Please help a friend has pulled out of the booked holiday

Sportstar1

Hello,

Firstly I would like to apologise if this post is in the wrong area I am new to the site.

My issue is that I am due to go on holiday with two friends in may and an argument has arised. The argument is not related to the holiday itself although has resulted in one of the party not speaking to us and pulling out of the holiday. We decided to pay the holiday in installments every month with 4 already made so roughly £300 each with nearly £200 still left.

The party member has refused to pay anymore of her balance and has demanded that I pay her the money that she has already paid back to her minus the deposit. I am only the lead passenger and the money simply gets paid to the travel agent every month by direct debit so I am aware that realistically i do not owe her any of my own money. I phoned the travel agent with regards to the issue and they have given us the options if paying 50 for a name change or to remove her off the booking we stand to loose 200 as the whole booking changes and it effects mine and the remaining passengers booking. I have researched that if she expects to be liable for any money back she must pay for the name change and if not then she is essentially liable for her payment whether she goes or not. Am I correct?

She has offered to pay for the name change but we are struggling to find another passenger. She is also refusing to pay anymore towards the holiday for her part and this makes me fear as it will put myself under financial strain as the payment still comes out of my account and it will cost myself more as she won't pay her part. Myself and the remaining passenger have considered losing the 75 deposit to cancel and rebook for just the 2 of us although the holiday price has increased a considerable amount and we just dont find this fair on us.

We have also considered to pay her part but it is still a considerable amount for us to pay each. Is there anyway I can make her pay her way as ultimately she has made the choice to pull out although she agreed to the financial commitment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and any advice on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated.

es5595

So, if you want some more replies, I’d put a lot of paragraphs in and then break down the financial bits further.

I’d suggest that she finds someone to replace her and sorts out financially with the new person.

Try and break the financials down into seperafe paragraphs for what’s been paid, by whom, what’s still owing, and then the different options. It may be cheaper for the two of you left to pay the remainder of her ‘share’ to prevent cancellation and loss if it’s non refundable.

Sportstar1

Thankyou for your reply. I have updated my post. A balance of 800 has been paid by the three of us so far and there is still 750 left. Which as the way things stand i am ultimately responsible for the 500. We do have the issue of not being able to find another passeneger. Is she still responsible to pay for her part? Do I seek legal advice? I know 500 may not seem like much although I have had other financial commitments arise. The other passenger is also financially struggling and I know she can simply not afford to pay the extra amount.

warby68

If you only stand to lose £75 deposit each if you cancel at this stage, that looks the simpler option as I very much doubt you can force extra payments from her and whatever bad feeling there is will just escalate.

If you and your other friend are stretched financially perhaps cancelling the holiday and then looking for something cheaper is not altogether a bad thing either.

Or, if she is willing to pay £50 for a name change will she pay to change it to just your 2 names, in which case the extra cost becomes £150 or £75 each.

With the loss or extra cost of either option only £75 each, trying to pursue her doesn't seem very realistic.

EveryWhere

She gets nothing back unless you have effectively blocked her from going on holiday. But you can't force her to continue to pay.

If she chooses to not go, then she has to find a suitable alternative passenger and pay for the name change. She can then recoup her spend from the new passenger.

The reason why she gets nothing back, is that whilst she might be subsidising the cost of your shared accommodation, she is not subsiding the flights. That is an individual cost to each of you and it is likely non refundable.

As to her share minus the deposit, no again. As, if she makes the choice to not go, then she should cover the likely losses incurred by all of the people who choose to continue. If total losses would be £200, you can choose to pay her whatever she has paid minus the total loss incurred if cancelled.

If other words, if she insists on you cancelling the whole holiday and the Travel Agent gives you back £700 of the £900 paid up, the distribution should be £300, £300, £100.
Unless of course you have given her reason to not go. Then she can suggest that you have constructively barred her from going.
So put everything in writing, with the emphasis that she is welcome on the holiday and that by-gones should be by-gones...

Alternatively, she can find someone else that wants to go and get them to pay for her share plus the name change.

warby68

I should say my point does NOT cover what she SHOULD pay as above but the practical and hostility escalation prospects of pursuing someone for a net cost of £75 each.

What if she decides to come anyway and spoil the holiday?

What if she finds someone you like even less to take over her booking?

EveryWhere

warby68 wrote: »

I should say my point does NOT cover what she SHOULD pay as above but the practical and hostility escalation prospects of pursuing someone for a net cost of £75 each.

What if she decides to come anyway and spoil the holiday?

What if she finds someone you like even less to take over her booking?

I don't think anyone has argued for the pursuing. The options should be for the puller out to pay for everyone else's lost deposits or find someone suitable to take her portion over.

Out of the question to expect the 'puller out' to pay more for a holiday she will not attend.

The onus is on the remaining two to cover the rest of the costs by themselves and go or find someone else willing to pay the name change and extra costs to go with them.
The 'puller out' should get only the amount remaining from her contribution after what would have been lost by all after cancellation.

photome

Are you sure you only lose £75 if you cancel that seems a very small amount.

If it is only 75 then cancel.


You say there is only about 200 left to pay so couldn’t the remaining passengers share pay an extra 200 between them and leave the booking as it is.

EveryWhere

photome wrote: »

Are you sure you only lose £75 if you cancel that seems a very small amount.

If it is only 75 then cancel.


You say there is only about 200 left to pay so couldn’t the remaining passengers share pay an extra 200 between them and leave the booking as it is.

I'm guessing that is £200 each.

George_Michael

photome wrote: »

Are you sure you only lose £75 if you cancel that seems a very small amount.

If it is only 75 then cancel.

The problem with this is that the OP has stated that the price of the holiday has increased a fair bit since they made their booking so if they cancel and still want to go on the trip, when they rebook for just the 2 people, they will then have to pay the increased price.

photome

EveryWhere wrote: »

I'm guessing that is £200 each.

That’s what I thought, so if only one pulls out it is an extra £200 split between them