Help needed to sell london trip!

Katmc2k

Ok, my sister had bought a trip to london for her and her OH was : train tickets Edinburgh to London (Wed morn) 2 nights in a 4* hotel and 1 set of theatre tickets (package from lastminute cost £270) and another set of theatre tickets (for the next night also from lastminute)

Sister's OH has had a bereavement in the family and no longer wants to go-what can she do? She has contacted last minute who won't refund the money for the package or for the theatre tickets. They do usually refund hotel rooms with only an admin fee of £20, but not when they are sold as part of a "package" that is, if they sell you theatre tickets at the same time. :mad:

anyway enough ranting, can anyone offer practical solutions as to how we could possibly recoup some of the money? we considered trying to sell the theatre tickets on gumtree but they are in her name-will this make a difference when the buyer went to pick them up at the box office? also can something similar be done with hotel room, or would the name on the booking require to be changed?

thanks

affordmylife

What a shame. I cant offer any advise really but what about someone else in the family or a friend taking it off her hands perhaps. I would love it but we are off there in a couple of weekends time to see a show anyway so cant afford any more. Good luck with it tho.

lindens

Presumably she didn't take out/doesn't have any travel insurance?

Katmc2k

thanks affordmylife-it is astonishingly bad timing because of other family committments (2 family weddings in one week) the other members of my family already have time off work and are tied up doing other stuff. its also such short notice that it's hard to get the time off now. obviously it's most important that Sister's OH and his family are ok, but it was booked for her 21st so it's a real shame its going to waste.

lindens-I doubt she has travel insurance because doesn't really go on holiday much, and is unlikely to have bought it for a two-day trip to london. I have travel insurance though-if we claimed we were travelling together could i claim it? unlikely I imangine as she will have named her OH on the hotel booking.

shop-to-drop

Just wondering if your local radio has a phone in you could use to find a buyer. I would think your best bet would be to find a retired couple who like the theatre. As they would be free to go and probably happy to get a cut price deal too.

Good Luck.

Katmc2k

thanks shoptodrop-great idea, have just asked a retired couple and waiting to hear back so fingers crossed.

Stephann

I would also try speaking to a manger at Lastminute, as I don't believe that their response to you has been fair.

Katmc2k

Hey.

Well i'm not very impressed with lastminute.com, but i'll email them a proper complaint tomorrow, their published T's and c's do not seem to be matching up with what they are telling me by email.

I've posted the tickets on gumtree but i'm not too hopeful. In the meantime if anyone wants cheap tickets to Les Miserables (Wed night) Phantom of the Opera (Thurs night) or two nights cheap in a 4* hotel room (wed and thurs night) don't hesitate to PM me. Or two train ticket from edinburgh to london for wednesday morning for that matter

thanks for your suggetsions

lhrtolgw

Hi,

Just a thought but I think you'll find that eBay would be better for you. Certainly in London, Gumtree attracts much younger people which might restrict your ability to sell - eBay covers a much wider demographic.

Go on, try eBay and I'll bet you'll sell it really quickly.

All the very best and I'm sorry for your loss.

Voyager2002

I second ebay. And you might do better if you 'unpackage' the train tickets from everything else, since you might find a buyer in another part of the country.

Another thought: when you buy something on lastminute, they often try to add on insurance. Check the invoice very carefully, since whoever made the booking might have bought insurance without realising it.

Katmc2k

Thougt I'd update you:

There was success with the hotel refund-I contacted the hotel who said (very kindly) that they would not charge our tour operator for the rooms, so I should contact the tour operator to ensure they gave me a refund. And fair play to them, after a strongly worded email pointing this out they have offered my sister some cash!

Definately something to bear in mind for the future though-if you buy a "package" they may try to skirt around the usual refund policy. In my case, they hadn't even told us of this policy and it wasn't anywhere in the t's and c's, that's what made me so mad in the first place!

I have sold the Les Miserables tickets (didn't get much but better than nothing) and the Phantom tickets are still on ebay so fingers crossed. Thanks for your suggestions and sympathies.