Cancelled Holiday - Refund?

healeyr

Hi All,

Got an interesting one.

My nan saw a holiday advertised in the express and called the number for more info and to book it. (it ended up being a firm called Holiday Gems)

Long story short, she felt pressured into booking it over the phone and paid a £500 deposit.

After a few days, she realised that there were too many steps in the apartment complex and didn't feel comfortable as she hadn't received any confirmation so she decided to cancel.

When she called in to cancel they said they had no record of her booking even though they had taken the deposit. At this point she cancelled all of her cards and also asked me to help her.

I sent an email to them and included their MD and had my nan in CC in it. I basically said she wants to cancel due to feeling pressured into buying it as it had inappropriate accommodation for 3 elderly ladies. I asked them to cancel it and send her a cheque for the deposit.

They never responded to me but miraculously they sent my nan all her confirmation emails a few hours later.

She called them and said she wants to cancel and get her deposit back and they said no because they will lose out.

In my head, distance selling regulations should apply and there should be a 14 day cooling off period which allows my nan to cancel without losing any money - is this the case?

I can see where holiday gems are coming from when they say they have potentially lost out. However, the time between the holiday being sold and then cancelled was 7 days - I proposed that they should be compensated for the time that the holiday was "sold for" and offered £6.60 per day which was a total of £46.20 for them to keep from the deposit and then have them send the remaining £453.80 to my nan.

I don't think this was unreasonable considering they are able to sell the holiday again now.

Ultimately, I just want my nan to have as much of her money back as possible - can anyone provide any insight into this and options that are available please?

Pollycat

Distance selling regulations don't apply to holiday bookings.

Alan_Bowen

Too much haste I fear. Holiday Gems do appear on these pages on a regular basis but I am not sure how she could feel pressurised into handing over her card details. Did she not ask about the issue of accessibility if that is an issue, did they ask the ages of the travellers, if not how could they know it was not suitable?

Can she remember if they told her the basics of the holiday including total cost, deposit and the cancellation charges, which without looking at their website I fear are high?

If she was given no details of cancellation charges at all, she has a small chance of getting something back, ask for a copy of the phone call but I suspect they say they don't record them and then it is one person's word against another

leylandsunaddict

What you think is reasonable has nothing to do with it. It's what's in the terms and conditions your Nan agreed. Cancellation charges are 100% of flight cost and the accommodation costs vary depending on how long before travel cancellation notice is given. In any event, deposits are always non refundable.

Westin

“In my head, distance selling regulations should apply and there should be a 14 day cooling off period which allows my nan to cancel without losing any money - is this the case?”

- No.

“I can see where holiday gems are coming from when they say they have potentially lost out. However, the time between the holiday being sold and then cancelled was 7 days - I proposed that they should be compensated for the time that the holiday was "sold for" and offered £6.60 per day which was a total of £46.20 for them to keep from the deposit and then have them send the remaining £453.80 to my nan.”

- That won’t work. They will very likely have committed to buying non-refundable flights for your Nan. Possibly even the accommodation has cancellation penalties for them.

stephb34

Is the holiday actually cancelled now? If it is you won't get your deposit back that's what a deposit means. But if its not cancelled yet why don't you ask if they can swap accommodations to one that is suitable. Then they can still have the holiday they wanted.

malkie76

Your Nan might be liable for the full costs, depending on the T&C. Cancelling the cards won’t release you from your legal requirements.

maman

stephb34 wrote: »

But if its not cancelled yet why don't you ask if they can swap accommodations to one that is suitable. Then they can still have the holiday they wanted.

This would seem to be a good option. Or it might even be possible that the original accommodation has ground floor rooms for those with mobility issues.

healeyr

Thanks for the feedback all.

She cancelled the cards because she didn't receive the confirmation e-mail and they claimed to have no idea who she was and couldn't find her booking.

She read the poor reviews after she had made the booking and so obviously wants nothing to do with them now which is why she wanted to cancel and not get alternative accommodation.

Unfortunately she has cancelled it completely which I know makes it pretty much impossible now to get the money. I will get hold of the call recording because if the T's & C's were not read to her and they captured her information incorrectly then it could be argued that she never had enough info to make a fully informed decision (I fully expect to be told her call was not recorded though)

mattyprice4004

Even if the terms weren’t read, tickets aren’t covered by the cooling off period so she’s not entitled to a refund anyway.

Agents have to book plane tickets pretty much immediately for which they won’t get a refund, so IMO it’s fair.

martindow

I'm not sure that cancelling cards will prevent the company taking the balance when the time comes. If new cards have been reissued from the same bank I think that they may well be able to take further payments relating to the old card details. In any case they are free to take steps to reclaim money they are owed.


I agree with others that your best move would be to try to get them to move your nan to more suitable accommodation and to take the holiday.