Correct wording! Any help

whitts

I am really struggling to find the correct wording for a problem I have. Any guidance and help would be appreciated.
Brief outline.
I booked a uk holiday via a tour operator for a caravan.
The reason for the holiday was to go to an event which I purchased the tickets for on the same day I booked and paid for the accommodation.
On arrival at my caravan park, due to poor Maintance and management I could not get to the caravan. They told me to come back the next day when they could sort it. They could not offer me any alternative accommodation so I had a 3 and half hour drive home.
I have been given my accommodation cost back, however I have out of pocket expenses the fuel and my tickets, not to mention the upset of ruining my holiday.
I have written to that tour operator and they do not seem bothered. I would like to take this further and I believe the small claim court is the best option.
Not sure on what grounds I can pursue this.
Any feedback would be appreciated

hcb42

What were the terms, I doubt they would cover additional losses.

Couldnt you have got other accommodation nearby instead?

George_Michael

hcb42 wrote: »

What were the terms, I doubt they would cover additional losses.

If the OP decides to take legal action then the T&C's of the contract wouldn't really matter if they are suing for consequential losses due to breach of contract as it would come down to a judge having to decide if claiming for the tickets is reasonable.


If you do take legal action, it's unlikely that you will be given anything for travel costs as you would have had to pay these whether or not the caravan was okay and loss of enjoyment is also unlikely to be considered.

arcon5

George_Michael wrote: »

If the OP decides to take legal action then the T&C's of the contract wouldn't really matter if they are suing for consequential losses due to breach of contract as it would come down to a judge having to decide if claiming for the tickets is reasonable.


If you do take legal action, it's unlikely that you will be given anything for travel costs as you would have had to pay these whether or not the caravan was okay and loss of enjoyment is also unlikely to be considered.

Unless the contract excluded such losses in which case it would be down to op to pursuede a court the terms should be deemed unfair and unlawful

Melindray

I cannot be sure, but I think what needs to be looked at here is what the T&Cs say about whether your accommodation will be ready for you when you arrive at the caravan site, and any guarantee of timescale that is mentioned with regard to cleaning/prepping/readying a caravan for a customer to check-in.

So if, for example, the T&Cs say that a caravan will be ready by noon on the day of check-in for a new customer to arrive and occupy the caravan, and you arrived after this time and the caravan was not ready for you, then you may (and I do stress may) be able to complain about this, stating that you had a 'reasonable expectation' that the caravan would be ready, that it was not ready, that this ruined your holiday as you were forced to return home, and you were unable to partake in an event which you had already paid to go to as a result.

If the T&Cs support this argument, then you may (and again, I stress may) be able to claim compensation from the company for the cost of the tickets to the event that you were unable to attend because they did not fulfil their part of the contract by having the caravan ready for you at the appointed time.

Once more, I can't be sure this is the correct approach as I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but this would seem to be a logical approach to me.

I very much doubt that any fuel costs would be reasonable to claim for because you would have made those two journeys anyway ... if you had gone back the next day and used more fuel to do that, then you might have been able to claim for that expense, but as it stands, you've only spent on fuel what you would have anyway had you stayed for the holiday. What you have lost out on is the holiday, and your money has been returned for that already ... but you have also lost out on the event that you had already paid to go to, which you may be able to argue is a 'financial loss' from your point of view.

hollydays

Loss of enjoyment?

daytona0

Strangely enough, I think your case would be stronger had you sourced alternative accommodation and put that onto the bill instead. Not using the tickets is more of a choice on your part (unless you are skint and/or were out in the styx).

Also, what do Ts and Cs say? Would the caravan have been ready within a reasonable timeframe as per the Ts and Cs?

This one seems hard to call, but if you don't mind a little risk then get a letter before action sent out and then take them to court for the cost of the tickets.

Bear in mind that:

1. You have no entitlement to petrol costs (because you would have incurred them either way).

2. I don't think you have any case for loss of enjoyment, as you had the option to source alternative accommodation but instead chose to drive home.

Good luck

whitts

hcb42 wrote: »

What were the terms, I doubt they would cover additional losses.

Couldnt you have got other accommodation nearby instead?

Thank you for your reply.

We did try and get alternative accommodation, however due to the event nothing was available.

whitts

George_Michael wrote: »

If the OP decides to take legal action then the T&C's of the contract wouldn't really matter if they are suing for consequential losses due to breach of contract as it would come down to a judge having to decide if claiming for the tickets is reasonable.


If you do take legal action, it's unlikely that you will be given anything for travel costs as you would have had to pay these whether or not the caravan was okay and loss of enjoyment is also unlikely to be considered.

Thank you for your reply.

My frustration is being out of pocket for fuel, tickets and not even getting any part of my holiday.

whitts

daytona0 wrote: »

Strangely enough, I think your case would be stronger had you sourced alternative accommodation and put that onto the bill instead. Not using the tickets is more of a choice on your part (unless you are skint and/or were out in the styx).

Also, what do Ts and Cs say? Would the caravan have been ready within a reasonable timeframe as per the Ts and Cs?

This one seems hard to call, but if you don't mind a little risk then get a letter before action sent out and then take them to court for the cost of the tickets.

Bear in mind that:

1. You have no entitlement to petrol costs (because you would have incurred them either way).

2. I don't think you have any case for loss of enjoyment, as you had the option to source alternative accommodation but instead chose to drive home.

Good luck

Thank you for your reply

We couldn't find any alternative accommodation as we did try.

Yes the caravan should have been available from 4pm and we had rung earlier to say we would be arriving late evening. I feel they choose not to sort out a problem.

We are just frustrated that we are out of pocket, due to lack of competence from a park manager.

iammumtoone

I don't understand why the OPs fuel costs cannot be considered as you say he would have gone anyway.

If he had known he didn't have accommodation when he arrived he wouldn't have gone so why will this cost not be considered?

The park had chance to inform him of potential issues as he had contacted them earlier in the day.