get a response in time. Originally they said it could take up to 48 hours to investigate which would obviously take me beyond the free cancellation period! Then the supervisor I spoke to said she would ring me today.

I will construct an email chasing them up and get that sent today, and remember to save a copy too!

Thanks

unholyangel

Also remind them that they cannot retrospectively alter the terms of the agreement without your permission.

And any term allowing them to impose an unexpected financial burden, new requirements or reduced benefits on consumers would be under strong suspicion of being an unfair contract term.